Dr. Shantanu Behera is currently an Associate Professor of Ceramic Engg. At NIT Rourkela. He holds a bachelor’s degree from NIT Rourkela and a Doctorate in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, USA. He worked on analysing the atomic structural features of dopant segregated grain boundaries in alumina using transmission electron microscopy at Lehigh and synchrotron x-rays at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (NY, USA). Following his doctorate, he worked at the University of Colorado Boulder (USA) on various aspects of Polymer Derived Ceramics before relocating to India. Dr. Behera’s research interests over the last decade at NIT Rourkela includes development of nanostructures and hybrids from preceramic polymers with potential applications in batteries, supercapacitors, and in high temperature resistant bulk materials and coatings.
Dr. Behera was an invitee in the Indo-German Frontiers of Engineering Symposium following which he was a Visiting Scientist at the Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany. He reviews scientific literature for more than 30 journals and is an outstanding reviewer for a few. He speaks regularly in his mother tongue (odia) in All India Radio on popular and informative scientific topics.
During his Fulbright-Nehru Research Fellowship, Dr. Behera aims to fabricate novel Si-C hybrids using preceramic polymers for application as efficient anodes for Li ion batteries. With his expertise in preceramic polymer processing, microstructural characterization, and the resources at CU Boulder, he plans to develop a series of Si-C nanostructures, test their electrochemical properties to gain insights on the processing, microstructure, and performance relationship in these materials.