Prof. Sai Kishore RAVI

Education
PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, NUS, Singapore
Staff title
Assistant Professor

Prof. Sai Kishore Ravi’s research aims to bridge materials science and bioscience in designing functional devices for clean energy and clean water technologies using biogenic, biohybrid, and bioinspired materials, blurring the line between “natural” and “artificial”.

Prof. Ravi earned his PhD from the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS), working on biohybrid energy conversion/storage devices. His doctoral research involved studying natural biological complexes in plants and bacteria from a materials science perspective and exploiting the light-harvesting and charge transport mechanisms in the natural systems for energy and optoelectronic applications. After graduation, he continued at NUS as a post-doctoral researcher, working on semi-artificial photosynthesis. As part of his PhD and post-doctoral research at NUS, Prof. Ravi designed semi-artificial device architectures for photovoltaics, photocapacitors, and tactile sensors. His works have been published in prestigious journals like Advanced MaterialsAdvanced Energy MaterialsAdvanced Functional MaterialsEnergy & Environmental Science, Nature Communications, and Science Advances, and also won NUS’s Annual Best Publication Awards in Material Science for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Prof. Ravi’s research experience extends to developing functional materials for air filtration, solar desalination, and atmospheric water harvesting. His work on the Nanofibrous Air Filter won the ‘Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award 2018’ awarded by the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES). The air filter has been patented (US 10,682,602 B2) and licensed to an Indian multinational company.

Prof. Ravi has also served as an Associate Editor for renowned journals like Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Energy & Sustainability Research, Advanced Materials Technologies, and Energy Technology.


Professional Experience
Associate Editor, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Germany 2019 – 2022
Research Fellow, NUS, Singapore 2018 – 2019

Education 
PhD Materials Science & Engineering, NUS, Singapore 2014 – 2018
B.E. Materials Science & Engineering, CEG, Anna University, India 2010 – 2014

 

Other Information

Thematic Research Areas

  • Solar Fuels (semi-artificial photosynthesis, green hydrogen, photocatalytic/bio-catalytic CO2 reduction)
  • Water-Energy Nexus (light-mediated/bio-catalytic water treatment, wastewater-to-energy technologies, solar desalination)
  • Sustainable Biogenic Electronics (bio-capacitors, self-powered tactile sensors and e-skins)
  • Functional Nanofibers (air-filters, e-textiles, and personal thermal management)

Position(s) Available

We are looking for bright, motivated, and passionate individuals to join our research group. As our work is highly interdisciplinary, we welcome individuals from a variety of different scientific and engineering backgrounds. Desirable backgrounds include but are not limited to Materials Science, Materials Physics, Materials Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, Energy Science/Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.

Candidates are expected to have professional working proficiency in the English language, strong interpersonal skills, written and oral communication skills, and the ability to write/contribute to research articles.

Graduate/PhD Students:

Interested candidates should submit their formal application to the School of Energy & Environment, CityU. Information on the school’s admission criteria and application protocols for its research programs is available here

Applicants wishing to join our lab are encouraged to first get in touch with Prof. Sai Kishore Ravi before submitting their formal application.

Post-doctoral Researchers:

We seek highly talented and creative individuals who are passionate about one or more of the four thematic research areas listed above. Candidates must have a PhD degree (graduated preferably within the last 3 years or awaiting graduation after oral defence) in a relevant discipline of Science or Engineering and should have demonstrated a strong potential for high-calibre experimental research in materials science/chemistry/bioengineering, preferably with a publication track record in high-quality journals. The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who can expand the lab’s research expertise and drive new areas of research we have yet to explore.

Undergraduates/Visiting Students/Interns:

We love the idea of dedicated and enthusiastic undergraduates joining our lab. Students must exhibit a willingness to commit time to the pursuit of scientific research and contribute to research publications.

To apply, please submit your CV to Prof. Ravi at skravi@cityu.edu.hk. Review of applications will begin immediately and applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Salary offered will be highly competitive, commensurate with qualifications and experience. For more information, please email Prof. Ravi. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

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Our research group strives to foster a friendly work environment that supports diversity and inclusion. We do not and shall not discriminate based on race, colour, religion, creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation in any of our activities.

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Key Publications

(To view the full list of Prof. Ravi’s publications, please click here)

  1. SK Ravi, N Paul, L Suresh, AT Salim, T Wu, Z Wu, MR Jones, SC Tan. Bio-photocapacitive tactile sensors as a touch-to-audio braille reader and solar capacitor Materials Horizons 7 (3), 866-876 (2020)
  2. SK Ravi, VK Singh, L Suresh, C Ku, V Sanjairaj, DK Nandakumar, Y Chen, W Sun, PHL Sit, SC Tan. Hydro‐Assisted Self‐Regenerating Brominated N‐Alkylated Thiophene Diketopyrrolopyrrole Dye Nanofibers—A Sustainable Synthesis Route for Renewable Air Filter Materials Small 16 (14), 1906319 (2020)
  3. SK Ravi, Y Zhang, Y Wang, DK Nandakumar, W Sun, MR Jones, SC Tan. Optical Shading Induces an In‐Plane Potential Gradient in a Semiartificial Photosynthetic System Bringing Photoelectric Synergy Advanced Energy Materials 9 (35), 1901449 (2019)
  4. SK Ravi, P Rawding, AM Elshahawy, K Huang, W Sun, F Zhao, J Wang, MR Jones, and SC Tan. Photosynthetic apparatus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides exhibits prolonged charge storage Nature Communications 10 (1), 1-10 (2019)
  5. SK Ravi, W Sun, DK Nandakumar, Y Zhang, SC Tan Optical manipulation of work function contrasts on metal thin films Science Advances 4 (3), eaao6050 (2018)
  6. SK Ravi, T Wu, VS Udayagiri, XM Vu, Y Wang, MR Jones, SC Tan. Photosynthetic bioelectronic sensors for touch perception, UV‐detection, and nanopower generation: toward self‐powered E‐skins Advanced Materials 30 (39), 1802290 (2018)
  7. SK Ravi, DJK Swainsbury, VK Singh, YK Ngeow, MR Jones, SC Tan. A mechanoresponsive phase‐changing electrolyte enables fabrication of high‐output solid‐state photobioelectrochemical devices from pigment‐protein multilayers Advanced Materials 30 (5), 1704073 (2018)
  8. SK Ravi, VS Udayagiri, L Suresh, SC Tan. Emerging role of the band‐structure approach in biohybrid photovoltaics: a path beyond bioelectrochemistry Advanced Functional Materials 28 (24), 1705305 (2018)
  9. VK SinghSK Ravi†, JW Ho, JKC Wong, MR Jones, SC Tan. Biohybrid photoprotein‐semiconductor cells with deep‐lying redox shuttles achieve a 0.7 V photovoltage Advanced Functional Materials 28 (24), 1703689 (2018) †Equal Contribution
  10. SK Ravi, Z Yu, DJK Swainsbury, J Ouyang, MR Jones, SC Tan. Enhanced output from biohybrid photoelectrochemical transparent tandem cells integrating photosynthetic proteins genetically modified for expanded solar energy harvesting Advanced Energy Materials 7 (7), 1601821 (2017)
  11. VK SinghSK Ravi†, W Sun, SC Tan. Transparent nanofibrous mesh self‐assembled from molecular LEGOs for high efficiency air filtration with new functionalities Small 13 (6), 1601924 (2017) †Equal Contribution.
  12. SK Ravi, SC Tan. Progress and perspectives in exploiting photosynthetic biomolecules for solar energy harnessing Energy & Environmental Science 8 (9), 2551-2573 (2015)
Staff Image
Sai Kishore RAVI
Contact Information
Office: YEUNG-B5422
Phone: +(852)-3442-6702
Fax: +(852)-3442-0688
Email: skravi@cityu.edu.hk
Twitter: @SaiKishoreRavi
LinkedIn: SaiKishoreRavi
Google Scholar: Sai Kishore Ravi

Time slots for consultation

Research Interests
  • Solar Fuels
    • Semi-artificial photosynthesis
    • Green hydrogen production
    • Photocatalytic/bio-catalytic CO2 reduction
  • Water-Energy Nexus
    • Light-mediated/bio-catalytic water treatment
    • Wastewater-to-energy technologies
    • Solar desalination
  • Sustainable Biogenic Electronics
    • Bio-capacitors
    • Self-powered tactile sensors
    • e-skins
  • Functional Nanofibers
    • Air-filters
    • e-textiles
    • personal thermal management