Dr. Prabhu Ganesan Research Associate, Department of Chemical Engineering, USC

Education 1999-2003, PhD (Industrial Chemistry), Central Electrochemical Research Institute/Alagappa University, India. 1993-1995, M.S. (Organic Chemistry), Goa University, India. 1990-1993, B.S. (Chemistry), Madurai Kamaraj University, India. Research Interests     Ø    Aqueous and non-aqueous tape casting slurry formulations for electrodes, electrolyte and electrolyte support fabrication for high temperature fuel cells. Synthesis of alternate electrode materials and evaluating their stability and performance in MCFC operating conditions. Ø     Pulse electrodeposition of Pt and Pt alloy catalyst on carbon substrates for use in PEMFC/DMFC. Mesoporous alternate catalyst support for  polymer electrolyte fuel cells and water electrolyzer. Ø     Novel electroless process and precipitation technique for the deposition of corrosion resistant silica layers. Electroplating bath formulation for Zn-Ni, Zn-Sn binary alloys and Zn-Ni-Cd, Zn-Ni-Cu & Zn-Ni-Sn ternary alloys. Ø     Pulse deposition of nanostructured Zn-Ni, Zn-Sn and Zn-Ni-Cd alloys. Ø      Testing of electroplated parts according to ASTM standards. Ø        Design and performing accelerated corrosion test for evaluating different steel rebars used in concrete.

Publications

1.      Pulse electrodeposition of novel PEM fuel cell cathodes, Subasri M Ayyadurai, Yoon-Seok Choi, Prabhu Ganesan and Branko N. Popov, J Electrochem. Soc., 154(10), 2007, B1063-B1073.

2.      Development of compositionally modulated Zn-Ni multilayer deposits as replacement for cadmium, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, Surf. Coat. Tech., 201(18) 2007, 7896-7904. 

3.      Performance studies of bare and Co plated titanium alloy as cathode current collector in molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), Héctor Colón-Mercado, Prabhu Ganesan, and Branko Popov, Surf. Coat. Tech., 201(14) 2007, 6452-6459.

4.      Development of Sacrificial Zn-Sn Coatings by a Pulse Electrodeposition Process, Yoon-Seok Choi, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, J. Appl. Surf. Finish., 2(1) 2007, 29-36. 

5.     Development of corrosion-resistant silica coatings on surface modified zinc-coated steel, Prabhu Ganesan, Yoon-Seok Choi, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, J. Appl. Surf. Finish., 2(1) 2007, 20-28. 

6.      Development of Zn-Ni-Cd coatings by pulse electrodeposition process, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, Surf. Coat. Tech., 201 (6), 2006, 3658-3669. 

7.      Performance of La_0.8Sr_0.2CoO₃ coated NiO as cathodes for molten carbonate fuel cells, Prabhu Ganesan, Hector Colon, Bala Haran, Branko N. Popov, J. Power  Sources, 115(1) 2003, 12-18. 

8.    Analysis of molten carbonate fuel cell performance using a three-phase homogeneous model, N. Subramanian, B. S. Haran, P. Ganesan, R. E. White, and B. N. Popov, J. Electrochem. Soc, 150(1) 2003, A46-A56.  

9.      Study of cobalt doped lithium nickel oxides as cathodes for MCFC, Prabhu Ganesan, Hector Colon, Bala Haran, Ralph White, Branko N. Popov, J. Power Sources, 111(1) 2002,  109-120. 

10.  Molten carbonate fuel cell development status at CECRI, Karaikudi, C. Solaiyan, G. Prabhu, S. Dheenadayalan. I. Arulraj, S. Muzhumathi, R. Chandrasekaran, R. Pattabiraman and M. Raghavan, Trans SAEST , 36, 3&4, (2001) 83-86.

11.    Preparation and characterization of cathode catalysts for molten carbonate fuel cells,   G.Prabhu, S. Dheenadayalan. I. Arulraj, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman, Ind. J. Chem. Technol., 8, May 2001, 204-210. 

12.  Design and operation of a standard 3 cm² size molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) at  650 ^oC, G. Prabhu, C. Solaiyan, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman, Trans SAEST, 35 (2000) 145. 

13.  Preparation and characterization of porous nickel electrodes for molten carbonate fuel   cells G. Prabhu, C. Solaiyan, P. Gopalakrishnan, S. Dheenadayalan, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman , Bull Electrochem., 15 (1999) 389-393. 

14.  Progress in research and development activities on molten carbonate fuel cells at CECRI, Karaikudi. G. Prabhu, S. Joseph Pores, A. Samson Nesaraj, C. Solaiyan, K.L. Anitha, S.Dheenadayalan, I. Arulraj, S. Muzhumathi, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman, Bull Electrochem., 15 (1999) 12. 

15.  Preparation and characterization of anodes and cathodes for molten carbonate fuel cells, G. Prabhu, C. Solaiyan, S. Dheenadayalan, I. Arulraj, S. Muzhumathi, R. Chandrasekaran and R, Pattabiraman, Bull Electrochem., 15 (1999) 18. 

16.  Effect of feed gas profile on the performance characteristics of molten carbonate fuel cells, S.Dheenadayalan, G. Prabhu, K. L. Anitha, R.Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman. Bull Electrochem., 14 (1998) 252-254. 

17.  Tape casting- A versatile method of making fuel cell components and their characterization, S.Joseph Pores, A. Samson Nesaraj, G. Prabhu, K.L.Anitha, C. Solaiyan, S. Dheenadayalan, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman, Bull Electrochem., 14 (1998) 354-358.

Proceedings/Transactions

1.      Development of sacrificial Zn-Sn coatings by pulse electrodeposition process, Choi, Yoon-Seok, Ganesan, Prabhu, Kumaraguru, Swaminatha P, Popov, Branko N.   Proceedings - AESF SUR/FIN Annual International Technical Conference (2006),     335-350.

2.    Nanostructured Zn-Ni alloys by pulse electrodeposition, Ganesan, Prabhu, Kumaraguru, Swaminatha P, Popov, Branko N, Proceedings - AESF SUR/FIN Annual International Technical Conference (2004), 1064-1075.

 3.     Corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement properties of Zn-Ni-X (X= Cd, P) alloys, S. P. Kumaraguru, P. Ganesan and B. N. Popov, Corrosion in Marine and Saltwater Environments II (D.A. Shifler, T. Tsuru, P.M. Natishan, and S. Ito), The Electrochemical Society, Pennington, NJ, 2004, p.432-442.

 4.     Performance evaluation of a standard molten carbonate fuel cell at different operating conditions, G. Prabhu, C. Solaiyan, S. Dheenadayalan, R. Chandrasekaran and R. Pattabiraman, Proc. Indian National Science Academy, Part A: Physical Sciences  (2004),  70(3),  489-502.

5. Molten carbonate fuel cell development status at CECRI, Karaikudi, C. Solaiyan, G. Prabhu, S. Dheenadayalan. I. Arulraj, S. Muzhumathi, R. Chandrasekaran, R. Pattabiraman and M. Raghavan, Proceedings of Two day International Conference on Fuel Cell Technology Applications and Opportunities, Nov. 26-27, 2001, Organized by Engineers India Ltd, Gurgaon, INDIA.

Contribution to Book Chapters

1.      Molten carbonate fuel cells, Prabhu Ganesan, Rajam Pattabiraman and Branko N. Popov, Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing, Taylor and Francis, NY, 2005.

Selected Technical Presentations

1.  Development of corrosion resistant silica coating on surface modified zinc coated steel, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru, Branko N. Popov, SURFIN 2006, Milwaukee, WI., Sep 18-22, 2006. 

2.  A Novel approach to deposit modulated Zn-Ni multilayer as a replacement for cadmium coating, PrabhuGanesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, SURFIN 2005, St. Louis, June 2005. 

3.  Low cadmium content Zn-Ni alloys by pulse electrodeposition, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, Paper presented at International Aircraft Corrosion Workshop, Solomons, Maryland, Aug. 24-27, 2004. 

4.      Nanostructured Zn-Ni and Zn-Ni-X (X=Cd, Cu, P) alloys by pulse electrodeposition, Prabhu Ganesan, Swaminatha P. Kumaraguru and Branko N. Popov, Paper presented at SURFIN 2004, Chicago, June 2004. 

5.      La_0.8Sr_0.2CoO₃ coated nickel cathodes for molten carbonate fuel cells, Prabhu Ganesan, Hector Colon, Bala Haran, R. E. White and Branko Popov, Paper presented at 200^th  Electrochemical Society meeting, Philadelphia, May 2002. 

6.      Development of high stability cathodes for molten carbonate fuel cells, Prabhu Ganesan, Anand Durairajan, Hector Colon, Bala Haran and Branko Popov, Paper presented at 199^th Electrochemical Society meeting, San Fransisco, September 2001.

Contact Details

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