SBLab

03/08/2026

Today, Abhijit leaves our lab, and perhaps what touches me most is that he carries the same warm smile he had on the day he first walked in five years ago.
Time has flown. What feels like only a few months has, in reality, been five unforgettable years filled with curiosity, perseverance, setbacks, breakthroughs, and countless scientific discussions. Today, his bags are packed as he begins a new journey. Yet, there is one thing he cannot pack—the lasting imprint he has left on all of us.
As a mentor, I have been fortunate to supervise many talented students, but Abhijit will always remain one of my finest PhD students. Watching him grow from an enthusiastic researcher into an independent scientist has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my academic life.
He leaves not only with a PhD degree but with a body of work that has helped shape an emerging field of chemistry—one whose full scientific significance I believe is yet to be realized. Over the past five years, his dedication has resulted in 26 research publications, including 8 in JACS, 1 in Angewandte Chemie, 2 in Chemical Science, and several other papers in leading international journals (https://lnkd.in/gfYJ-sqv). These accomplishments reflect not only hard work but also resilience, creativity, and an unwavering passion for scientific discovery.
A laboratory is much more than benches and instruments. It is the people, the conversations, the excitement of unexpected results, the frustrations of failed experiments, and the friendships that quietly grow over the years. Those memories remain long after the lab notebooks are closed.
As you embark on the next chapter of your journey as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Michigan, I wish you every success and happiness. May you continue to ask bold questions, make discoveries that inspire the scientific community, and grow into the outstanding scientist I know you are capable of becoming. I have no doubt that your humility, perseverance, and passion for research will open many more doors and lead to even greater achievements.
Thank you, Abhijit, for everything you have contributed to the SBLab. While you may be leaving our laboratory, you will always remain a cherished member of our scientific family.
Fly high, keep smiling, and make us proud. The best is yet to come.
Once a member of the SBLab, always a member of the SBLab.

02/07/2026

Today, Abhijit Nandy successfully defended his PhD thesis, becoming the third PhD graduate from our research group at IISER Tirupati. Abhijit joined the lab in 2021 with curiosity and determination, and over the years, he has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of water microdroplet chemistry. His work has resulted in several exciting discoveries.
Congratulations, Dr. Abhijit Nandy, on this well-deserved achievement! I wish you continued success and many exciting discoveries in the next chapter of your scientific career.

24/06/2026

Happy to see GKToday, one of India’s largest educational platforms dedicated to General Knowledge, and Chemistry World, one of the world's leading chemistry news magazines, highlighting our recent work on skeletal editing using microdroplet chemistry.
It is always encouraging to see fundamental research reaching audiences beyond the immediate scientific community and sparking broader interest in chemistry and innovation.
My sincere thanks to all the students, especially Abhijit, whose hard work made this study possible.
Here are the links to the featured articles:
🔗 https://www.gktoday.in/microdroplet-chemistry-enables-catalyst-free-skeletal-editing/
🔗 https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/microdroplet-chemistry-enables-catalyst-free-skeletal-editing/4023739.article
Looking forward to seeing how this exciting area of chemistry continues to evolve.

Microdroplet chemistry is a reaction approach that uses very small liquid droplets, often water microdroplets, to accelerate chemical transformations. Skeletal editing is

11/06/2026

The smallest droplets reveal the biggest surprises. A reaction that challenges conventional synthetic thinking and underscores the extraordinary chemistry emerging at microscopic interfaces. Here is our latest in JACS for the reagent-free, catalyst-free conversion of aniline to pyridine in water microdroplets. It's a deep molecular rewriting (transmutation).

Water microdroplets exhibit unique interfacial properties that can drive unconventional chemical transformations beyond those observed in a bulk solution. Here, we report an unprecedented heterocyclic transmutation in which aniline is converted directly into pyridine at the air–water interface of ...

10/06/2026

We are delighted to share a small but meaningful milestone for our group — our 10th JACS publication since our first one in 2021.
More than the number itself, we are grateful for the journey and, above all, for the people who made it possible.
Every publication represents much more than a paper. In our group, we have always tried to prioritize work that can contribute something genuinely new rather than simply adding another incremental result. That often means countless discussions, exploring uncertain directions, learning from failed experiments, repeated troubleshooting, moments of doubt, and the patience to pursue a question until we are convinced that the answer is worth sharing.
None of this happens through individual effort alone. It is the outcome of a team that learns together, supports one another, challenges ideas constructively, and continues moving forward despite setbacks.

08/06/2026

Delighted and immensely proud to see two of my former MS Thesis students, Veena (T. 2020-2021) and Purva (T. 2021-2022), thriving at the 74th ASMS Conference at the San Diego Convention Center.
Both were invited to the presentation organized by Eli Lilly, and remarkably, they were among only 8 graduates selected for this opportunity. Seeing two of those eight come from my research group is truly gratifying.

What touched me most was Veena's message:
"I don't think it's just a coincidence that 2 out of 8 graduates invited are your students. Thanks to the strong research foundation that we built in your lab!"

For a mentor, there is no greater reward than watching former students excel, gain recognition, and confidently pursue their scientific careers. Their achievements are a testament to their hard work, perseverance, and passion for research.

Veena S. Avadhani, currently at UC Berkeley in the group of Prof. Evan R. Williams, works at the interface of biomedicine and materials science. Her research pioneers new applications of Charge Detection Mass Spectrometry (CDMS) to characterize megadalton-scale analytes, including extracellular vesicles, DNA origami nanostructures, and nanoparticles, and to unravel the fascinating fission dynamics of charged water nanodroplets.

Purva S. Damale, currently at Ohio State University in the laboratory of Prof. Abraham Badu-Tawiah, develops innovative hybrid ionization platforms that combine spray- and plasma-based approaches for real-time structural and mechanistic investigations of complex chemical and biological systems. Her work advances both fundamental ionization science and the development of next-generation field-deployable mass spectrometric technologies.

Congratulations, Veena and Purva! Wishing you continued success and many more milestones ahead.

13/05/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Supratim Mondal on joining the American Chemical Society (ACS) as a Development Editor. SBLab is immensely proud of this remarkable achievement, which reflects his dedication, scientific excellence, and professional accomplishments developed during his journey with our group. We wish Supratim great success and fulfillment in this exciting new chapter of his editorial career.

10/02/2026

Delighted to see our article featured among Chemical Science’s most popular Physical Chemistry articles of 2025.

🎉Check out our subject-specific collections of our most popular Chemical Science content published in 2025! These collections highlight some of the exceptional research published in Chemical Science and they are free to read. 🎉

Read our blog post: https://blogs.rsc.org/sc/

Collections below:

Analytical Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=913aa2da-2bb3-49ed-be14-29fed2f41b20

Bioinorganic Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=4da09769-e612-4e63-931e-b4bd8ea8ad60

Catalysis: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=4f76c2fe-9c51-4ebe-93ce-94c6e13f78e4

Chemical Biology: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=1a10fbb5-aecc-4b86-9526-ac9f2185eb82

Energy Conversion: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=cae02e68-1c9e-4e1e-8422-521acff2dcab

Energy Storage: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=38a413aa-33d2-4b1e-992b-7f7339bf83d2

Inorganic Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=fecfe7f1-b9d9-4875-9fac-302849fb3100

Inorganic Materials: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=2fe38f1f-cc1b-47b4-9454-0a2d549dd973

Machine Learning: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=8ae93458-a352-41e4-b002-49fba5cbc313

Nanoscience: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=7ff1bc7a-0fe1-45a1-b617-515297fdbaa6

Organic Materials: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=3b8a1919-f7d7-4d1b-8ab1-b6cbf5202ba7

Organic Methodology: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=dd2c1eb0-6323-4863-b6be-e83f2d4c5c9b

Organic Synthesis: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=40deb532-ef61-45d9-b46f-6b204475e607

Photochemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=e9537baa-f631-43ca-b523-cbe37c0e6120

Physical Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=946b7a29-595c-4cd3-a141-18003fb2c5e0

Polymers: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=a105408b-00d0-4b88-8803-bcf88e0ae5ea

Porous Materials: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=fecbdf74-e2bb-48bf-8b80-8c959ab111ad

Sensing & Imaging: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=693792e3-a2ac-4e3e-90c7-afec19a4baff

Supramolecular Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=a5b2c00d-7acc-42d5-a194-5f99ad45daf0

Theoretical & Computational Chemistry: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/articlecollectionlanding?sercode=sc&themeid=2f135e4b-ee27-4efb-a83c-9b3c229d410d

30/12/2025

It’s always gratifying to see students communicate their science beyond the lab. Congratulations, Abhijit—well deserved!

Researcher Spotlight - First author interview revealing how water microdroplets convert reducing sugars into 5-HMF under ambient conditions, offering a green biomass pathway and insights into prebiotic chemistry.

27/12/2025

Hello world! A long-held belief just changed.
Argon, the third most abundant gas in our atmosphere, was thought to be absolutely inert under ambient conditions. But nature had a secret hidden in plain sight.
We show that argon reacts in humid air, on the surface of tiny water droplets, forming argon hydroxide cations at room temperature—stable, observable, and sustained. This stands in sharp contrast to a century-old belief that argon remains chemically inactive and a passive component of the atmospheric gases. This is the first-ever ambient argon compound discovered on Earth. This finding is a reminder of how much the universe still conceals around us. Sometimes, the smallest droplets hold the biggest surprises, and nature continues to humble us with its quiet complexity.


✨ Science never stops rewriting what we think we know.

Argon is the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere and is regarded as chemically inert. Unlike many other atmospheric gases that have undergone fixation over geological time scales, argon has not been known to form stable compounds. Contrary to this century-old belief, we report that argon can r...