Kakali Santra

Kakali Santra is a Humboldt Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids in Dresden, working in Prof. Claudia Felser's research group. Her position centers on controlling spin states in chiral topological materials to drive asymmetric chemical reactions and investigating spin transport properties through these novel systems.

Her research bridges spintronics and quantum chemistry, focusing on the Chirality Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS) effect discovered in 1999 where electron spin becomes coupled to linear momentum in homochiral molecules. She specializes in chiral topological materials like PtGa that exhibit structural and electronic chirality, momentum-space chirality, and long Fermi arcs enabling exceptional catalytic activity—demonstrated by PtGa outperforming commercial Pt/C catalysts in hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). This work pioneers spin-directed asymmetric synthesis pathways with implications for enantioselective chemistry and quantum device design.

Scientific Awards:

• Humboldt Fellowship

Dr. Santra's research is funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, leveraging the Max Planck Institute's expertise in crystal growth and topological quantum materials. She operates within the Topological Quantum Chemistry (TQC) research framework, collaborating with Prof. Felser's team to optimize reaction pathways through material composition and electronic band topology engineering. Her work targets intrinsic spin and orbital angular momentum polarization in chiral crystals for next-generation spintronic applications.

As a TQC member, she contributes to advancing the institute's leadership in quantum material synthesis while exploring uncharted territory in spin-mediated asymmetric catalysis—a field with transformative potential for chemical manufacturing and quantum information science.