Namal Wanninayake

Research Interests:
Chemical vapor deposition
Heterogeneous catalysis
Electrochemistry
Nanomaterials
| Chemical vapor deposition | Heterogeneous catalysis | Electrochemistry |

I have 4+ years R&D experience in the development of materials for renewable energy storage and conversion, such as carbon-based electrocatalysts for CO2 conversion, photocatalysts for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Also, I have developed nanomaterials such as graphene quantum dots for photodynamic therapy and selective membrane separation applications. I have expertise in chemical vapor deposition (MACVD), electrochemistry and heterogeneous catalysis.

I have worked extensively on the design of catalysts and reactor design for electrochemical conversion of CO2 to fuels at room temperature. Furthermore, I have engineered mesoporous TiO2 based catalysts using Nitrogen and Hydrogen plasma doping for hydrogen generation via photocatalytic water oxidation.

I am proficient with modern materials characterization (TEM, SEM, XRD, GISAXS, GIWAXS, XPS, Zeta potential, Contact angle measurement, chemisorption, TGA, DSC, BET, AAS, ICP-MS, ATR-FTIR, UV-Vis and Raman spectroscopy) and product separation and quantification methods (gas chromatography(GC) and nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)). 

Selected Publications:

Thomas, M.; Wanninayake, N.; De Alwis Goonatilleke, M.; Kim, D.; Guiton, B. Direct imaging of heteroatom dopants in catalytic carbon nano-onions. Nanoscale 2020, 12, 6144-6152. (Equal contribution)

Wanninayake, N.; Ai, Q.; Zhou, R.; Hoque, M.; Herrell, S.; Guzman, M.; Risko, C.; Kim, D. Understanding The Effect Of Host Structure Of Nitrogen Doped Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Electrode On Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction. Carbon 2019, 157, 408-419.

Beasley, C.; Gnanamani, M.; Martinelli, M.; Góra‐Marek, K.; Hamano, K.; Shafer, W.; Wanninayake, N.; Kim, D. Dehydration Of 1,5‐Pentanediol Over Zro 2 ‐Zno Mixed Oxides. ChemistrySelect 2019, 4, 3123-3130.

Li, W.; Zhang, Y.; Das, L.; Wang, Y.; Li, M.; Wanninayake, N.; Pu, Y.; Kim, D.; Cheng, Y.; Ragauskas, A. et al. Linking Lignin Source With Structural And Electrochemical Properties Of Lignin-Derived Carbon Materials. RSC Advances 2018, 8, 38721-38732.

Pillar-Little, T.; Wanninayake, N.; Nease, L.; Heidary, D.; Glazer, E.; Kim, D. Superior Photodynamic Effect Of Carbon Quantum Dots Through Both Type I And Type II Pathways: Detailed Comparison Study Of Top-Down-Synthesized And Bottom-Up-Synthesized Carbon Quantum Dots. Carbon 2018.

Colburn, A.; Wanninayake, N.; Kim, D.; Bhattacharyya, D. Cellulose-Graphene Quantum Dot Composite Membranes Using Ionic Liquid. Journal of Membrane Science 2018, 556, 293-302.

Syed Z. Islam, Allen D. Reed, Namal Wanninayake, Doo-Young Kim, and Stephen E. Rankin, Remarkable Enhancement of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production in N2/Ar Plasma Treated, Mesoporous TiO2 Films, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2016, 120(26), 14069–14081.

Islam, S.; Reed, A.; Nagpure, S.; Wanninayake, N.; Browning, J.; Strzalka, J.; Kim, D.; Rankin, S. Hydrogen Incorporation By Plasma Treatment Gives Mesoporous Black Tio 2 Thin Films With Visible Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation Activity. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 2017, 261, 35-43.