Anil K. Bhowmick

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Anil K. Bhowmick (born 1954) is a University of Houston professor known for contributions to polymer nanocomposites, thermoplastic elastomers, sustainability, adhesion, failure and degradation of rubbers and rubber technology. [1]

Contents

Early Life and Education

Bhowmick was born in 1954 in Kolkata, India. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata in 1974. He completed his master's degree (M.Sc.) in 1976, and his doctoral (Ph.D.) degree in 1980 under advisor S. K. De at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. His doctoral thesis treated the topic of vulcanization at high temperature. [2] He worked briefly at Dunlop India Ltd. before taking a postdoctoral position at the Institute of Polymer Science, at the University of Akron from 1981 to 1984. [3]

Career

Bhowmick returned to IIT Kharagpur as an assistant professor in 1984. He achieved the rank of full Professor in 1988. He headed the rubber technology program during two periods: 1990-1991 and 2005–2007. In 2009, he was named a professor of Eminence at IIT Kharagpur. He was a visiting scholar at the London School of Polymer Technology in 1987 and at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1991–1992. He was Head of the Rubber Technology Centre during 1990-91 and 2005–2007, and Dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy during 2000–2003 at IIT Kharagpur. He was named a professor of Eminence at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 2009. He was the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna until joining the University of Houston in 2019.

Bhowmick co-authored with University of Akron professor Howard L. Stephens the popular text Handbook of elastomers. [4] His most cited works address the subject of graphite and clay nanocomposites with polymer matrices. [5] [6]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vulcanization</span> Process of hardening rubber

Vulcanization is a range of processes for hardening rubbers. The term originally referred exclusively to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur, which remains the most common practice. It has also grown to include the hardening of other (synthetic) rubbers via various means. Examples include silicone rubber via room temperature vulcanizing and chloroprene rubber (neoprene) using metal oxides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebonite</span> Highly vulcanized rubber that is generically known as "hard rubber"

Ebonite is a brand name for a material generically known as hard rubber, obtained via vulcanizing natural rubber for prolonged periods. Ebonite may contain from 25% to 80% sulfur and linseed oil. Its name comes from its intended use as an artificial substitute for ebony wood. The material has also been called vulcanite, although that name formally refers to the mineral vulcanite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thermosetting polymer</span> Polymer obtained by irreversibly hardening (curing) a resin

In materials science, a thermosetting polymer, often called a thermoset, is a polymer that is obtained by irreversibly hardening ("curing") a soft solid or viscous liquid prepolymer (resin). Curing is induced by heat or suitable radiation and may be promoted by high pressure or mixing with a catalyst. Heat is not necessarily applied externally, and is often generated by the reaction of the resin with a curing agent. Curing results in chemical reactions that create extensive cross-linking between polymer chains to produce an infusible and insoluble polymer network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elastomer</span> Polymer with rubber-like elastic properties

An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus (E) and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of elastic polymer, is often used interchangeably with rubber, although the latter is preferred when referring to vulcanisates. Each of the monomers which link to form the polymer is usually a compound of several elements among carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and silicon. Elastomers are amorphous polymers maintained above their glass transition temperature, so that considerable molecular reconformation is feasible without breaking of covalent bonds. At ambient temperatures, such rubbers are thus relatively compliant and deformable. Their primary uses are for seals, adhesives and molded flexible parts.

A synthetic rubber is an artificial elastomer. They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts. About 32 million metric tons of rubbers are produced annually in the United States, and of that amount two thirds are synthetic. Synthetic rubber, just like natural rubber, has many uses in the automotive industry for tires, door and window profiles, seals such as O-rings and gaskets, hoses, belts, matting, and flooring. They offer a different range of physical and chemical properties which can improve the reliability of a given product or application. Synthetic rubbers are superior to natural rubbers in two major respects: thermal stability, and resistance to oils and related compounds. They are more resistant to oxidizing agents, such as oxygen and ozone which can reduce the life of products like tires.

Polymer engineering is generally an engineering field that designs, analyses, and modifies polymer materials. Polymer engineering covers aspects of the petrochemical industry, polymerization, structure and characterization of polymers, properties of polymers, compounding and processing of polymers and description of major polymers, structure property relations and applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Goodyear Medal</span> Award

The Charles Goodyear Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society, Rubber Division. Established in 1941, the award is named after Charles Goodyear, the discoverer of vulcanization, and consists of a gold medal, a framed certificate and prize money. The medal honors individuals for "outstanding invention, innovation, or development which has resulted in a significant change or contribution to the nature of the rubber industry". Awardees give a lecture at an ACS Rubber Division meeting, and publish a review of their work in the society's scientific journal Rubber Chemistry and Technology.

The Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award is a professional award conferred by the ACS Rubber Division. Established in 1983, the award is named after Melvin Mooney, developer of the Mooney viscometer and of the Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic law. The award consists of an engraved plaque and prize money. The medal honors individuals "who have exhibited exceptional technical competency by making significant and repeated contributions to rubber science and technology".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partha Pratim Chakraborty</span> Professor at IIT Kharagpur

Partha Pratim Chakrabarti (Chakraborty) is an Indian computer scientist. He is a distinguished professor and the former director of IIT Kharagpur. Dr. Chakrabarti has made pioneering research contributions and has solved a number of open problems. His work has been incorporated in standard text books as well as industry level tools of major international companies. He has published more than 200 papers in international journals and conferences and supervised two dozen PhD students. He is also an honorary awardee of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, the highest science award in India, for the engineering category in 2000.

Aubert Y. Coran (1932-2020) was an American scientist noted for his contributions to thermoplastic elastomers and vulcanization chemistry of rubber. In 1983, he won the Melvin Mooney Distinguished Technology Award, bestowed by the American Chemical Society to individuals "who have exhibited exceptional technical competency by making significant and repeated contributions to rubber science and technology". In 1995, the rubber division of the American Chemical Society bestowed on Coran the Charles Goodyear Medal in honor of his international contributions to polymer science and development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swaminathan Sivaram</span> Indian chemist (born 4 November 1946)

Swaminathan Sivaram is an Indian polymer chemist, inventor, institution builder and a former director of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. He is known for his pioneering work on alkylation of tertiary alkyl halides with trialkylaluminum and olefin polymerization and holds the highest number of US patents by an Indian working outside the US. He is a fellow of several significant professional organizations. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2006, for his contributions to Indian science.

The purpose of the Sparks–Thomas Award, given by the ACS Rubber Division, is to recognize and encourage outstanding contributions and innovations in the field of elastomers by younger scientists, technologists, and engineers. The award is named for Exxon scientists William J. Sparks and Robert M. Thomas, co-inventors of Butyl rubber.

Devang Vipin Khakhar is an Indian chemical engineer and the former director of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He is known for his pioneering researches on polymerization and is an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz. Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Sciences, India as well as Indian National Academy of Engineering. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Engineering Sciences in 1997.

Judit Puskas is a Distinguished Ohio State University professor noted as co-inventor of the polymer used on the Taxus-brand coronary stent. She is the first woman to win the Charles Goodyear Medal, the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society's Rubber Division. Her research focuses on polymer engineering for breast reconstruction in cancer treatment, green polymer chemistry, biomimetic processes, biomaterials, living polymerization, polymerization mechanisms and kinetics, thermoplastic elastomers, polymer structure/property relationships, and polymer-bio interfaces.

Albert M. Gessler was an ExxonMobil research chemist known for the development of elastomeric thermoplastics.

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References

  1. ↑ Kar, K. K.; Ray, S.; De Sarkar, Mousoumi (2020). "Preface to the special issue in honor of Professor Anil K. Bhowmick on the occasion of his 65th birthday". Journal of Applied Polymer Science. doi:10.1002/app.49304.
  2. ↑ Mukhopadhyay, R.; Bhowmick, A. K.; De, S. K. (1978). "Effect of vulcanization temperature and synergism of accelerators on the network and technical properties of efficiently vulcanized natural rubber mixes". Polymer. 19 (10): 1176–1180. doi:10.1016/0032-3861(78)90067-8.
  3. ↑ "Indian Fellow". Indian National Science Academy. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  4. ↑ Bhowmick, A. K.; Stephens, H. (2000). Handbook of elastomers. CRC Press. ISBN   9781482270365 . Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  5. ↑ Sengupta, R.; Bhattacharya, M.; Bandyopadhyay, S.; Bhowmick, A. K., A. K. (2011). "A review on the mechanical and electrical properties of graphite and modified graphite reinforced polymer composites". Progress in polymer science. 36 (5): 638–670. doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2010.11.003.
  6. ↑ Kotal, M.; Bhowmick, A. K. (2015). "Polymer nanocomposites from modified clays: Recent advances and challenges". Progress in Polymer Science. 51: 127–187. doi:10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2015.10.001.
  7. ↑ Bregar, Bill (16 April 2019). "Bhowmick wins SPE education award". Plastics News. Crain. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Rubber Division names winners of Science & Technology Awards". Rubber News. Crain. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
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