Prashant KUMAR

Prashant Kumar, through innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, aims to push the boundaries of chiral material design and its transformative applications across various fields. His research focuses on the ability to design chiral structures at the nanoscale, with the potential for breakthroughs ranging from spintronics and quantum computing to enantioselective catalysis and biomolecular sensing.

Prashant and his collaborators have expanded the range of chiral materials by imparting chirality to traditionally non-chiral materials such as semiconductors, metals, and dielectrics. This nanoscale control not only alters electronic structures and enhances electron spin dynamics but also enables the design of optically active materials with unique properties. This is crucial for applications in holography, optical storage, encryption, and machine vision. These advancements align closely with strategic domains, particularly in manufacturing, trade, connectivity, and human health. 

Prashant has integrated his expertise in atomic structure determination, colloidal chemistry, and computational modeling to pioneer innovative biomolecular sensing platforms. One of the key breakthroughs was the development of rapid synthesis methods that enable the large-scale production of enantiomeric helical structures, marking an important step towards the industrial production of chiral metamaterials.

Building on his capability to observe and manipulate chirality at the nanoscale, Prashant further demonstrated the efficacy of precisely engineered chiral nanoparticles in deactivating the SARS-CoV-2 virus, presenting a solution that circumvents the logistical challenges associated with refrigeration of drugs.