Kumar Biradha

Grant Category:	Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowships (Research)
Project Title:	Porphyrin-based metal organic frameworks for the CO2 capture and electrochemical reduction to value-added products
Field of Study:	Chemistry
Home Institution:	Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Kharagpur, Uttar Pradesh
Host Institution:	University of North Texas , Denton, TX
Grant Start Month:	September 2025
Duration of Grant:	Nine months

Brief Bio:

Professor Kumar Biradha is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. His research focuses on designing multifunctional supramolecular materials using innovative crystal engineering strategies. Specifically, his work explores cocrystals, gels, organic polymers, coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks, with potential applications in electrocatalysis, molecular sensing, solid-state [2+2] photo-dimerizations and polymerizations, gas adsorption, inclusion materials, semi conductivity, luminescence, and proton conductivity. Prof. Biradha earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Hyderabad, India, in 1997. He completed postdoctoral research at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada (1997–1998), and at Nagoya University in Japan (1998–2002). He has held several editorial and advisory roles throughout his career. He also worked as Associate Editor of Crystal Growth & Design, an ACS publication. With an H-index of 58, Prof. Biradha has published over 240 research articles in reputed international journals.

During his Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship, Prof. Biradha is primarily looking to develop methods to reduce carbon dioxide into valuable small molecules. He is specifically working with MOFs that incorporate electron-rich aromatic struts and redox-active metal centers.