Our lab focuses on research related to ‘Gas Hydrates’ – the ice-like crystalline solid compounds, where the guest gas molecules like CH4, CO2, or H2 are enclathrated (or trapped or captured) into the small and large hydrogen-bonded host water cavities at the appropriate pressure-temperature conditions, making them structurally stable. These compounds have recently emerged with a lot of attention from industry and academia for their various important technological applications.  

The core cornerstone of our research emphasizes hydrate nucleation, growth, inhibition, and dissociation by examining the kinetics, thermodynamics, and morphology to foster our knowledge of different fundamental and applied aspects of gas hydrates at various scales for important industrial applications. Currently, we are working on the following research areas:

1. Hydrate-based energy storage of natural gas and hydrogen
2. Hydrate-based CO2 capture, storage, and sequestration for carbon mitigation
3. Hydrate-based gas separation for multicomponent industry-relevant gas mixtures
4. Hydrate-based desalination of effluent water 
5. Hydrate inhibition for flow assurance in oil and gas transportation pipelines

We encourage prospective interdisciplinary research collaborations and discussions to multiply our knowledge. Interested candidates can get in touch with us at namrata@che.iitkgp.ac.in for relevant subject matter.