Catalysing Nuclear Reactions & Channelizing its energy by Prof Raj Ganesh S. Pala | Department of Energy Science and Engineering

Location and Date:

26 Sep 2024 (Thursday), 4 PM, DESE seminar Room, 2nd Floor

Abstract - The distinguished electrochemist, Martin Fleischmann along with Stanley Pons, announced (in March 1989) that nuclear fusion can be implemented in a table-top electrochemical cell. “Cold-fusion” with its glamorous introduction (via a press conference!), uncertain scientific foundations and formidable issues of reproducibility rapidly became associated with pseudoscience (~July 1989). History of science typically relies on one set of scientists establishing empirical facts and another proposing an underlying theory. Unfortunately, Fleischmann-Pons not only burgeoned the experimental results but also proposed a rather untenable theory, which proved to be a straw man vitiating the usual cycles of evolution of a scientific field in peer-reviewed literature. Being outliers of the mainstream, a band of scientists continued to pursue the work courageously developing their sub-culture.

This seminar is aimed at a general scientific audience and not necessarily at expert nuclear scientists. We will unfold the field historically first, then present the efforts led by Google, the US-DOE, the European Union and the Japanese government-industry consortium to buttress the fact-finding aspirations and pollution-free energy generation. Following this, we will present the results from the “Electrochemically-Activated-Nuclear-Reaction” group at IIT-Kanpur that explores heavy element nuclear transmutations and signatures of nuclear reactions. Finally, the wanderings in this less chartered territory will include the possibilities at the frontiers of science and consequential engineering.

About the Speaker: Raj Pala is a Professor of Chemical Engineering, Head of the Material Science Program, and Head of the Nuclear Engineering Technology Program at IIT-Kanpur. He works broadly in the areas of Electrochemical Science and Engineering, Heterogenous Catalysis and Chemical Separations. Currently, his group is exploring electrochemically activated nuclear reactions, magneto-electrocatalysis, plasma electrocatalysis, crystal engineering of Lithium-ion batteries and electrochemical taste-sensors to explore bioenergetics.