National Centre for Catalysis Research

(N C C R)

April, 2013

Centre of Excellence in Science & Technology of Catalysis

T H E V I S I O N

Emerge as the Premier National Centre for Catalysis focusing on:

Building Human Resource and Knowledge Capital.

Establishing Advanced R & D Facilities. Initiating Research Programs in Frontier Areas. Cultivating Vibrant Partnership Among the

Trinity of Academy-Research-Industry. 

T H E M A N D A T E

Actively build human capacities and expertise manpower in the area of Catalysis through structured educational programs at various levelsUndertake advanced research in frontier areas of basic sciences relating to Catalysis: ◙ New materials ◙ Energy Conversion

Processes◙ Surface Science ◙ Theoretical Science

Solicit support from industries for applied research in cutting-edge technology areasEmerge as a knowledge center & store house of relevant information to user industries towards reliable problem solving, testing & training Initiate collaborative research programs with universities, national and international institutes and laboratories

NCCR

Basic Research

Applied Research

CSI activities

International

cooperation

Education

1.Orientation programme2.Capsule courses for industry, faculty and others

3.Regular course-post M.Sc.; M.Phil.; Ph.D. 4.Electives

2.Trouble shooting

1.Sponsored projects

3.Clearing house role

4.Consultancy

3.Surface science2.Energy conversion process

1.New materials

1.Research proposals

4.Societal roles3.Roadmap documents2.Data base

1.BCSI

2.Exchange of students3.Visiting

positions 4.Joint workshops

4.Theoretical science

NCCR- Spheres of activity

Educational Programmes1. M Tech (Catalysis Technology)

M Tech Degree Course with Chemical Engineering Department - Initiated in 2009-10.A specialized programme, designed to cover all aspects of the

Science, Engineering and Technology of Catalysis, which can cater to the Human Resource Requirements of the Indian Chemical Industry. Four Batches of students completed the course so far and have already found employment in Industry/Academia. Fifth and Sixth batches on the roll

2. Ph D Programme – To be updated

25 students completed Ph D degree during this nine year period. Ten Ph D students are presently registered at IIT-Madras under the

guidance of NCCR faculty. Fifteen scholars from various institutions are carrying out their research,

being guided by the NCCR faculty.

Educational Programmes - Contd…

3. Orientation CourseFor research scholars from all over the country in the field of Catalysis. Each year 35-40 students attend during Nov-Dec An unique course for preparing the students for research in this inter-disciplinary area and has been hailed by the participants. The First Course was started in the year 1999. The 15th Course was held in Nov.-Dec. 2014. The Centre has also brought out successfully six well received monographs originating from this course. Total number of students trained so far ~ 7504. Training of Young ResearchersAt any time more than 30 candidates have been trained in the Centre as project associates, PDFs and in various other capacities in the last five years.

5. Other Post-graduate Courses3 Weeks Course in Catalysis for PG students and research scholars in

Tezpur University, Tezpur was held during Sep. 2008; Nov. 2009; Nov. 2010.2 Days Pre-School courses on:

• Thermal and Spectroscopic Methods in Catalysis ( )• Theoretical Aspects of Catalysis ( )• Analytical Techniques in Catalysis ( )• Photocatalysis (2011)

conducted at IMMT, Bhubaneswar; NCL, Pune; Gauhati University & Anna University, Chennai & NCCR

2 Days Capsule Course in Experiments in Chemistry and Biology for Staff

and Students of Madurai Thiagarajar College at Madurai during 2010. 2 Days Course in Spectroscopic Methods for Staff & Students of Madurai

Thyagarajar College at NCCR, IIT-Madras, Chennai, October 2010.One semester Course in Fundamentals of Catalysis at Anna University,

Chennai during 2007-2008 for M Phil / Ph D students (Twice).One semester Course in Industrial Catalysis at Anna University, Chennai

during 2007-2008 for M.Sc. (Applied Chemistry) students (Twice).

Educational Programmes - Contd…

6. Seminars / Workshops by NCCR

Three-day Indo-Hungarian Workshop on “Future frontiers in Catalysis”

16th -18th February 2010. Four-day 20th National Symposium on Catalysis for “Energy Conversion and

Conservation of Environment” 19th -22nd December 2010. 15th National Workshop on Catalysis on “The role of Materials in Catalysis”, Dec.11th -13th 2011Indo-Russian Experts Meet on “Nanostructured Catalysts for Chemical Processing and Environmental Protection”, Dec.14th & 15th 2011Short term Course in Photo electrochemistry & Photo Catalysis, Dec.15th -19th 2012Regular Research Scholars Meet with Anna and Madras Universities Annual Day Meet of the Centre in the last week of July every year - Meeting

of all research scholars of the Centre

Educational Programmes - Contd…

7. Other Educational Activities

M Sc and M Tech students from other Institutions have carried out their final semester projects in NCCR (12 students).

In addition regular stream of students (and teachers) sponsored by Indian Academy of Sciences (7), DST (INSPIRE; 1), and UGC (4) for summer fellowships.

The Centre has also hosted foreign students from University of Nevada, University Queensland and other places for a period 3 weeks to 3 months.

8. Capsule Courses - For Industry Capsule Course on all aspects of Catalysis to R & D Engineers from

Nagarjuna Fertilizer Co Ltd., Hyderabad for 1 week, during Sept 2009 A special one day course on catalysis, zeolites and characterization technique,

with particular reference to deNOx systems was offered to a group of Employees of General Motors, Bangalore on 9th September 2008.

 9. Special Courses – For Academia Summer Courses for UG/PG /research Students from IIT-Madras and other

Institutes in the city on a) Analytical methods; b) Spectral interpretation; c) Photo-catalysis; d) Photo-electrochemical processes; e) Fuel cells & Hydrogen storage were conducted periodically during the last four years

A special one day course on “Technology Appreciation Programme of IIT-Madras” for 15 participants from industry during Dec. 2006.

10. Courses for School Children Summer school for School Children from the Chennai City covering recent

developments in science has been held during the last 5 years.

Educational Programmes - Contd…

Man Power Development - Main Focus

• This is one of the main obligations of NCCR and the performance is given in the table

S.No. Level Participants/Students

1 M Sc (Chemistry) and M Tech in other departments

50†

2 M Tech (Catalysis Technology) 20

3 Ph D - completed 25

4 Ph D - in progress 20 + 3 under submission

5 PDF on rolls & trained 2 + 8

6 Research Associates 50

7 Orientation Course - in 5 years 400

8 Summer Courses - in 5 years 100*

9 Capsule Course for Industry 50†Few courses and Projects. * Also trained students under INSPIRE and National Academy programs.

Man power development would continue to be one of the main tasks for NCCR. To be updated

1. Nanoporous Materials Ordered Nanoporous Carbon Hydrogen Storage Materials Ordered Nanoporous Silica, Alumina Ordered Nanoporous Titania, Zirconia High Surface Area Composites Carbon Material from Natural Sources

2. Nanomaterials Controlled Shape and Size of Noble Metal Clusters Highly Dispersed Metal Supported Systems

3. Catalysis for Energy Conversion ProcessesConversion of Bio-glycerol into Value-added ChemicalsConversion of Carbohydrates to Key Platform Chemicals Oxidation of Long-chain Linear Alkanes

B A SI C R E S E A R C H

Reduction of carbon dioxide in combination with water splitting to yield fuels and chemicalsSplitting of water for hydrogen generationFixing of nitrogen as ammonia. Alternate routes for hydrogen generationNew materials for hydrogen storageDesign and fabrication of alternate noble metal based electrodes for fuel cellSynthesis of new materials Biomass conversion - to platform chemicalsTheoretical studies for catalyst development - employing DFT and other modern theories for condensed matter applications.

B A SI C R E S E A R C H TOPICS

Towards meeting the challenges in frontier areas

No. Industry Topic PeriodOutput(expected) Status

1 CPCL Adsorptive desulphurization of diesel fraction

2007-2009

Carbon based material developed

Completed

2 CPCL End point reduction of SR diesel

2007-2009

15° reduction of end point achieved

Completed

3 IOCL Development of alumina with Defined textural properties

2009-2012

Patent to be filedPh.D scholar working

Completed

4 IOCL Research Fellowships

2009-2012

Ph.D scholar working

On-going

5 SHELL Metal grids as supports for catalysts

2008-2011

Patent to be filed Adherence of TiO2 on SS surface Anchoring of metal on TiO2 film- Completed

A P P L I E D R E S E A R C H

Applied Research – contd… No. Industry Topic Period

Output(Expected) Status

6 NISSAN Development of hydrocarbon trap materials

2009-2012

Based on zeolite materials

Preparation & evaluation of suitable trap materials- In Progress

7 HPCL Chemical mitigation of CO2 to fuels & chemicals

2010-2013

Photo catalytic process

NaTaO3 , Sr3Ti2 O7 & La2Ti2O7 identified as potential catalysts. To be completed by June,2013

8 P & G Terminal oxidation of hydrocarbons

2007-2008

Oxidation of long chain hydro-carbons

Terminated

9 GM De-Nox Chemistry

2010-2011

In progress

10 TATAChemicals

PEC of Water 2009-2011

In progress

11 Granules India Ltd

Catalysts for Specific Hydrogenation

2011-2013

Developing catalysts

In progress

No. Industry Period1 Chennai Petroleum

Corporation Ltd.2007-20092013-2015

2 Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. 2009-20123 SHELL R&D 2008-2011

2012-2013

A P P L I E D R E S E A R C H

4 NISSAN Motor Company Ltd. 2009-20125 Hindustan Petroleum Corpn.

Ltd.2010-2013

6 Proctor & Gamble 2007-20087 General Motors R & D 2010-20118 TATA Chemicals Ltd. 2009-20119 Granules India Ltd 2011-2013

10 Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals

2012-2014

Industry sponsored research-HighlightsCPCL Adsorptive removal of sulfur from crude oil Diesel –End point reduction IOC Development of special grade alumina supportShell Anchoring of metal/metal oxides on SS surface Metal/Metal oxide nano particlesNissan Materials for auto exhaust gas purificationHPCL Chemical mitigation of carbon dioxideP&G Terminal oxidation of alkanes GM Development of auto exhaust catalystsTATA Hydrogen generation Granules Specialty catalystsNFCL Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency

Higher carbon number alcohols

Networking - National / International Collaborations

NationalNMITLI project on “Value addition to glycerol from bio-diesel process”

Collaborations with Academia• Anna University / Madras University, /Sathyabama University,Chennai • Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli • Tezpur University, Tezpur• Thiagarajar College, Madurai • Kalasalingam University, Srivilliputhur

InternationalHungarian Academy of Sciences (Two NCCR students visited)The University of Queensland, AustraliaTechnical University of Munich, Germany One MS scholar from the University of Nevada visited NCCR for 4 months and 4 publications have come out of this collaborative endeavour.

Catalysis Data Centre

The Centre has been maintaining a data base since 2006. More than 1750 documents uploaded. Documents - Research articles, Book chapters, Monographs, Conference/Workshop proceedings, Books, Theses, Patents, Data sets, Experiments including power point presentation on various topics. Unique in many respects since it serves not only the research community, but also a variety of people starting from students, teachers, common man and also experts. Regularly visited by a number of people both from India and abroad. The Centre maintains many other discussion sites for education and knowledge dissemination.

Catalysis Society of India

The Centre is the Head Quarters of the Catalysis Society of India (CSI). On behalf of CSI the following activities have been sustained all the five years.

Running the Society, enrollment of members and maintaining the day to day activities of the Society and announcement of awards & nominations after evaluation by a panel of JudgesB. Viswanathan in the last five years acted for one term as the President and all the five years was the Executive Committee Member of the Society.The Centre regularly brings out the Bulletin of the Catalysis Society of India both in hard copy format and soft copy format for all these five years.The Centre has helped in the conduct of the National Symposia, and Workshops all these five years. Conducting the Pre-Schools of the society in Bhubaneswar, Pune, Guwahati and Chennai prior to the National Symposia and Workshops.The Faculty Members of NCCR serve as members of the National Organizing Committee of all the Symposia held by the Catalysis Society of India and a host of other Symposia and Conferences.Maintaining and updating the Catalysis Data base.

Year Publications Patents Presentations Books

2006 22 Nil 25 12007 26 5 38 42008 15 1 35 42009 23 2 30 42010 18 1 25 12011 32 2 25 32012 30 - 30 2

2013

Publications, Patents, Books and Presentations

Books/Monographs1.Fuel cells-Principles and Applications B.Viswanathan and M.Aulice Scibioh, The University Press (2006); CRC Press August 20072. Structure and Properties of Solid State Materials B.Viswanathan (Ed), Narosa Publishing House New Delhi (2006).3.Heterogeneous catalysis D.K.Chakrabarty and B.Viswanathan, New Age International (2007). International edition; New Age Science Limited Kent TN1 1YS UK,20084. Nano materials B.Viswanathan,(Ed),Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi,2009 5. Catalysis- Some selected Applications B.Viswanathan, (Ed), Narosa Publising House,,New Delhi,20096. Surface characterization techniques B.Viswanathan,S.Kannan and R.C.Deka Narosa Publishing House New Delhi,2010• To be updated

Services rendered by the Centre The Analytical services of the Centre has been extended free of charge to various organizations in India typical ones are all the colleges in the city of Chennai, IIT Kharagpur, BHU, Varanasi, Gandhigram University, ICT, Mumbai and various other organizations.The Centre has been rendering services to various industries including CPCL, IOCL, NFCL, and many other industries in this country. Hosted many research scholars from other institutions for short periods and helped them in acquiring the data and also helped them interpret the data.MOU with various academic organizations: i) Anna University (ii) Tezpur University (iii) Thiagarajar College, Madurai (iv) Kalasalingam University (vi) Bharathidasan University.More than 10 books and 6 e-books each one of them has received international recognition. Two of the books, viz., Fuel Cells and Heterogeneous Catalysis, the later authored by D K Chakrabarty and B Viswanathan have been printed in Foreign Editions.

Progress in a Nutshell

Training: > 500 persons at different levels Establishing facilities for research in Catalysis Contributions: > 300 publications in Journals,

10 patents and 18 books Analytical services: > 500, to institutions and many research scholars Collaboration with Indian and foreign Universities Many collaborative research projects with Industry

and other institutions in India and abroad

NCCR : Phase-II- 2011-2016NCCR set to emerge as a house of knowledge and research in Catalysis at global level NCCR activities to be continued and strengthened. Financial support to the Centre by DST extended for another five years. Proposed plan of activities and the budget required for the next five years have been detailed out  Total budget estimate, as detailed in the proposal, is

Rs. 2360 Lakhs. ???

NCCR-Plan for Next 5 YearsRoad ahead

To spread its wings over several emerging and new frontiers in the science of catalysis. To carve out its own place within IIT Madras as a vibrant entity with significant contributions in contemporary topics in Catalysis. 

Focus for the next five years Intensifying Academic Research leading to publications in high impact journals.Aggressively pursuing Industry supported or industry oriented projects that would lead to Patent Disclosures covering cutting-edge product development/process technologies.  Strengthening Academic activities related to: • Research for imparting knowledge and training to young researchers.• Resource generation in terms books, e-books and databases.Expanding and strengthening international collaboration with other Catalysis Research Centres across the globe and provide a platform for Indian Scientists a uniform play ground to compete internationally.

To tread along the growth path & strive for recognition at global level

Manpower Development

M Tech, Ph D and PDF ProgrammesM Tech course in Catalysis Technology is being offered by IIT-M (CH

Dept./NCCR) - Strength of the classes to be enhanced Introduction of M Tech. & Ph D Fellowships to build research staff strength /

human resource capital in Catalysis  PDF fellowships could be offered to applicants from India and Abroad

Orientation Programme for Research Scholars

Being conducted continuously for the past 12 years -350 students benefited  ?? One of the educational programmes which has facilitated the students to transform themselves into performing research scientists   This special program is to be continued in the coming years with appropriate

modification with respect to syllabi and the modulesTo be developed as a model for designing courses in specific areas of science

which will lead to development in science at the national level.

Manpower DevelopmentSpecial Training Programme for Master’s Students

Special training programmes during winter or summer recess which will enable them to appreciate and cultivate scientific temper.Training programmes in various analytical techniques like TP methods,

spectroscopic and microscopic techniques and interpreting them. Special courses like photo-electrochemistry, fuel cells and topics of contemporary importance.  

Enhancing Academic & Socially Relevant ActivitiesSupport services to various educational institutions in this country in terms of conducting part or full courses in their curriculum, developing curriculum, etc.Providing support and advice for conducting special programs   Imparting science education at the school level. Science & Summer programmes for school children in the Children’s ClubDeveloping suitable science orientated programmes and modules catering to the needs of school education. Publishing e-books based on these courses.

B A S I C R E S E A R C HNew Initiatives

Generation and rationalization of new materials as catalysts Catalytic bio-mass conversion processesDevelopment of catalysts and understanding of dream reactions / challenging processes:• Splitting of water for hydrogen generation• Reduction of carbon dioxide in combination with water

splitting to yield fuels & chemicals• Fixing of nitrogen as ammonia. • Hydrogen generation technologies – devising alternate routes • Development of viable hydrogen storage materials• Design and fabrication of alternate electrodes for fuel cell

applications• Theoretical studies for catalyst development - employing DFT

and other modern theories for condensed matter applications.

Basic Research - Spin off Technologies / Concepts

Decontamination of water or airNovel energy/bio-mass conversion processesDeveloping hybrid catalysts by applying other molecular activation processes like, electro-catalysis, photo-catalysis and photo-electrochemical and bio-chemical processes. Evolving postulates and principles that govern the selection of materials for such complex processes    Developing some governing principles which will enable the catalyst selection a rational process.

APPLIED RESEARCH

Major FocusContinuing with the industry sponsored projectsExpanding the activity encompassing many other challenging areas/process/products. Research areas under consideration for collaboration with the industries include:• Developing means of effective utilization of

urea as the fertilizer-Stabilization of Iso-urea/ Urea- metal complexes for easy and full utilization of nitrogen

• Processes for second generation bio-fuels like bio-butanol. • Clean Fuels• Environmental Catalysts

Expanding International Collaborations & Other

ActivitiesInternational collaborations

International collaboration will be extended to other countries, especially with the Catalysis Centers in North America, Africa and other Asian countries. Some steps have been taken in this direction. Collaborations will be established with at least another 5-8 new Centers in Catalysis in the world in the next five years.

Collaborations with academic institutionsMOU to be executed with at least 5 new Universities.

Catalysis Data CentreHighly useful and sought after over the years by the scientists who teach, research and practice catalysis, both in India and abroad. The data base to be made more broad based.New proposals- Inclusion of discussion section where in one can find documents relating to the frontiers in catalysis and state of art reports .

Continuing the Role as a Service Provider

Enhancing the research activities of the other institutions associated with the Centre.

Facilitating young researchers of this country for carrying out specific experimentation and also in interpretation.

Helping in effective knowledge transfer.

Collaborations in Research

Successful collaborations & MOUs with Catalysis Research Center at Munich, University of Queensland Australia and Institute of Isotopes Budapest.    MOU with NIMS, Japan initiated for exchange of personnel between the two institutions.   Seeking collaborations with Catalysis groups at South Africa, Brazil and other South American countries and also some Institutions in Europe and North America.  

Activities as Service ProviderServing the industry in their trouble shooting and offering technical solutionsExtending service facilities for research work of other academic institutionsProviding a platform for young researchers to have their research results analyzed and interpreted – including on line discussion forumEstablishing on-line lectures by eminent scientists from abroad and exploring possibility of extending this facility from the Centre to other academic institutions in India.

NCCR on Global Horizon

Catalysis has emerged as a leading branch of science in the last two decades.   Amply reflected with the initiation of specialized journals by RSC, ACS Catalysis will continue to flourish and blossom into a branch of science attracting fundamental knowledge creation and helping to achieve sustainable living in this universe.   The economic and environmental benefits of Catalysis have been established beyond doubt and will continue to be the centre stage of knowledge generation in the decades to come.   Even countries in Western Europe have as many as 75 Centres of excellence in Catalysis and new Centres are being created in these countries.India has in the past evolved path-breaking methodologies for a sustainable society in this world, could take lead and become one of the torch bearers in modern science.   It is appropriate, that India realizes her potential in this branch of science and emerges as the knowledge centre. This will be possible only when Centres of excellence are available in this country.  

NCCR on a Growth Path

NCCR has the potential to emerge as a:• Knowledge storehouse not only for this country but to

the entire world• International centre for creation of skilled and competent

human resources • Centre where not only research in cutting edge

technologies will be developed but also a nucleus for generating newer directions for research and practice in industry.

Above all, a Centre of excellence in an academic and applied area like Catalysis will be directly reflecting in the economy of the country and it is hoped that this Centre will have a leading role in the years to comeNCCR now needs the support and encouragement to grow and flourish

NCCR –Mission accompanished

NCCR has successfully completed the mandates on: Developing Human resources through educational programmes Setting up advanced research facilities in Catalysis Initiating research programmes in frontier areas Establishing vibrant academia-industry partnership Charting out a road map for future

Thank you !