A. Ajayaghosh
SRM Institute of Science and Technology Kattankulathur
A. Ajayaghosh is the Former Director of CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram and is currently a Chair Professor of Chemistry at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Chennai. He obtained his PhD from Calicut University in 1989. His research is mainly on organic materials such as fluorescent materials, stimuli responsive materials, organogels, supramolecular materials etc. He has been a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences since 2007.
Session 2A: Special Lecture
Anil Kumar
The supramolecular chemistry of smart windows
Autonomous radiative cooling by reflecting solar light and thereby reducing global energy consumption is one of the mandates of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, thermoresponsive polymer-based smart windows are emerging as a viable approach towards energy efficiency. Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) active polymers are widely used in smart windows for controlling the room temperature by reflecting out the heat generating IR radiation of the sunlight. We have been exploring the supramolecular chemistry of small molecular $\pi$-systems to construct smart windows for autonomous control of solar radiations. Our expertise in supramolecular self-assembly and photoprocesses helped us in designing a variety of molecular systems that can be applied to the construction of smart windows. The proposed talk will highlight some of our contributions in this topic.