Dr. Kalaivanan Nagarajan | Chemistry | Young Scientist Award
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai | India
Dr. Kalaivanan Nagarajan research focuses on exploring the fundamental and applied aspects of lightโmatter strong coupling, particularly vibrational strong coupling (VSC), to understand and manipulate chemical reactivity and material properties within optical cavities. By integrating principles from physical chemistry, quantum electrodynamics, and materials science, the work investigates how molecular vibrations interact coherently with confined optical modes in FabryโPerot cavities to form hybrid lightโmatter states known as vibrational polaritons. These studies reveal how strong coupling conditions can reshape potential energy surfaces, influence molecular structure, dynamics, and reaction kinetics, and ultimately enable control of chemical transformations without the need for external photoexcitation. A key highlight of this research is the demonstration that VSC can modulate phase transition behaviors, such as the glass transition temperature of polymers like polyvinyl acetate and polystyrene, providing experimental evidence of cavity-modified thermomechanical properties. Through systematic spectroscopic, thermodynamic, and theoretical investigations, the research establishes how vacuum electromagnetic fields play an active role in determining material behavior and chemical outcomes. This pioneering approach contributes to the emerging field of polariton chemistry, offering new pathways for designing energy-efficient reactions, reactivity control strategies, and material innovations driven by quantum lightโmatter interactions.
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Featured Publications
Thomas, A., Lethuillier-Karl, L., Nagarajan, K., Vergauwe, R. M. A., George, J., & Ebbesen, T. W. (2019). Tilting a ground-state reactivity landscape by vibrational strong coupling. Science, 363(6427), 615โ619. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau7742
Nagarajan, K., Thomas, A., & Ebbesen, T. W. (2021). Chemistry under vibrational strong coupling. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 143(41), 16877โ16889. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c07487
Sharma, P., Damien, D., Nagarajan, K., Shaijumon, M. M., & Hariharan, M. (2013). Perylene-polyimide-based organic electrode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries. The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 4(19), 3192โ3197. https://doi.org/10.1021/jz401590t
Vergauwe, R. M. A., Thomas, A., Nagarajan, K., Shalabney, A., George, J., & Ebbesen, T. W. (2019). Modification of enzyme activity by vibrational strong coupling of water. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58(43), 15324โ15328. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201906346
ย Nagarajan, K., Mallia, A. R., Muraleedharan, K., & Hariharan, M. (2017). Enhanced intersystem crossing in core-twisted aromatics. Chemical Science, 8(3), 1776โ1782. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6SC04791E
ย Banda, H., Damien, D., Nagarajan, K., Hariharan, M., & Shaijumon, M. M. (2015). A polyimide-based all-organic sodium ion battery. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3(19), 10453โ10458. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5TA01921B
Thomas, A., Jayachandran, A., Lethuillier-Karl, L., Vergauwe, R. M. A., Nagarajan, K., George, J., & Ebbesen, T. W. (2020). Ground state chemistry under vibrational strong coupling: Dependence of thermodynamic parameters on the Rabi splitting energy. Nanophotonics, 9(2), 249โ255. https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2019-0357
Banda, H., Damien, D., Nagarajan, K., Raj, A., Hariharan, M., & Shaijumon, M. M. (2017). Twisted perylene diimides with tunable redox properties for organic sodium-ion batteries. Advanced Energy Materials, 7(20), 1701316. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201701316