Dr. Satyanarayan Patel
Age: 26
Area of research:
Ferroelectric; piezoelectric materials for energy storage; conversion and caloric effects for solid state refrigeration
Name of my University / Research Institute: School of Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India
Research period at the TU Darmstadt:
January 2017 to December 2018 (AvH Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers)
Questionnaire to the Research Fellow
My field of research is fascinating. To laymen I would explain it in the following comprehensible manner:
My research work is focused on zinc oxide nanowires for piezotronics and energy harvesting applications. The main scientific goal of this project is to develop zinc oxide nanorods/nanowires for tuning the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics by mechanical confinement and explore potential applications as nanogenerators for energy conversion, which can open up new avenues of research in the field of developing functional materials with novel properties.
My most important success in research to date is…
I first time demonstrated experimentally the elastocaloric and barocaloric effect in bulk ferroelectric ceramics using indirect measurements for solid-state refrigeration. I also explored an unforeseen component of the electric field-driven caloric effect termed as inverse piezocaloric effect. Additionally, I performed work on the effect of compressive pre-stresses (mechanical confinement) for tuning ferroelectric/pyroelectric/piezoelectric properties for energy storage/conversion and other device applications.
I’ve chosen the TU Darmstadt because of…
The bulk of my research focused on the application of multiphysical stimuli to ferroelectric materials to tune and enhance their properties including energy storage conversion and caloric effects for solid state refrigeration. In this regard, Professor Rödel’s group is world renowned in the field of piezoelectric materials, including experimental characterization of constitutive behavior under multiaxial loading. Therefore, a collaboration with Prof. Rödel would allow me to explore the impact of mechanical stress on electrical conductivity in ZnO. I could broaden this effort to nanowires and bring in my expertise on energy harvesting. Hence, I remain in the field of electromechanical properties, but include piezotronics and electrical conductivity issues into my knowledge base.
Questionnaire for the host
Guest of: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Rödel
Department: Department of Materials and Earth Sciences
You appreciate in your guest / your guest favourably impressed you by…
an incredible dedication to science and a strong drive for new applications and mechanisms. Satyanarayan is very efficient in expanding his current research fields of electrocalorics into mechanocalorics, barocalorics, and related.
Our team and the TU Darmstadt benefit from …
his attitude towards science and his drive for innovation. His Ph.D. supervisor from IIT Mandi was guest for three months in summer 2016 and demonstrated this restless search for the unexplored already then. Satyanarayan is very hungry for knowledge and will not rest long to admire his achievements but will keep moving. He is very creative and communicative. After one week he started to communicate with groups in Materials and in Chemistry.
