As of 2013, it runs 38 laboratories/institutes, 39 outreach centres, 3 Innovation Centres and 5 units throughout the nation, with a collective staff of over 14,000, including a total of 4,600 scientists and 8,000 technical and support personnel. Although it is mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an autonomous body through the Societies Registration Act, 1860.The research and development activities of CSIR include aerospace engineering, structural engineering, ocean sciences, life sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and environmental science.Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary of DST took additional charge as director general of CSIR, with effect from August 24, 2018. Since 18 October 2018, Shekhar C. Mande is the Director General of CSIR-cum-Secretary DSIR.In terms of Intellectual property, CSIR has 2971 patents in force internationally and 1592 patents in force in India. CSIR is granted more than 14000 patents worldwide since its inception. CSIR was awarded the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018 in the category "Top R&D Institution / Organisation for Patents and Commercialisation" by Indian Patent Office.In late 2007, the Minister of Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal stated, in a Question Hour session of the Parliament, that CSIR has developed 1,376 technologies/knowledgebase during the last decade of the 20th century.
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a key technology for renewable hydrogen production, but large-scale implementation remains limited by durability issues under real operating conditions. This work presents a systematic evaluation of three representative dynamic operating modes: On/Off, On/Standby and Continuous. The assessment combines electrical, electrochemical and morphological characterization of the membrane, cathode and anode. After 365 cycles, differentiated degradation pathways were observed. The On/ Standby mode exhibited the most severe deterioration, with a total resistance of TR = 8300.9 m Omega, sulfurenriched zones in the membrane and a compacted anodic surface with particle coalescence and partial collapse of the porous structure. The Continuous mode showed intermediate degradation, with TR = 2310.0 m Omega, sulfur-enriched membrane regions and partial densification of the anodic catalyst layer. In contrast, the On/Off mode largely preserved electrochemical and structural integrity, recording the lowest resistance increase (TR = 1902.6 m Omega) and no significant morphological changes in the components. Consistent with these trends, the additional input power required to sustain the same current density increases sharply in the On/Standby mode, whereas the On/Off and Continuous modes require much smaller increases than in the On/Standby mode, although still higher than in the reference cell, reflecting different degrees of resistive degradation. These findings confirm that degradation in PEM electrolyzers is mainly governed by anode and membrane processes, with comparatively resilient cathodes. Joint analysis of impedance-derived resistances, input power and postmortem microstructure establishes a degradation hierarchy (On/Standby > Continuous > On/Off) that guides selection of operating strategies balancing performance and durability.
The proliferation of portable and wearable electronics necessitates flexible, high-performance energy storage devices. Flexible supercapacitors are poised to meet these demands due to their high power density, flexibility, and durability but scalable fabrication remains challenging due to costly and complex manufacturing methods. This study addresses this issue by implementing scalable, cost-effective spray coating and screen printing techniques to fabricate flexible micro-interdigitated supercapacitors (FMIS) based on Polyaniline (PANI) composites with carbon nanomaterials, using organic acids as crosslinking agents synthesized via hydrogel strategy. The formation of PANI emeraldine salt was verified through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indicating key amine and imine functionalities, while scanning electron microscopy revealed surface morphologies with enhanced active surface areas beneficial for charge storage. Advanced 3D tomography maps porosity distribution and surface area per unit volume, correlating with electroactive areas calculated from the Randles-Sevcik equation. Electrochemical testing via cyclic voltammetry demonstrates an impressive areal capacitance of 173.2 +/- 9.6 mF cm-2 at 10 mV s-1 with Dunn's method distinguishing capacitive from diffusive contributions. Furthermore, EIS measurements highlight lower solution resistance in screen-printed devices, emphasizing the advantages of optimized electrode morphology for efficient charge transport. This study establishes a scalable approach for high-performance flexible supercapacitors, paving the way for next-generation energy storage solutions.
Animal cell culture is widely used for research in fundamental biology, drug discovery, and the manufacture of biopharmaceutical products such as recombinant proteins, vaccines, and cell therapies. The nutritional medium used to culture animal cells is a complex mixture of >50 components. Historically, it has been supplemented with sera such as fetal bovine serum, but commercial applications now widely use serum-free media. Developing or optimizing a medium formulation requires knowledge of chemical parameters such as solubility and stability and benefits from knowledge of biological parameters such as specific nutrient uptake rates and transporters of the different components. The complexity of medium design and optimization is increased manifold by the possibility of co-dependencies between components, where the effect of one component depends on the concentration of another. To our knowledge, there is no common repository of these chemical and biological parameters, including co-dependencies. The MediaAssist database collates this information to aid in designing and optimizing cell culture medium. Much of this information, such as co-dependencies, is dynamic, and we intend to keep updating the database as new information becomes available. MediaAssist is available at https://mediaassist.ncl.res.in.
Copper ions (Cu2+) play vital roles in biological and environmental systems; however, excess levels can cause severe toxicity, leading to ecological imbalance and health hazards. Therefore, developing rapid, selective, and sensitive detection methods for Cu2+ is crucial for environmental safety and biomedical monitoring. In this study, a facile sequential annulation and rearrangement strategy to synthesize isocoumarin-imidazo[1,2-a] pyridine hybrid molecules(IM-1 to IM-9), including cyano-substituted derivatives (IM-7, IM-8, and IM-9) is presented. These molecules act as dual-response sensors for Cu2+, enabling both fluorescence quenching and visible colorimetric changes in solution. These molecules show remarkably low detection limits, rapid response (< 5 s), high binding constants (similar to 10(4) M-1), photostability, and broad pH tolerance (3-11). Strikingly, IM-8 exhibited enhanced fluorescence in HepG2 cells, revealing its differential response in cellular environments and underscoring its potential for bioimaging. UV-vis absorption changes, along with fluorescence lifetime studies confirmed a static quenching mechanism. Semiempirical calculations revealed favorable ground-state complex formation between the sensor and Cu2+, supporting the static quenching observed experimentally. The in situ formed IM-7-Cu2+ complex further served as a sensitive platform for citrate ion detection. Cytotoxicity assays confirmed probe biocompatibility in HepG2 cells, while practical utility was validated through sensing strips and real water sample analysis.
Magnesium (Mg) is a promising lightweight structural metal, yet its mechanical behavior under extreme conditions remains incompletely understood. In this study, molecular dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the effects of temperature, strain rate, and system size on the deformation response of Mg single crystals. The results show a clear degradation in yield strength and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) with increasing temperature, accompanied by reduced ductility. Strain rate dependent simulations reveal decreasing strength with decreasing strain rate, indicating the role of strain rate on mechanical response at atomistic scale. Atomistic analysis uncovers dislocation nucleation and evolution, stacking fault formation, and stress-induced phase transformations from the initial hexagonal close-packed (HCP) structure to disordered structure in majority with minor face-centered cubic (FCC) and body-centered cubic (BCC) phases. These findings provide new insights into the fundamental mechanisms governing high-rate deformation and structural transitions in Mg single crystals, with implications for the design of advanced lightweight materials.
