Ram Seshadri

Associate Professor

Materials
Chemistry & Biochemistry

Ram Seshadri

Contacts

Materials Department
University of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106

tel: (805) 893 6129
fax: (805) 893 8797
seshadri@mrl.ucsb.edu

Personal web site

Research Description

We are an experimental group involved in the synthesis and characterization of extended inorganic materials. Our efforts are primarily focused on magnetic materials, though we have been known to dabble in other material properties. We are particularly interested in developing toolboxes for the rational design of novel magnetic materials. In this quest, we rely on an understanding of crystal chemistry and structures, on first principles density functional calculations, and on an in-house SQUID magnetometer. Our interests extend beyond the unit cell and perfect crystals, to material patterns including nanoparticulate materials (specifically magnetic oxide nanoparticles) and macroporous materials. We have for many years, been intrigued and inspired by the material patterns manifest in natural biomineralization processes. We are very committed to undergraduate research and at any given time, approximately half the research group comprise undergraduate interns. Ram's teaching at the graduate level is concerned with inorganic materials: crystallography, nanophase and nanoparticulate materials, and structure-property relations. At the undergraduate level, Ram teaches introductory materials science and engineering, as well as materials chemistry to undergraduate chemists and engineers. The material developed and used for teaching is posted online, and it's widespread use is welcomed. Ram has also developed specialized lectures aimed at undergraduates, dealing with scientific ethics, and with communicating science that can be made available if desired.

Research Groups

Biography

After some years as a post-doctoral fellow in Caen, France, and in Mainz, Germany, he joined the faculty of the Indian Institute of Science in 1999. He moved to the Materials Department, UCSB in 2002 as an Assistant Professor, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. Since Fall 07, he is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Ram is the author of over 140 publications in the broad area of functional inorganic materials, and is a recipient of the ExxonMobil Solid State Chemistry Faculty Fellowship of the American Chemical Society.


Awards/Honors

  • American Chemical Society ExxonMobil Solid State Chemistry Faculty Fellowship., 2005
  • National Science Foundation Career Award, 2005
  • Co-PI of National Science Foundation Chemical Bonding Center (one of three awarded)., 2004
  • Journals Grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry/visitor at the Chemistry Department, Manchester., 2002
  • Professeur Invit´e, ´Ecole Centrale Paris., 2002
  • Visitor, Anorganische Chemie, Universit¨at Mainz., 1999 & 2001
  • Journals Grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry/visitor at the Chemistry Department, Queen Mary, University of London., 1999
  • Young Associate of the Indian Academy of Science., 1999
  • Sudborough Medal for Best Thesis (over a 2-year period), Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit., 1996

Selected Publications

See complete list of publications
  • Covalent bonding and the nature of band gaps in some half-Heusler compounds, J. Phys. D., 39, 2006, 776-785, H.C. Kandpal, C. Felser, and R. Seshadri
  • Displacive disorder in three high-k bismuth oxide pyrochlores, Mater. Res. Bull., 41, 2006, 961-966, B. Melot, E. Rodriguez, Th. Proffen, M. A. Hayward, and R. Seshadri
  • Lone pairs in insulating pyrochlores: Ice rules and high-k behavior, Solid State Mater Sci, 2006, 259-266, R. Seshadri
  • Topochemical formation of mesoporous MnO crystals, Chem. Mater., 18, 2006, 1462-1463, E. S. Toberer, J. P. Löfvander, and R. Seshadri
  • Zinc oxide-based diluted magnetic semiconductors, Solid State Mater Sci, 9, 2006, 1-7, R. Seshadri
  • Organic phase conversion of bulk (wurtzite) ZnO to nanophase (wurtzite and zinc blende) ZnO, Solid State Sci., 7, 2005, 1500-1505, L. P. Snedeker, A. S. Risbud, O. Masala, J. P. Zhang, and R. Seshadri
  • Spinel ferrite/MnO core/shell nanoparticles: Chemical synthesis of all-oxide exchange biased architectures, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 127, 2005, 9354-9355, O. Masala and R. Seshadri
  • Spontaneous formation of macroporous monoliths of mesoporous manganese oxide crystals, Adv. Mater., 17, 2005, 2244-2246, E. S. Toberer and R. Seshadri
  • Synthesis of luminescing (In,Ga)N nanoparticles from an inorganic ammonium fluoride precursor, J. Mater. Chem., 15, 2005, 1891-1895, B. Schwenzer, C. Meier, O. Masala, R. Seshadri, Steven P. DenBaars, and U. K. Mishra
  • Template-free routes to macroporous monoliths of nickel and iron oxides: Toward porous metals and conformally coated pore walls, Chem. Mater., 17, 2005, 834-838, E. S. Toberer, A. Joshi, and R. Seshadri