R.K. Kotnala Explained

Dr. R.K. Kotnala
Birth Name:	Ravinder Kumar Kotnala
Birth Place:	Kotnali village, Uttarakhand, India
Nationality:	Indian
Occupation:	Scientist
Notable Works:	Hydroelectric Cell, Green Hydrogen, Solar Cell, Spintronic Materials, Multiferroics, Ferrites, ISO based Quality System, Environmental Sciences & Biomedical Metrology.
Years Active:	1982–Present
Website:	https://www.rkkotnala.com/

Ravinder Kumar Kotnala^{[1] [2]} known as R.K. Kotnala is an Indian scientist. He is known for his work on technologies like Hydroelectric Cell,^[3] Solar Cell, Magnetic Materials & Magnetic Field Measurements and many others. In his 40 years of career as a scientist, Kotnala served in many organizations such as National Physical Laboratory, Department of Atomic Energy, and National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Kotnala was selected in the World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists published by Stanford University in 2021.

Through his research & inventions Kotnala Advocates for the use of green energy solutions such as Hydroelectric Cell to combat global warming and climate change. He promotes awareness for science among youth through numerous invited talks and YouTube videos on scientific concepts behind any process.

Kotnala has written several books & published various research articles on Hydroelectric Cell,^[4] EMI Shielding,^[5] Humidity Sensing,^[6] Nano Magnetic Materials,^[7] Chalcogenides,^[8] Multiferroic & Spintronics,^[9] Environmental Sciences & Solar Cell, Super Conductors & Supercapacitors^[10] in journals such as Elsevier, American Physical Society, American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Wiley, Springer Nature, Arabian Journal of Chemistry^[11] and Bulletin of Materials Science^[12] published by Springer Science+Business Media on behalf of the Indian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Materials Research Society of India and the Indian National Science Academy.etc.

Early life and education

Ravinder Kumar Kotnala was born 2nd October 1957, in Kotnali village of Uttarakhand. Kotnala completed his schooling at a Delhi government school. He then complated his Bachelor's Degree from Delhi University. Kotnala received his Ph.D. in silicon solar cells from IIT Delhi in 1982.

Career as a scientist

Kotnala joined the National Physical Laboratory as a Scientist in 1982, and retired as Chief Scientist 2017. In 2018 he started working for Rajaramanna Fellow in wherein, he was Adviser for Magnetic Field Measurements in the INO project in Department of Atomic Energy. in 2020 he was honored the Chairman of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). Kotnala Established the first Primary Standards Lab on magnetic measurements in India. He has also served as Chief Scientist and Head, Environmental Sciences & Biomedical Metrology in CSIR-NPL.^{[13] [14]}

Scientific Contributions

Hydroelectric Cell

Kotnala invented of the hydroelectric cell,^[15] which generates green electricity by water splitting at room temperature. The hydroelectric cell doesn’t use any chemical for producing electricity. This cell is a unique invention in the field of green energy. In the reverse mode of the cell, i.e. by applying external power, the cell can be used to generate its by-products hydrogen and zinc hydroxide in large amounts for industrial applications.^[16]

Research and development in the fields of multiferroics, spintronics, and magnetics.

R.K. Kotnala has done extensive research and development in the fields of multiferroics, spintronics, and magnetics.

Establishment of advanced measurement techniques for magnetic materials.

Pioneering work in geomagnetism and the establishment of advanced measurement techniques for magnetic materials.

Patents

• (2020): Lithium-substituted magnesium ferrite material-based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof.^[17]
• Indian patent: 792/DEL/2015
• (US Patent 2009). A Process for the Preparation of Conducting Organic Ferrimagnetic Composite, India, US Patent – (1362 DEL 2008), 09/06/2008.
• Resistive type humidity sensor based on porous magnesium ferrite pellet, RK Kotnala, J Shah, H Kishan, B Singh, US Patent 9,671,359, 2017.
• Magnetic nanoparticles decorated activated carbon nanocomposites for purification of water, P Saini, M Arora, RK Kotnala, SK Barala, RP Pant, P Chandni, US Patent App. 15/026,101, 2016.
• Particulate matter sampler, SG Aggarwal, P Patel, CJ Tsai, D Soni, K Singh, RK Kotnala, T Okuda, PK Gupta, VN Ojha, DK Aswal,US Patent 10,782,212, 2020.

Awards and honours

Kotnala has received many awards and honors for his scientific achievements and fellowships from prestigious scientific societies, he is one of the Honorary Professor at Amity Institute of Nanotechnology,^[18] Noida. Some more are as below:

Writings & Publications

Books

• Multiferroics: Nanoparticles and Thin Films, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, (2016).^[24]
• Essentials of Solar Cells - R.K. Kotnala, N.P. Singh, Allied Publisher Pvt. Ltd., (1986).^[25]
• Electrical & Mechanical Engineering - N.K. Bansal and R.K. Kotnala, Laxmi Publication, (1989).
• Basic Physics for I.I.T. - R.K. Kotnala and V.K. Kotnala, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., (1987).
• Elements of Electronic Instrumentation, Laxmi Publications, (1995).
• Ethical Issues of Nanotechnology, Chapter in New Nanotechniques, Nova Science Publishers, (2009).
• Hydroelectric Cell: An Alternative to Solar Cell and Fuel Cell for Masses, Handbook of Magnetic Materials, Comprehensive Energy Systems, Elsevier, (2018).

Research Articles

More than 550 research articles has published by kotnala in various journals, some of them are:

EMI Shielding

• Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene composite,, 2021.^[26]
• Significantly high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness in polypyrrole synthesized by eco-friendly and cost-effective technique, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2020.^[27]
• Bi-doped barium ferrite decorated polythiophene nanocomposite for X-band EMI shielding, Journal of Materials Science, 2020.^[28]
• Electromagnetic attributes for enhanced EMI shielding of PANI/Li0.5Fe2.5−xGdxO4 core shell structured nanomaterial, Arabian Journal of Chemistry, 2019.^[29]

Humidity Sensing

• Impedimetric humidity sensing studies of Ag doped MCM-41 mesoporous silica coated on silver sputtered interdigitated electrodes, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 2020.
• Humidity sensing of Mg doped MCM-41 on silver sputtered thin films,, 2019.
• Synthesis and characterizations of highly ordered KCl–MCM–41 porous nanocomposites for impedimetric humidity sensing, Journal of Porous Materials, 2019.
• Mesoporous silica mediated synthesis of α-Fe2O3 porous structures and their application as humidity sensors,, 2018.
• Wide range humidity sensing of LiCl incorporated in mesoporous silica circular discs, Phase Transitions, 2017.

Hydroelectric Cell

• Optimization of mesoporous magnesium ferrite hydroelectric cells for sustainable green electricity generation via Zirconium doping, Ishfaq Ahmad Parray, Jyoti Shah, RK Kotnala, Syyed Asad Ali, Ceramics International, 2024.^[30]
• Green Energy Generation via Water Splitting by Non-Photocatalytic Process based on Gd Doped Magnesium Ferrite Hydroelectric Cell, Ishfaq Ahmad Parray, Syyed Asad Ali, Jyoti Shah, RK Kotnala, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2024.^[31]
• Morphological Impact on ZnO Material for Designing Hydroelectric Cell—A Way to Harness Green Electricity by Water Splitting, Chandra Prakash Priyambada Sahoo, Jyoti Shah, Ambesh Dixit, RK Kotnala, Energy Materials and Devices: Proceedings of E-MAD 2022, 2024.^[32]

Magnetic Materials

• Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution, Manoj Baloni, Ram Chhavi Sharma, Hemant Singh, Bushra Khan, Manoj K Singh, Prakash Chandra Sati, Vikas N Thakur, RK Kotnala, Ashok Kumar, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Elsevier, Volume 946, Pages 169333, June 2023.^[33]
• Calcination Temperature Induced Structural, Optical and Magnetic Transformations in Titanium Ferrite Nanoparticles, A Shukla, SC Singh, A Bhardwaj, RK Kotnala, KN Uttam, C Guo, R Gopal, Reactions 3 (1), 224-232, 2022.^[34]
• Target phase-induced compositional control in liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation produced titanium ferrite nanomaterials, A Shukla, SC Singh, RK Kotnala, KN Uttam, C Guo, R Gopal, Bulletin of Materials Science 44 (2), 1-9, 2021.^[35]

Multiferroic & Spintronics

• Phase evolution and enhanced electrical properties in Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.10Ti0.90O3 lead-free ceramics prepared at different sintering temperatures, S Sharma, R Nandan, J Shah, RK Kotnala, NS Negi, Phase Transitions, 1-17, 2022.^[36]
• Enhanced multiferroic properties and magnetoelectric coupling in Nd modified 0.7 BiFeO3–0.3 PbTiO3 solid solution, M Baloni, RC Sharma, H Singh, B Khan, MK Singh, PC Sati, M Rawat, VN Thakur, A. Kumar, RK Kotnala, 33 (21), 17161-17173,^[37]
• A review on current status and mechanisms of room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics For device applications, R Gupta, RK Kotnala, Journal of Materials Science, 1-28, 2022.^[38]

Superconductors & Supercapacitors

• Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution. Manoj Baloni, Ram Chhavi Sharma, Hemant Singh, Bushra Khan, Manoj K Singh, Prakash Chandra Sati, Vikas N Thakur, RK Kotnala, Ashok Kumar, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Elsevier, Vol. 946, Pages 169333, 2023.^[39]
• Fabrication of activated carbon electrodes derived from peanut shell for high-performance supercapacitors, L Pandey, S Sarkar, A Arya, AL Sharma, A Panwar, RK Kotnala, A Gaur, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 1-10, 2021.^[40]
• Observation of superparamagnetism in ultra-fine ZnxFe1− xFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by co-precipitation method, N Kumar, G Khurana, A Gaur, RK Kotnala, Materials Chemistry and Physics 134 (2-3), 783-788, 2012.^[41]

See also

• Hydropower
• Earth's magnetic field
• Magnetism
• Spintronics
• Multiferroics

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. News: 2016-12-20 . Electricity-from-water scientist seeks commercialisation of invention . 2024-07-23 . The Economic Times . 0013-0389.
2. Web site: Kotnala . R K . February 24, 2021 . Hydroelectric cell path breaking invention for green electricity production by splitting of water -An alternative to solar cell and fuel cell for masses . August 19, 2024 . www.longdom.org . 2157-7048.
3. Web site: 2016-10-20 . Indian scientists produce electricity from water without using energy: Know all about it . 2024-07-23 . India Today .
4. Dhall . Monika . Khasa . Satish . Hooda . Ashima . Shah . Jyoti . Kotnala . R.K. . May 2024 . Nanocomposite NBT-MFO for eco-friendly power generation: Self sustainable hydroelectric cell . Ceramics International . 50 . 10 . 17570–17592 . 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.02.247.
5. Web site: Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene com… . 2024-07-27 . ouci.dntb.gov.ua . uk-UA.
6. Kunchakara . Suhasini . Ratan . Amar . Dutt . Meenakshi . Shah . Jyoti . Kotnala . R. K. . Singh . Vaishali . 2020-10-01 . Impedimetric humidity sensing studies of Ag doped MCM-41 mesoporous silica coated on silver sputtered interdigitated electrodes . Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids . 145 . 109531 . 10.1016/j.jpcs.2020.109531 . 2020JPCS..14509531K . 0022-3697.
7. Baloni . Manoj . Sharma . Ram Chhavi . Singh . Hemant . Khan . Bushra . Singh . Manoj K. . Sati . Prakash Chandra . Thakur . Vikas N. . Kotnala . R. K. . Kumar . Ashok . 2023-06-15 . Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution . Journal of Alloys and Compounds . 946 . 169333 . 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333 . 0925-8388.
8. Kang . Jasmeen . Kotnala . R. K. . Tripathi . S. K. . 2023-10-01 . Compositional effects of Ga incorporation on electrical and dielectric parameters in Ge-Se-Sb-Ga thin films . Materials Science and Engineering: B . 296 . 116689 . 10.1016/j.mseb.2023.116689 . 0921-5107.
9. Verma . K. C. . Goyal . Navdeep . Kotnala . R. K. . 2019-02-01 . Tuning magnetism in 0.25BaTiO3-0.75CoFe2O4 hetero-nanostructure to control ferroelectric polarization . Physica B Condensed Matter . 554 . 9–16 . 10.1016/j.physb.2018.11.009 . 2019PhyB..554....9V . 0921-4526.
10. Baloni . Manoj . Sharma . Ram Chhavi . Singh . Hemant . Khan . Bushra . Singh . Manoj K. . Sati . Prakash Chandra . Thakur . Vikas N. . Kotnala . R. K. . Kumar . Ashok . 2023-06-15 . Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution . Journal of Alloys and Compounds . 946 . 169333 . 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333 . 0925-8388.
11. Dar . M. Abdullah . Majid . Kowsar . Farukh . M. . Dhawan . S. K. . Kotnala . R. K. . Shah . Jyoti . 2019-12-01 . Electromagnetic attributes a dominant factor for the enhanced EMI shielding of PANI/Li0.5Fe2.5−xGdxO4 core shell structured nanomaterial . Arabian Journal of Chemistry . 12 . 8 . 5111–5119 . 10.1016/j.arabjc.2016.12.001 . 1878-5352. free .
12. Web site: Bulletin of Materials Science Indian Academy of Sciences . 2024-07-27 . www.ias.ac.in.
13. Web site: Print Release . pib.gov.in.
14. Web site: Press Release Page . pib.gov.in.
15. Web site: 2016-07-17 . From the lab: Water current . 2024-07-27 . The Indian Express.
16. News: Electricity From Water: Scientist Seeks Commercialisation of Invention .
17. Web site: Lithium-substituted magnesium ferrite material based hydroelectric cell and process for preparation thereof .
18. Web site: ::: Amity Institute of Nano Technology ::: . 2024-07-27 . www.amity.edu.
19. Web site: Materials Research Society of India . 2024-07-27 . www.mrsi.org.in.
20. Web site: Academicians----Asia Pacific Academy of Materials . 2024-07-23 . www.apam-mat.net.
21. Web site: Kotnala, R.K. . nasi.org.in.
22. Web site: October 2020 . Detailed Profile of Prof. R.K. Kotnala . nabl-india.org.
23. Web site: Society For Scientific Values - Executive Council . 2024-07-27 . www.scientificvalues.org.
24. Book: Multiferroics: Nanoparticles and Thin Films . LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing . 2016 . 978-3659880193 . April 22, 2016.
25. Book: Kotnala, R. K. . Essentials of Solar Cell . 1986 . Allied Publishers Private .
26. Iqbal . Sajid . Khatoon . Halima . Kotnala . R. K. . Ahmad . Sharif . 2021-07-01 . Electromagnetic interference shielding performance by thermally stable magnesium ferrite encapsulated polythiophene composite . Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics . 32 . 14 . 19191–19202 . 10.1007/s10854-021-06441-0 . 1573-482X.
27. Agrawal . Rekha . Shah . Jyoti . Gupta . Govind . Srivastava . Ritu . Sharma . Chhemendra . Kotnala . Ravinder . 2020-12-20 . Significantly high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness in polypyrrole synthesized by eco-friendly and cost-effective technique . Journal of Applied Polymer Science . 137 . 48 . 10.1002/app.49566 . 0021-8995.
28. Iqbal . Sajid . Khatoon . Halima . Kotnala . R. K. . Ahmad . Sharif . 2020-11-01 . Bi-doped barium ferrite decorated polythiophene nanocomposite: influence of Bi-doping on structure, morphology, thermal and EMI shielding behavior for X-band . Journal of Materials Science . 55 . 33 . 15894–15907 . 10.1007/s10853-020-05134-z . 2020JMatS..5515894I . 1573-4803.
29. Dar . M. Abdullah . Majid . Kowsar . Farukh . M. . Dhawan . S. K. . Kotnala . R. K. . Shah . Jyoti . 2019-12-01 . Electromagnetic attributes a dominant factor for the enhanced EMI shielding of PANI/Li0.5Fe2.5−xGdxO4 core shell structured nanomaterial . Arabian Journal of Chemistry . 12 . 8 . 5111–5119 . 10.1016/j.arabjc.2016.12.001 . 1878-5352. free .
30. Parray . Ishfaq Ahmad . Shah . Jyoti . Kotnala . R. K. . Ali . Syyed Asad . 2024-06-15 . Optimization of mesoporous magnesium ferrite hydroelectric cells for sustainable green electricity generation via Zirconium doping . Ceramics International . 50 . 12 . 20982–20993 . 10.1016/j.ceramint.2024.03.196 . 0272-8842.
31. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4623639
32. Book: Sahoo . Priyambada . Prakash . Chandra . Shah . Jyoti . Dixit . Ambesh . Kotnala . R. K. . Morphological Impact on ZnO Material for Designing Hydroelectric Cell—A Way to Harness Green Electricity by Water Splitting . Advances in Sustainability Science and Technology . 2024 . Dixit . Ambesh . Singh . Vijay K. . Ahmad . Shahab . Energy Materials and Devices . https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-99-9009-2_23 . Singapore . Springer Nature . 313–324 . 10.1007/978-981-99-9009-2_23 . 978-981-99-9009-2.
33. Baloni . Manoj . Sharma . Ram Chhavi . Singh . Hemant . Khan . Bushra . Singh . Manoj K. . Sati . Prakash Chandra . Thakur . Vikas N. . Kotnala . R. K. . Kumar . Ashok . 2023-06-15 . Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution . Journal of Alloys and Compounds . 946 . 169333 . 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333 . 0925-8388.
34. Shukla . Abhishek . Singh . Subhash C. . Bhardwaj . Abhishek . Kotnala . Ravindra Kumar . Uttam . Kailash Narayan . Guo . Chunlei . Gopal . Ram . March 2022 . Calcination Temperature Induced Structural, Optical and Magnetic Transformations in Titanium Ferrite Nanoparticles . Reactions . 3 . 1 . 224–232 . 10.3390/reactions3010017 . free . 2624-781X.
35. Shukla . Abhishek . Singh . Subhash C. . Kotnala . R. K. . Uttam . K. N. . Guo . Chunlei . Gopal . R. . 2021-05-24 . Target phase-induced compositional control in liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation produced titanium ferrite nanomaterials . Bulletin of Materials Science . 44 . 2 . 152 . 10.1007/s12034-021-02431-4 . 0973-7669.
36. Sharma . Sarita . Nandan . Revti . Shah . Jyoti . Kotnala . Ravinder Kumar . Negi . Nainjeet Singh . 2022-09-02 . Phase evolution and enhanced electrical properties in Ba 0.85 Ca 0.15 Zr 0.10 Ti 0.90 O 3 lead-free ceramics prepared at different sintering temperatures . Phase Transitions . 95 . 8–9 . 609–625 . 10.1080/01411594.2022.2098740 . 0141-1594.
37. Baloni . Manoj . Sharma . Ram Chhavi . Singh . Hemant . Khan . Bushra . Singh . Manoj K. . Sati . Prakash Chandra . Rawat . Meera . Thakur . Vikas N. . Kumar . Ashok . Kotnala . R. K. . 2022-07-01 . Enhanced multiferroic properties and magnetoelectric coupling in Nd modified 0.7BiFeO3–0.3PbTiO3 solid solution . Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics . 33 . 21 . 17161–17173 . 10.1007/s10854-022-08592-0 . 1573-482X.
38. Gupta . Rekha . Kotnala . R. K. . 2022-07-01 . A review on current status and mechanisms of room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroics for device applications . Journal of Materials Science . 57 . 27 . 12710–12737 . 10.1007/s10853-022-07377-4 . 2022JMatS..5712710G . 1573-4803.
39. Baloni . Manoj . Sharma . Ram Chhavi . Singh . Hemant . Khan . Bushra . Singh . Manoj K. . Sati . Prakash Chandra . Thakur . Vikas N. . Kotnala . R. K. . Kumar . Ashok . 2023-06-15 . Energy storage and magnetoelectric coupling in neodymium (Nd) doped BiFeO3-PbTiO3 solid solution . Journal of Alloys and Compounds . 946 . 169333 . 10.1016/j.jallcom.2023.169333 . 0925-8388.
40. Pandey . Lokesh . Sarkar . Subhajit . Arya . Anil . Sharma . A. L. . Panwar . Amrish . Kotnala . R. K. . Gaur . Anurag . 2023-06-01 . Fabrication of activated carbon electrodes derived from peanut shell for high-performance supercapacitors . Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery . 13 . 8 . 6737–6746 . 10.1007/s13399-021-01701-9 . 2190-6823.
41. Kumar . Nitu . Khurana . Geetika . Gaur . Anurag . Kotnala . R. K. . 2012-06-15 . Observation of superparamagnetism in ultra-fine ZnxFe1−xFe2O4 nanocrystals synthesized by co-precipitation method . Materials Chemistry and Physics . 134 . 2 . 783–788 . 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2012.03.069 . 0254-0584.