Research Interests & Overview

• Polaron physics in metal oxide photochromic materials and their organic hybrids
  • monolayer thin films
  • photo, electro, and thermochromic materials
• 2D quantum materials: Synthesis, characterization and discovery by Machine Learning
• Development of auto-grading of IFAT cards by implementing pixel-modifying algorithms

Patents

• PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING PURINE
  
  • WO2015/092283 A1
• (Pending) MICROSTRUCTURES MESOPOREUSES ENDUITES DE NANOCRISTAUX D'OXIDE METALLIQUE DE TRANSITION, LEURS UTILISATIONS ET LEURS PROCEDES DE FABRICATION
  • CA 3046981 A1

Funding

• Sept 2022- Jan 2024: This project was supported by the funding from Canadian Microelectronics Corporation (CMC). Development of reflective and transmissive chromogenic devices (Sep 2022- Aug 2024)

• April 2022-September: Trent Research and Development fund awarded during April, 2022 “Exploring polaron physics in metal oxide photochromic materials and their organic hybrids (Apr-2022 to Sep -2023)”

• July 2023- May 2024: Trent Knowledge Mobilization Grant, awarded for the period of July 2023-November 2024. Final report submitted on May 25, 2024.

• Trent Summer Work Experience Grant: A grant to hire a summer research student through Trent Summer Work Experience Program (TSWEP) was obtained for the summer 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. And a summer student was hired each year.

• Nov 2019: Awarded “Theall Research Fund” for the year 2019. It is an internal research fund for early stage researchers. It carries a cash award of 1700 CAD.

• Aug 2018: A grant of 3680 CAD from the Ontario provincial government to hire a summer student. Grant name: Summer Experience Program-2018.

• Jan 2018: Characterization of oyster shells treated at varying pH: The research was performed in partnership with Universite de Moncton, Campus de Shippagan, NB. Funding agency: Environment protection fund. My part is about 2700 CAD.

• Win 2017: Funding for Laboratory Equipment: James Research Chair equipment grant of 40000 CAD was awarded to a team of researchers at St Francis Xavier University.

• Sep 2016: Development of multifunctional materials and coatings by cost-effective advanced sol-gel processes for water purification systems. Total Funding obtained 24,816 CAD. Funding Agency: New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

Publications

[1]

B. Subramanian, G. Theriault, J. Robichaud, N. Tchoukanova, and Y. Djaoued, "Large-Area Crack-Free Au-SiO2 2D Inverse Opal Composite Films: Fabrication and SERS Applications," Mater. Chem. Phys. 244, 122630 (2020).

[2]

O. I. Kalu, B. Subramanian, B. J. MacLean, and D. G. Saha, "A novel approach to the sol-gel synthesis of titanium dioxide-doped SBA-16 type silica mesoporous microspheres for water purification," Materialia 5, 100237 (2019).

[3]

B. Subramanian, M.-H. Thibault, Y. Djaoued, C. Pelletier, M. Touaibiac, and N. Tchoukanova, "Chromatographic, NMR and vibrational spectroscopic investigations of astaxanthin esters: application to 'Astaxanthin-rich shrimp oil' obtained from processing of Nordic shrimps," Analyst 140, 7423–7433 (2015).

[4]

G. Jiao, J. P. M. Hui, I. W. Burton, M.-H. Thibault, C. Pelletier, J. Boudreau, N. Tchoukanova, B. Subramanian, Y. Djaoued, S. Ewart, J. Gagnon, K. V. Ewart, and J. Zhang, "Characterization of Shrimp Oil from *Pandalus borealis* by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and High Resolution Mass Spectrometry," Mar. Drugs  13, 3849–3876 (2015).

[5]

S. Priya, S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, J. Robichaud, T. Sharma, and R. Bruning, "Facile Synthesis of mesoporous nanocrystalline ZnO bipyramids and spheres: characterization, and photocatalytic activity," Mater. Chem. Phys. 155, 162–170 (2015).

[6]

Gondeka, Y. Djaoued, S. Priya, S. Balaji, J. Robichaud, and P. Karasiński, "Organic hybrid solar cells—Influence of ZnO nanoparticles on the photovoltaic efficiency," Mater. Lett. 131, 259–261 (2014).

[7]

  M.-H. Thibault, C. Pelletier, J. Boudreau, M. Ferron, J. Gagnon, G. Jiao, J. Zhang, B. Subramanian, Y. Djaoued, and N. Tchoukanova, "Characterization of a New Shrimp Oil Produced in New Brunswick, Canada," J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 17, 137s (2014).

[8]

G. Jiao, J. Hui, M.-H. Thibault, C. Pelletier, B. Subramanian, M. Ferron, N. Tchoukanova, Y. Djaoued, J. Gagnon, V. K. Ewart, and J. Zhang, "Characterization of Astaxanthin Fatty Acid Esters from Shrimp Oil by LC-DAD and LC-ESI-HRMS," J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 17, 137s (2014).

[9]

H. Li, G. Vienneau, M. Jones, B. Subramanian, J. Robichaud, and Y. Djaoued, "Crack-free 2D-inverse opal anatase TiO2 films on rigid and flexible transparent conducting substrates: low temperature large area fabrication and electrochromic properties," J. Mater. Chem. C 2, 7804–7810 (2014).

[10]

S. Balaji, N. Tchukanova, Y. Djaoued, C. Pelletier, M. Ferron, and J. Robichaud, "Investigations on the geometrical isomers of astaxanthin: Raman spectroscopy of conjugated polyene chain with electronic and mechanical confinement," J. Raman Spectrosc. 45, 299–304 (2014).

[11]

H. Li, J. Thériault, B. Rousselle, S. Balaji, J. Robichaud, and Y. Djaoued, "Facile fabrication of crack-free large-area 2D WO3 inverse opal films by a 'dynamic hard-template' strategy on ITO substrates," Chem. Commun. 50, 2184–2186 (2014).

[12]

Y. Djaoued and S. Balaji, "Sol-gel synthesis of mesoporous WO3-TiO2 composite thin films for photochromic devices," J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol. 68, 516–525 (2013).

[13]

S. Balaji, N. Tchukanova, Y. Djaoued, and C. Pelletier, "Raman spectroscopic investigations on intermolecular interactions in crystalline and molecular aggregates of trans-astaxanthin," J. Raman Spectrosc. 44, 219–226 (2013).

[14]

Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, and R. Brüning, "Electrochromic devices based on porous tungsten oxide thin films," J. Nanomater. 2012, Article ID 674168 (2012).

[15]

A. Sonia, Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, R. Jacques, E. McCalla, R. Brüning, and B. Achour, "Synthesis and characterization of novel nanorod superstructures and twin octahedral morphologies of WO3 by hydrothermal treatment," Mater. Chem. Phys. 136, 80–89 (2012).

[16]

S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, A.-S. Albert, R. Brüning, and N. Beaudoin, "Porous orthorhombic tungsten oxide thin films: synthesis, characterization, and application in electrochromic and photochromic devices," J. Mater. Chem. 21, 3940–3948 (2011).

[17]

R. Brüning, J. B. Galbraith, K. E. Braedley, J. Johnstone, J. Robichaud, S. Balaji, and Y. Djaoued, "X-Ray Diffraction and Micro-Raman Study of Structural Transformations in (B2O3)1−x(H2O)x Glasses and Liquids," J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 93, 3745–3751 (2010).

[18]

S. Priya, J. Robichaud, M.-C. Méthot, S. Balaji, J. M. Ehrman, B.-L. Su, Y. Djaoued, "Transformation of microporous titanium glycolate nanorods into mesoporous anatase titania nanorods by hot water treatment," J. Mater. Sci. 44, 6470 (2009).

[19]

S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, A.-S. Albert, R. Z. Ferguson, and R. Brüning, "Hexagonal Tungsten Oxide Based Electrochromic Devices: Spectroscopic Evidence for the Li ion Occupancy of 4-Coordinated Square Windows," Chem. Mater. 21, 1381 (2009).

[20]

S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, A.-S. Albert, R. Z. Ferguson, R. Brüning, and B.-L. Su, "Construction and characterization of tunable meso-macroporous tungsten oxide based transmissive electrochromic devices," J. Mater. Sci. 44, 6608 (2009).

[21]

S. Priya, S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, and J. Robichaud, "Structural Role of Polyethylene glycol in the formation of Anatase Nanocrystalline Titania at Low-Temperature," J. Raman Spectrosc. 40, 1885 (2009).

[22]

S. Balaji, A.-S. Albert, Y. Djaoued, and R. Brüning, "Micro-Raman Spectroscopic characterization of tunable electrochromic device for application in smart windows," J. Raman Spectrosc. 40, 92 (2009).

[23]

D.-S. Kim, J.-H. Yang, S. Balaji, H.-J. Cho, M.-K. Kim, Do-Uk Kang, and Y. Djaoued, "Hydrothermal synthesis of anatase nanocrystals with lattice and surface doping tungsten species," Cryst. Eng. Commun. 11, 1621–1629 (2009).

[24]

R. Brüning, J. B. Galbraith, K. E. Braedley, S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, and F. O. Adurodija, "XRD and micro-Raman study of polymerization in (B2O3)1−x(H2O)x glasses and liquids," Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. 1151, TT01-05 (2009).

[25]

Y. Djaoued, J. Robichaud, M. Thibodeau, S. Balaji, N. Tchoukanova, and S. S. Bates, "Photocatalytic properties of nanocrystalline titanium dioxide films in the degradation of domoic acid in aqueous solution; potential for use in molluscan shellfish biotoxin depuration facilities," Food Additives & Contaminants 26, 248–257 (2009).

[26]

R. Banan Sadeghian, S. Badilescu, Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, V.-V. Truong, and M. Kahrizi, "Ultra-low voltage Schottky barrier field enhanced electron emission from gold nanowires electrochemically grown in modified porous alumina templates," IEEE Electron Device Lett. 29, 312 (2008).

[27]

N. Seirafianpour, S. Badilescu, Y. Djaoued, R. Brüning, S. Balaji, M. Kahrizi, and V.-V. Truong, "Optical properties of low temperature prepared granular titanium dioxide on a silver substrate," Thin Solid Films 516, 6359 (2008).

[28]

Y. Djaoued, M. Thibodeau, J. Robichaud, S. Balaji, S. Priya, N. Tchoukanova, and S. S. Bates, "Photocatalytic degradation of domoic acid using nanocrystalline TiO2 thin films," J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 193, 271 (2008).

[29]

Y. Djaoued, S. Priya, and S. Balaji, "Low Temperature Synthesis of Nanocrystalline WO3 films by sol-gel process," J. Non-Cryst. Solids 354, 673 (2008).

[30]

Y. Djaoued, S. Badilescu, S. Balaji, N. Seirafianpour, A.-R. Hajiaboli, R. Banan Sadeghian, K. Braedley, R. Brüning, and M. Kahrizi, "A Micro-Raman Spectroscopy Study of Colloidal Crystal Films of Polystyrene-Gold composites," Appl. Spectrosc. 61, 39 (2007).

[31]

N. Seirafianpour, S. Badilescu, R. Brüning, Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, M. Kahrizi, and V.-V. Truong, "Optical Properties of Tin Oxide-Coated Nanocrystalline Gold Films," Proceedings of the Thirteenth Canadian Semiconductor Technology Conference, August 14-17, 2007, Montréal, Canada, 189-190.

[32]

F. Fida, S. Badilescu, A.-R. Hajiaboli, R. B. Sadeghian, Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, M. Kahrizi, and V.-V. Truong, "Fabrication of Ordered Gold Nanostructures Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Sensor Applications," Proceedings of the Thirteenth Canadian Semiconductor Technology Conference, August 14-17, 2007, Montréal, Canada, 89-90.

[33]

Y. Djaoued, S. Balaji, S. Priya, "Non-Resonance Micro Raman Spectroscopic Studies on Crystalline Domoic Acid and its Aqueous Solutions," Spectrochim. Acta. Part A 67, 1362 (2007).

[34]

S. Balaji, Y. Djaoued, and J. Robichaud, "Phonon confinement studies in nanocrystalline anatase-TiO2 thin films by micro-Raman spectroscopy," J. Raman Spectrosc. 37, 1416 (2006).

[35]

N. Kamaraju, S. Balaji, D. V. S. Muthu, S. Mohan, and A. K. Sood, "Probing isolated bundles of single walled carbon nanotubes using bilayer interference enhanced Raman scattering," Chem. Phys. Lett. 423, 266 (2006).

[36]

Y. Djaoued and S. Balaji, "Micro-Raman Studies on Electrochromic Nanocrystalline Transition Metal Oxide Thin Films," Algerian J. Adv. Mater. 3, 223 (2006).

[37]

S. Balaji, P. V. Satyam, V. Laksminarayanan, and S. Mohan, "Influence of Secondary ion bombardment on the composition, structure and surface properties of platinum thin films," Nucl. Instr. Meth. B 217, 423 (2004).

[38]

A. Vincent, R. Balu, S. Balaji, S. Senthilnathan, and S. Mohan, "Monte-carlo simulation of transport process of the sputtering species in the Facing Target Sputtering Technique," Comput. Mater. Sci. 30, 523 (2004).

[39]

S. Balaji, S. Mohan, D. V. S. Muthu, and A. K. Sood, "Ultrathin films of nanocrystalline Ge studied by AFM and Interference Enhanced Raman Scattering," Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Chem. Sci.) 115, 1 (2003).

[40]

G. Venugopal Rao, G. Amarendra, B. Viswanathan, S. Kankaraju, S. Balaji, S. Mohan, and A. K. Sood, "Studies on Ge/CeO2 thin film system using positron beam and Raman spectroscopy," Thin Solid Films 406, 250 (2002).