I'm Pradip Basnet. I recently earned my doctoral degree from the University of Georgia, where I studied the photocatalytic behavior of metal oxides (MOs) under the supervison of Dr. Yiping Zhao.

My research focuses on understanding the photocatalytic activity of MO semiconductors with a particular focus on design, fabrication, and characterization of visible light active MOs. I use chemical synthesis, mechanical alloying (ball-milling), and physical vapor deposition to fabricate MO nanostructures. I study structural, optical, and electronic properties of MOs to investigate the photocatalytic properties for environmental remediation (for e.g. water purification and bactericidal) and clean energy generation (i.e. H2 production via water splitting). Material characterizations are performed using the current state-of-art techniques; typical characterization techniques include XRD, SEM, TEM, UV-Vis, and photoelectrochemical measurements. Additionally, I am interested in exploring techniques for achieving multi-functional photocatalysts, including alpha-Fe2O3, CuxO (x= 1, 2), WO3, TiO2, BiWO6 and their composites, for clean energy applications. It is my goal to develop an efficient visible light active photocatalyst that can be used to generate H2 fuel from water and sunlight.