Sridhar Komarneni, Ph.D.

Sridhar Komarneni, Ph.D.

  • Distinguished Professor of Clay Mineralogy
205 Materials Research Laboratory
University Park, PA 16802

Areas of Expertise

  • Materials from plants and plant by-products
  • Use of clays for remediation;Slow release fertilizers with minerals

Education

  • Ph.D., Soil Chemistry and Geochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1973
  • M.S., Soil Chemistry, The Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 1970
  • B.Sc., A.P. Agricultural University, Bapatla, 1968

Responsibilities and Interests

Cation Exchange Processes: Research interests include: (1) fundamental cation exchange (kinetics, equilibria and thermodynamics) in clay minerals, zeolites and tobermorites, and (2) separations of critical and strategic metals and hazardous radioactive species.

Nuclear and Hazardous Waste Disposal: Research interests include: (1) ceramic waste from development; (2) leach testing of waste forms; and (3) immobilization of radioactive species by ion exchange.

Ultrafine particles (powders): Research interests include: (1) preparation of ultrafine powders by hydrothermal and sol-gel methods, and (2) powder characterization of size, shape, composition and surface area by using different techniques.

Sol-Gel Chemistry: Research interests include: (1) preparation of nanocomposite and single phase sol-gel bulk materials and thin films for structural and electronic applications; (2) structural investigation of sol-gels by TEM and NMR; and (3) preparation and characterization of nanocomposites of clays, gels and zeolites for use as desiccants.

Appointment

  • 20% Teaching
  • 80% Research

Courses Taught

Links

Professional Background

  • 1987–present, Penn State, Professor
  • 1984–1987, Penn State, Associate Professor/Senior Research Associate
  • 1981–1984, Penn State, Senior Research Associate
  • 1978–1981, Penn State, Research Associate

Selected Publications

  1. Stout, S., and S. Komarneni, "A Microwave-Assisted Method for the Rapid Removal of Potassium from Phlogopite", Clays Clay Miner. 50:248–253 (2002).
  2. Kodama, S., Y. Harada, M. Ueda, K. Shimizu, K. shuto and S. Komarneni, "Selective Exchange and Fixation of Strontium ions with Ultrafine Na-4-mica", Langmuir, 17:4881–4886 (2001).
  3. Kodama, T., and S. Komarneni,"Simplified Synthesis of Na-4-Mica and its Cation Exchange Properties," Sep. Sci. Tech., 35:1133-1152(2000).
  4. Komarneni, S., N. Kozai, and W. Paulus, "Superselective Clay for Radium Uptake", Nature 410:771–771 (2001).
  5. Newalkar, B., S. Komarneni and H. Katsuki, "Rapid Synthesis of Mesoporous SBA-15 Molecular Sieve by a Microwave-Hydrothermal Process", Chem. Commun., 2389–2390 (2000).
  6. Komarneni, S., T. Kodama, W. J. Paulus and C. Carson, "Synthetic Clay Excels in 90Sr Removal", J. Mat. Res. 15:1254–1256 (2000).
  7. Kodama, T., and S. Komarneni,"Selective Cu2+ and Pb2+ Exchange with Highly Charged Cation Exchanger of Na-4-Mica", Sep. Sci. Tech. 34:2275–2292 (1999).
  8. Komarneni, S., N. Kozai and R. Roy, "Novel Function for Anionic Clays: Selective Transition Metal Cation Uptake by Diadochy" J. Mat. Chem. 8:1329–1331 (1998).
  9. Komarneni, S., R. Pidugu and V. C. Menon, "Water Adsorption and Desorption Isotherms of Silica and Alumina Mesoporous Molecular Sieves," J. Porous Mat., 3:99–106 (1996).
  10. Paulus, W. J., S. Komarneni and R. Roy, "Bulk Synthesis and Selective Exchange of Strontium Ions in Na4Mg6Al4Si4O20F 4 Mica," Nature, 357: 571–573 (1992).
  11. Komarneni, S. and R. Roy. 1988. A Cesium Selective Ion Sieve Made by Topotactic Leaching. Science, 239:1286–1288.
  12. Vilmin, G., S. Komarneni and R. Roy. 1987. Crystallization of ThSiO4 from Structurally and/or Compositionally Diphasic Gels. J. Mat. Res. 2:489–493.
  13. Komarneni, S., E. Breval, M. Miyake and R. Roy. 1987. Cation-Exchange Properties of Al+Na-Substituted Synthetic Tobermorites. Clays Clay Miner, 35:385–390.
  14. Ravindranathan, P., S. Komarneni, A. S. Bhalla, R. Roy and L. E.Cross. 1988. Sol-Gel Synthesis of Fine Particle Superconducting Oxide, YBa2Cu3O7-x. J. Mat. Res., 3:810–812.
  15. Komarneni, S. 1988. Hydrothermal Preparation of Low-Expansion 'NZP' Family of Materials. Int. J. High Tech. Ceramics, 4:31–39.