معرفی
Kushal Bagchi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University and a Norman Hackerman-Welch Young Investigator. His research focuses on understanding molecular organization and dynamics in functional organic materials, including semiconducting glasses, pharmaceutical solids, and photonic liquid crystals. Bagchi employs synchrotron X-ray scattering, polarized optical microscopy, and spectroscopic techniques to probe molecular packing and dynamics at interfaces. His work aims to improve applications in healthcare and sustainability.
Bagchi earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry and Biology from St Joseph’s College, Bangalore (2013), M.Sc. in Chemistry from Pondicherry University (2015), and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2020), advised by Prof. Mark Ediger. His doctoral research on interfacial molecular packing in organic semiconductors earned the K.V and Sara Reddy Award in Physical Chemistry. Postdoctoral studies at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (advised by Profs. Paul Nealey and Juan de Pablo) explored nanostructured surfaces for liquid crystal self-assembly.
Research interests include liquid crystal phase engineering, microfluidic control of anisotropic systems, and vapor-deposited organic semiconductor characterization. Recent work highlights functional soft materials from blue phases, flow-induced morphological changes, and crystallization memory effects in chiral systems.
Scientific Awards:
- K.V and Sara Reddy Award in Physical Chemistry
Bagchi’s group combines interdisciplinary approaches across chemistry, physics, and engineering to advance soft materials science. Current efforts focus on optimizing structure-property relationships in anisotropic materials and developing novel methods for molecular-level material design.
