Hello! I'm Dr. Asha Pankajakshan
I am an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow at KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany.
I have completed my doctoral research at the School of Chemistry, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India, under the guidance of Prof. Sukhendu Mandal. My research interests include Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Tetrel-Chalcogenide Clusters (TCCs), and Atomically Precise Metal Nanoclusters. I have focused extensively on the practical applications of these materials, particularly in water treatment and wastewater remediation.
As part of my Dual PhD, I spent one and a half years at the University of Parma, working with Prof. Federica Bianchi on the use of the Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) method in the adsorption of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from groundwater samples.
Dr. Asha Pankajakshan
AvH Postdoctoral Fellow
Phone:
+49 17637618283
Email:
Address:
KIT Campus North, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen,76344, Karlsruhe, Germany
Date of Birth:
February 6th, 1990
RESEARCH
December 2022-to date
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
As a postdoctoral researcher, I am engaged in the synthesis of various adamantane-like germanium sulfide clusters. These clusters serve as ligands for Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and find applications in areas such as photoluminescence. Additionally, they are utilized in the preparation of metal nanoclusters.
November 2017 – October 2020
PhD Candidate, University of Parma, Italy
PhD
As part of my Dual PhD, I collaborated with Prof. Federica Bianchi on employing the Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) method for adsorbing Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) from groundwater samples.
January 2015 – December 2020
PhD
PhD Candidate, IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India
I have worked with the synthesis and characterization of various MOFs and their further use for the treatment of water pollution and remediation.
EDUCATION
November 2017 – October 2020
PhD in Chemistry
University of Parma, Italy
January 2015 – December 2020
PhD in Chemistry
IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India
2012 – 2013
BEd in Physical Science
Calicut University Teacher Education Centre, Koduvayoor, Palakkad, Kerala, India
2010 – 2012
MSc in Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, Government Victoria College, Palakkad, Kerala, India
2007 – 2010
BSc in Chemistry
Department of Chemistry, Government Victoria College, Palakkad, Kerala, India
PUBLICATIONS
1. A. Pankajakshan, Aparna R K, Balu P. Ratheesh, Manju P. Maman, S. Mandal, Thiol Decorated Defective Metal-Organic Framework Embedded with Palladium Nanoparticles for Efficient Cr(VI) Reduction, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, 2021, 8, 5093-5099
2. S. Mandal, S. Natarajan, P. Mani, A. Pankajakshan, Post-synthetic Modifications of Metal-Organic Frameworks Towards Applications, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021, 31(4), 2006291- 2006313
3. A. Pankajakshan and S. Mandal, Water Stable Boronic Acid Grafted Barium Metal-Organic Framework for the Selective Adsorption of cis-Diols, Inorg. Chem. 2020, 59(9), 5958– 5965
4. F. Bianchi, A. Pankajakshan, F. Fornari, S. Mandal, P. Pelagatti, A. Bacchi, P. P. Mazzeo, M. Careri, A Zinc Mixed-Ligand Microporous Metal-Organic Framework as Solid-Phase Microextraction Coating for Priority Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Water Samples, Microchem. J. 2020, 154, 104646 – 104653
5. A. Pankajakshan, D. Kuznetsov, and S. Mandal, Ultrasensitive Detection of Hg(II) Ions in Aqueous Medium Using Zinc-Based Metal-Organic Framework, Inorg. Chem. 2019, 58, 1377−1381
6. A. Pankajakshan, M. Sinha, A. A. Ohja, S. Mandal, Water-Stable Nanoscale Zirconium-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for the Effective Removal of Glyphosate from Aqueous Media, ACS Omega 2018, 3, 7832−7839
7. M. K. Panda, N. Ravi, A. Pankajakshan, A. P. Prakasham, High Contrast Mechanochromic and Thermochromic Luminescence Switching by a Deep Red-Emitting Organic Crystal, Cryst. Eng. Comm. 2018, 20, 6046-6053
8. A. Pankajakshan, and S. Mandal, Series of Mn(II)/Mg(II)/Zn(II) Coordination Polymers with Azo/Alkene Functionalized Ligands, Cryst. Growth Des. 2018, 18, 4937−4944
9. A. Pankajakshan, M. Sinha, S. Mandal, Effective removal of chemical warfare agent simulants using water-stable metal-organic frameworks: Mechanistic study and structure-property correlation, RSC Adv., 2017, 11, 6691-6696
EXPERTISE
Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
Tetrel-Chalcogenide Clusters (TCCs)
Metal Nanoclusters (MNCs)
Ultraviolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV Vis)
Photoluminescence (PL)
TCSPC
Powder-X-ray Diffraction (PXRD)
Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA)
Infrared Spectroscopy (IR)
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)
Origin
Olex
Origin
MestReNova
CasaXPS
English - Proficient
German - Intermediate
ACHIEVEMENTS
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Recipient of the Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral fellowship for the period December 1,2022, to November 30, 2024
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Joint Ph. D. program between IISER Thiruvananthapuram, India, and the University of Parma, Italy
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Secured the Best Poster Award at the International Conference on Soft Materials (ICSM-2016) in Jaipur, India, December 2016
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Qualified for the National Eligibility Test (NET) with CSIR-JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) in June 2014, securing an All India Rank of 53, conducted by CSIR(Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), India
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Qualified for the State Eligibility Test (SET) of Kerala state, India, in June 2013
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Qualified for the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India, in September 2014
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Secured the University Merit Scholarship for the years 2010-2012 at Calicut University, India