Dr. Dhorali Gnanasekaran serves as Scientific Officer – Grade 4 at the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI), Bengaluru, India, where he leads pioneering research on biodegradable insulating fluids and polymer nanocomposites for the power sector. Holding M.Sc., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry, he completed postdoctoral research at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. His scientific contributions center on sustainable materials-specifically, green insulating fluids derived from non-edible vegetable oils and biodegradable polymers for dielectric applications. Dr. Gnanasekaran has authored two books, edited one, contributed seven book chapters, holds one granted Indian patent, and has published 22 peer-reviewed papers in globally recognized journals such as IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, Polymer International, and Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy. His work has garnered 378 citations, a Scopus h-index of 9, underscoring his influence in polymer and dielectric research. Recognized with the Best Researcher Award by the Ministry of Power (CPRI Management), his innovations have reached commercialization stage (TRL-6). His focus on computational modeling, eco-friendly transformer fluids, and polymer nanostructures reflects a commitment to advancing sustainable energy materials.
Featured Publications
Gnanasekaran, D., Madhavan, K., & Reddy, B. S. R. (2009). Developments of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), POSS nanocomposites and their applications: A review. Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 68(6), 437–464. Cited by: 249
Gnanasekaran, D., & Chavidi, V. P. (2017). Vegetable oil based bio-lubricants and transformer fluids: Applications in power plants. Singapore: Springer Nature. Cited by: 62
Sadiku, E. R., Reddy, A. B., Gnanasekaran, D., Oboirien, B., Aderibigbe, B. A., & Ibrahim, I. D. (2016). Nanostructured polymer blends for gas/vapor barrier and dielectric applications. In Design and applications of nanostructured polymer blends and nanocomposite systems (pp. 239–259). Elsevier. Cited by: 44
Gnanasekaran, D., Walter, P. A., Parveen, A. A., & Reddy, B. S. R. (2013). Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-based fluoroimide-containing poly(urethane-imide) hybrid membranes: Synthesis, characterization and gas-transport properties. Separation and Purification Technology, 111, 108–118. Cited by: 38
Gnanasekaran, D., Shanavas, A., Focke, W. W., & Sadiku, R. (2015). Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane/polyamide bio-nanocomposite membranes: Structure–gas transport properties. RSC Advances, 5(15), 11272–11283. Cited by: 32