Professional Qualification:

• Ph.D. (Nanoscience and Technology) from Sharda University, Greater Noida (U.P.), March 2017 - August 2020.
  
  • Topic: Electrode Engineering in Quantum Dot Solar Cells for Efficient Charge Transport.
  • Guide(s): Prof. Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Prof. R. M. Mehra.
• M. Tech (Nano Science and Technology) from Sharda University, Greater Noida (U.P.) securing 7.93/10, 2011 - 2013.
• B. Tech (Electrical Engineering) from Narula Institute of Technology, affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology, securing 7.56/10, 2006 - 2010.

Work Experience:

• CSIR-Senior Research Fellow at Sharda University from May 2018 to present.
• Junior Research Fellow in a DRDO project under Prof. Bhaskar Bhattacharya in Sharda University from December 2017 to April 2018.
• Teaching Assistant in School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University for B.Tech Open Elective on Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology from September to December 2017.
• Operations Manager at Medisys Health Private Limited from January 2016 to present.
• Teaching Assistant in School of Engineering and Technology, Sharda University for B.Tech Open Elective lectures on Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology from August to December 2015.
• Teaching Assistant in School of Engineering and Technology, Sharda University for B.Tech Physics Laboratory Practical classes from January to May 2015 (one semester).
• Junior Research Fellow in a DRDO project under Prof. R. M. Mehra in Sharda University from December 2013 to November 2015.
• Teaching Assistant in School of Engineering and Technology, Sharda University, Greater Noida from August 2011 to January 2012.
• Tutor at Jain Tutorials, Howrah, West Bengal from August 2010 to July 2011

Research Experience:

- Chemical synthesis of various nanomaterials, including chalcogenide quantum dots (QD).

- Synthesis of solid polymer electrolytes and their conductivity studies.

- Fabrication of dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and QD sensitized solar cells (QDSSC).

- Used various characterization tools CH electrochemical workstation, Keithley source meter, UV-Vis absorption, SEM, TEM and XRD.

- Synthesis of graphene oxide via various chemical routes.

- Fabrication of graphene oxide based ionic polymer metal composite (IPMC) actuator.

Papers under communication (02):

1. Karan Surana, R. M. Mehra, and Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Nitrogen doped Carbon Quantum Dots showing strong blue emission with potential application in co-sensitized solar cell, under Communication.
2. Sandeep Pandey, Manoj Karakoti, Karan Surana, Pawan S. Dhapola, Boddepalli S. Bhushan, Swaroop Ganguly, P. K. Singh, Ali Abbas, Anurag Srivastava, N. G. Sahoo, Graphene Nanosheets Derived from Plastic Waste for the Application of DSSCs and Supercapacitors, under review in Scientific Reports.

Papers Published (18):

1. Karan Surana, R. M. Mehra, and Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Reduced Graphene Oxide and graded Quantum Dots for enhanced Photovoltaic Performance, Optical Materials, 107 (2020) 110092.

   DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2020.110092 (IF – 2.779)

2. Karan Surana, Miftahu Gambo Idris, and Bhaskar Bhattacharya, Natural dye extraction from Syzygium Cumini and its potential photovoltaic application as economical sensitizer, Applied Nanoscience, 10 (2020) 3819–3825. DOI: 1007/s13204-020-01452-5. (IF – 2.880)
3. Monika Srivastava, Karan Surana, Shruti Singh, Pramod K. Singh, and Ram Chandra Singh, Highly efficient sandwich structured Perovskite solar cell using PEDOT:PSS in room ambient conditions, Materials Today: Proceedings, DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.03.329. (Scopus)
4. Shaheen Naz, Iqra Javid, Subhrajit Konwar, Karan Surana, Pramod K. Singh, Mohit Sahni and Bhaskar Bhattacharya, A simple low cost method for synthesis of SnO₂ nanoparticles and its characterization, SN Applied Sciences, 2 (2020) 975. DOI: 10.1007/s42452-020-2812-2
5. Tamkeen Farooq, Karan Surana, and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Synthesis of Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) thin film to achieve Resistive Switching property for the application of nonvolatile memory, Materials Today: Proceedings, DOI: 1016/j.matpr.2020.02.044. (Scopus)
   
6. Sunanda Kakroo, Karan Surana, and B. Bhattacharya, Electrodeposited MnO₂-NiO Composites as a Pt Free Counter Electrode for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Journal of Electronic Materials,

   49 (2020) 2197-2202. DOI: 10.1007/s11664-019-07925-w (IF - 1.676)

7. Chandan Yadav, Karan Surana, Pramod K. Singh, and B. Bhattacharya, An ultra-simple method for synthesis of violet CdS quantum dots at sub-room temperature, Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 20 (2020) 3935–3938. DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2020.17496 (IF – 1.093)
8. Sunanda Kakroo, Karan Surana, and B. Bhattacharya, Counter electrode in polymer electrolyte based DSSC: Platinum versus electrodeposited MnO₂, Macromolecular Symposia, 388 (2019) 1900011. DOI: 10.1002/masy.201900011 (Scopus)

9. Charu Pathak, Karan Surana, Vivek Kumar Shukla, and Pramod K. Singh, Fabrication and characterization of dye sensitized solar cell using natural dyes, Materials Today: Proceedings, 12P3 (2019) 665-670. (Scopus)

10. Karan Surana, Subhrajit Konwar, Pramod K Singh, and B. Bhattacharya, Utilizing reduced Graphene Oxide for achieving better efficient dye sensitized solar cells, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 788 (2019) 672-676. DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2019.02.287 (IF – 4.175)
11. Karan Surana, Nitin A. Jadhav, Pramod K. Singh, and B. Bhattacharya, Studies on polarization effect of polyethylene-based polymer electrolyte in dye and quantum dot sensitized solar cells, Applied Nanoscience, 8 (2018) 2065-2069. DOI: 10.1007/s13204-018-0887-5 (IF – 3.198)
12. Pawan S. Dhapola, Pramod K. Singh, B. Bhattacharya, Karan Surana, R. M. Mehra, Meenal Gupta, Abhimanyu Singh, Vijay Singh, and Nanda G Sahoo, Electrical, thermal, and dielectric studies of ionic liquid-based polymer electrolyte for photoelectrochemical device, High Performance Polymers, 30 (2018) 1002-1008. DOI: 10.1177/0954008318780218 (IF – 1.584)
13. Karan Surana, Ibrahim T. Salisu, R. M. Mehra, and B. Bhattacharya, A simple synthesis route of low temperature CdSe-CdS core-shell quantum dots and its application in solar cell, Optical Materials, 82 (2018) 135-140. DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2018.05.060 (IF – 2.687)
14. Karan Surana, R. M. Mehra, and B. Bhattacharya, Quantum Dot Solar Cells with size tuned CdSe QDs exhibiting 1.51V, Materials Today: Proceedings, 5 (2018) 9108-9113.

    DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2017.10.028 (Scopus

15. Karan Surana, R. M. Mehra, B. Bhattacharya, Hee-Woo Rhee, Anji Reddy Polu, and Pramod K. Singh, A comprehensive study of chalcogenide Quantum Dot Sensitized Solar Cells with a new solar cell exceeding 1V output, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 52 (2015) 1083 – 1092. (IF – 10.556)
16. Karan Surana, Pramod K. Singh, B. Bhattacharya, C. S. Verma, and R. M. Mehra, Synthesis of graphene oxide coated Nafion membrane for actuator application, Ceramics International, 41 (2015) 5093 – 5099. (IF – 3.450)
17. Karan Surana, Pramod K. Singh, Hee-Woo Rhee, and B. Bhattacharya, Synthesis, Characterization and application of CdSe quantum dots, Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 20 (2014) 4188 – 4193. (IF – 4.978)
18. Manjeet Singh, Vivek K. Singh, Karan Surana, B. Bhattacharya, Pramod K. Singh, and Hee-Woo Rhee, New polymer electrolyte for electrochemical application, Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 19 (2013) 819 – 822. (IF – 4.978)
    

Achievements:

• My research paper ‘Synthesis, Characterization and application of CdSe quantum dots’ was amongst the Top 25 Hottest Article of Elsevier in 2015.

• Second Best Paper Award in National Conference on Nano Devices – April 2015 in Hindustan College of Science & Technology.

• Best Oral Presentation Award in Solar Asia – August 2015 in Savitribai Phule Pune University.

Conferences Attended / Organised:

• National Conference on Futuristic materials – September 2011 in Sharda University.
• Indo – Japan Conference on Frontier Nanomaterials for energy – January 2012 in Sharda University.
• National Conference on Semiconducting Materials and Nano Devices – September 2012 in Sharda University.
• International Conference on Solar Energy Photovoltaic – December 2012 in KIIT University.
• Science Academies Lecture workshop on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology – March 2013 in Jamia Milia Islamia.
• International Conference on Science & Engineering of Materials – January 2014 in Sharda University.
• National Conference on Science & Engineering (NCSE) – July 2014 in JK Lakshmipat University.
• National Conference on Nano devices – April 2015 in Hindustan College of Science & Technology.
• 2^nd International Conference on Science & Engineering of Materials (ICSEM-2018) – January 2018 in Sharda University.
• National Conference on Materials and Devices (NCMD-2018) – August 2018 in Sharda University.
• National Conference on Exotic Materials and Devices (NCEMD-2019) – January 2019 in MMV, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
• 3^rd International Conference on Science & Engineering of Materials (ICSEM-2019) – July 2019 in Sharda University.
• Online National Conference Recent Advances in Functional Materials (RAFM-2020) – November 2020 by Department of Physics, ARSD College, University of Delhi.

Poster / Paper Presentations:

• A poster presented in International Conference on Solar Energy Photovoltaic – December 2012 in KIIT University on ‘New polymer electrolyte for electrochemical application’.
• A poster presented in International Conference on Science & Engineering of Materials – January 2014 in Sharda University on ‘Greener approach to synthesis of cadmium selenide quantum dots’.
• A paper presented in National Conference on Science and Engineering – July 2014 in JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur on ‘Temperature dependent synthesis of 2-Mercaptoethanol capped CdSe quantum dots and its characterization’.
• A paper presented in National Conference on Nano devices – April 2015 in Hindustan College of Science & Technology on ‘Ionic Polymer blend metal composite Actuator based on graphene’ and received Second Best Paper Award.
• A paper presented in Solar Asia – 2015 in Savitribai Phule Pune University on ‘Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dot Solar Cells exceeding open circuit voltage of 1V’ and received Best Oral Presentation Award.
• A paper presented in ICSEM – 2018 in Sharda University on ‘Quantum Dot Solar Cell with mixed sized CdSe Quantum Dots working electrode exhibiting a Voc of 1.51V’.
• A paper presented in NCEMD – 2019 in BHU, Varanasi on ‘Utilizing reduced Graphene Oxide for achieving better efficient dye sensitized solar cells’.
• A paper presented in ICSEM – 2019, Sharda University, Greater Noida on ‘Taking advantage of reduced graphene oxide for enhancing the efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cell’.
• A paper presented in Online National Conference RAFM – 2020, ARSD College, University of Delhi on ‘Reduced graphene oxide and sequentially deposited quantum dots for efficient quantum dot sensitized solar cell’.