Vikram K. Kuppa

Dr. Vikram Kuppa leads UDRI's Materialography & Analytics group, which determines microscopic characteristics and physical properties of a wide variety of nonstructural materials to determine aging and corrosion characteristics, optical properties, grain size and grain size distribution, hardness, and electrical conductivity (eddy current), among other qualities.

Dr. Kuppa specializes in polymers scattering, molecular simulation and photovoltaics. He is a prolific author and contributor, with his peer-reviewed work both highly published and cited in the United States and abroad. Besides conducting valuable materials research at UDRI, he also serves as an academic instructor and advisor in Chemical & Materials Engineering at the University of Dayton and in Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. At both institutions, Dr. Kuppa has developed new courses and novel methods of instruction.

Dr. Kuppa's research includes work in the following areas:

• Hybrid Materials
• Hybrid Optoelectronic Devices
• Molecular Simulations
• Nanoscale Materials and Systems
• Organic Photovoltaics
• Polymer-Surface Interactions
• Scattering

• Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 2003
• B. Tech., Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, 1999

• Professor of the Year—Academic Year 2011—for developing innovative pedagogical methods combining classroom lectures with computer software, selected by the Engineering and Applied Science Tribunal, CEAS, University of Cincinnati.
• Professor of the Quarter—Winter 2011—for the course, "Materials Selection in Design" (56 students), selected by the Engineering and Applied Science Tribunal, CEAS, University of Cincinnati.
• 2006 Journal of Polymer Science Polymer Physics Award for the paper “Simulation Insights on the structure of nanoscopically confined poly(ethylene oxide)” V. Kuppa, S. Menakanit, R. K. Krishnamoorti and E. Manias, J. Polym. Sci. B, Polymer Physics 41, 3285-3298 (2003). Prize awarded annually to the best paper published in the journal, as selected from over six hundred manuscripts.
• Peer-reviewed publications have collected over four hundred citations
• Invited to review manuscripts submitted to Macromolecules, Advances in Materials Science & Engineering, European Physical Journal E, Journal of Chemical Physics, Journal of Polymer Science Part B – Polymer Physics, Journal of Power Sources, Advanced Functional Materials and Polymer

• American Chemical Society (ACS)
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE)
• American Physical Society (APS)
• Materials Research Society (MRS)

• McGlasson, K. Rishi, G. Beaucage, V. Narayan, M. Chauby, A. Mulderig, V. Kuppa, J. Ilavsky and M. Rackaitis, “The effects of Staged Mixing on the Dispersion of Reinforcing Fillers in Elastomer Compounds", Eur. Polym. J. (under review)
• Rishi, G. Beaucage, V. Narayan, A. McGlasson, V. Kuppa, J. Ilavsky and M. Rackaitis, “A colloidal model to describe dispersion in nanocomposites: The effect of mixing time on dispersion", Polymer (accepted), in press
• Rishi, G. Beaucage, V. K. Kuppa, A. Mulderig, V. Narayan, A. McGlasson, M. Rackaitis and J. Ilavsky, “Impact of an Emergent Hierarchical Filler Network on Nanocomposite Dynamics", Macromolecules 51(20), 7893-7904 (2018)
• Venkatakrishnan and V. K. Kuppa, “Polymer Adsorption on Rough Surfaces", Curr. Opin. Chem. Eng. 19, 170-177 (2018).
• Jin, G. Beaucage, K. Vogtt, H. Jiang, V. Kuppa, J. Kim, J. Ilavsky, M. Rackaitis, A. Mulderig, K. Rishi and V. Narayanan, “A pseudo-thermodynamic description of dispersion for nanocomposites", Polymer 129, 32-43 (2017).
• J. Mulderig, Y. Jin, F. Yu, J. K. Keum, K. Hong, J. F. Browning, G. Beaucage, G. S. Smith and V. K. Kuppa, “Determination of active layer morphology in all-polymer photovoltaic cells", J. Appl. Cryst. 50, 1289-1298 (2017).
• Mulderig, G. Beaucage, K. Vogtt, H. Jiang and V. Kuppa, “Quantification of branching in fumed silica", J. Aerosol Sci. 109, 28-37 (2017).
• Jin, F. Yu and V. K. Kuppa, “Improving the efficiency of all-polymer solar cells”, Materials Letters 156, 161-164 (2015).
• Yu and V. K. Kuppa, “Solution Aging Effects on the Performance and Morphology of P3HT:PCBM Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells”, NanoLife 5, 1550005(1-5) (2015).
• Jin, F. Yu and V. K. Kuppa, “Three-fold improvement in the performance of all-polymer photovoltaic devices with graphene", Materials Letters 156, 161-164 (2013).