Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow | Electrochemistry Manila Ozhukil Valappil
About me
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow/Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at ICN2, working on electrochemical approaches to convert methane into sustainable fuels and chemicals. My research combines electrocatalysis and 2D materials to mitigate climate change via finding ways for making cleaner fuels and chemicals.
I am an electrochemistry researcher currently working as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), Spain. My research focuses on developing energy efficient electrochemical pathways to convert greenhouse gases and naturally abundant resources into sustainable fuels and chemicals, contributing to climate change mitigation and usage of renewable energy technologies.
My scientific journey began in India, where I was raised in a rural environment with limited access to resources and academic mentorship. Despite these constraints, I pursued a Ph.D degree in Chemistry and built an interdisciplinary research career spanning materials synthesis, electrocatalysis, and energy storage systems, moving from India to UK, to Canada and now in Spain with European Commission fellowship, allowing me to work across multiple international research environments, projects and disciplines, gaining experience in carbon-based materials, zinc–air batteries, carbon dioxide conversion, and electrochemical intercalation processes to produce materials of semiconductor industry. A central theme of my work is using electrochemistry as a platform for designing and understanding advanced materials.
Beyond research, I am actively involved in mentoring early-career researchers, reviewing manuscripts for various journals, and contributing to discussions on research equity and assessment reform. I am mentoring students through the RSC Mentorloop and Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST). I am also an active member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) where I contribute to Policy Working Group activities. I enjoy communicating science beyond academia by writing popular science articles in India, curating and simplifying scientific content for broader audiences, and sharing reflections through my personal blog. I find great value engaging with younger students and enjoy giving talks to schoolchildren, especially girls, all always on the lookout for opportunities that arise. My journey from a resource-limited background to securing competitive international funding is something I am very proud of and still continues to shape my perspective and motivate my commitment to making science more inclusive and impactful.
Other Memberships/Affiliations
Degrees:
1. “Nanoporous graphene by quantum dots removal from graphene and its conversion to a potential oxygen reduction electrocatalyst via nitrogen doping” Thangavelu Palaniselvam, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Rajith Illathvalappil and Sreekumar Kurungot, Energy Environ. Sci., 2014, 7,1059.
2. “Atomic Layers in Electrochemical Biosensing Applications - Graphene and Beyond” (Review article). Manila O. Valappil, Subbiah Alwarappan, and Tharangattu N Narayanan, Current Organic Chemistry, 2015, 19, 1163.
3. “A Single-step electrochemical synthesis for luminescent WS2 quantum dots” O. V Manila, A.Anil, M.M Shaijumon, V.K Pillai and A Subbiah, Chem. Eur. J. 2017, 23,9144.
4. “Spotlighting graphene quantum dots and beyond: Synthesis, properties and sensing applications” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Vijayamohanan K. Pillai and Subbiah Alwarappan, Applied Materials Today,2017, 9, 350.
5. “Adsorption kinetics of WS2 quantum dots onto a polycrystalline gold surface” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Mekkat Roopesh, Subbiah Alwarappan, and Vijayamohanan K Pillai, Langmuir, 2018, 34,19, 5374.
6. “A Single-Step, Electrochemical Synthesis of Nitrogen-doped Blue Luminescent Phosphorene Quantum Dots” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Monika Ahlawat, Subbiah Alwarappan, and Vijayamohanan K Pillai, Chem. Commun., 2018,54, 11733.
7. “Electrochemically Chopped WS2 Quantum Dots as an Efficient and Stable Electrocatalyst for Water Reduction” Ananthraj Sengeni, Manila Ozhukil Valappil#, Karthick, Vijayamohanan K Pillai, Subbiah Alwarappan and Subrata Kundu, Catal.Sci.Technol.,2019,9, 223. #Co-first authorship.
8. “Role of Structural Distortion in Stabilizing Electrosynthesized Blue-Emitting Phosphorene Quantum Dots” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Krati Joshi, Lisa John, Sailaja Krishnamurthy, Bikash Jana, Amitava Patra, Vijayamohanan K. Pillai and Subbiah Alwarappan, J. Phys.Chem. Lett.2019,10,973.
9. "Electrochemically exfoliated porous WS2 nanosheets: A potential electrochemical sensing platform for chlorpromazine detection" Nandhini Subramanian, Mohananpriya Karuppiah, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Noel Nesakumar, Srinivasan Kesavan, and Subbiah Alwarappan. J.Electrochem.Soc, 2020, 166, B749.
10. “Electrochemical transformation of black phosphorous to phosphorene quantum dots: effect of nitrogen doping” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Subbiah Alwarappan, and Vijayamohanan K Pillai. Mater. Res. Express, 2020,7,014005.
11. “Tungsten disulfide Quantum Dots Based Disposable Paper Based Lab on GenoChip for Specific Meningitis DNA Detection” Riya Gupta, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Arunkumar Sakthivel, Ashish Mathur, Chandra Shekhar Pundir, Kathiresan Murugavel, Jagriti Narang and Subbiah Alwarappan. J.Electrochem.Soc, 2020, 167, 107501
12. “Bismuthene nanosheets produced by ionic liquid assisted grinding exfoliation and their use for oxygen reduction reaction” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Abhijit Ganguly, John Benson, Vijayamohanan K. Pillai, Subbiah Alwarappan and Pagona Papakonstantinou. RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 43585.
13. “Phosphorene oxide quantum dots decorated ZnO nanostructure-based hydrogen gas sensor” Bhati Vijendra Singh, Kumar Ashok, Ozhukil Valappil Manila, Subbiah Alwarappan, Kumar Mahesh. IEEE Sensors Journal, 2021, 21, 6, 7283.
14. “Corrosion Susceptibility of Mesoporous Carbons: Evidential Understanding of the Effects of Quasi-Passive Oxide Formation” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Farisa Forouzandeh, Marwa Atwa, Samantha Luong and Viola Ingrid Birss. ECS Meeting abstracts., 2021, MA2021-02 541.
15. “Phosphorene quantum dots: synthesis, properties and catalytic applications” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Subbiah Alwarappan, and Vijayamohanan K Pillai, Nanoscale, 2022, 14, 1037-1053.
16. “The Influence of Monolayer and Multilayer Diazonium Functionalities on the Electrochemical Oxidation of Nanoporous Carbons” Samantha Luong, Marwa Atwa, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, and Viola I. Birss. J. Electrochem. Soc.,2022, 169, 031512. (Special issue on Women in Electrochemistry)
17. “N-Doped Nanoporous Carbon Scaffolds As Catalysts for CO2 Reduction” Jialang Li, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Erwan Bertin and Viola Ingrid Birss, ECS Meeting abstracts, MA2022-01 1782.
18. “Understanding passive oxide formation at carbon and its role on corrosion susceptibility” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Farisa Forouzandeh, Xiaoan Li, Samantha Luong, Marwa Atwa, Viola Ingrid Birss, Electrochimica Acta, 2022, 422, 140444.
19. "Hydrophobic nanoporous carbon scaffolds reveal the origin of polarity-dependent electrocapillary imbibition" Bin Pan, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Richard Rateick, Jr., Christopher R. Clarkson, Xia Tong, Chris Debuhr, Amin Ghanizadeh, and Viola I. Birss, Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 1372-1385. (Highlighted as journal back cover).
20. “Embedded Platinum-Cobalt Nanoalloys in Biomass-Derived Laser Induced Graphene as Stable, Air-Breathing Cathodes for Zinc-Air Batteries” Tahani Aldhafeeri, Marianna Uceda, Angad Singh, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Michael Fowler and Michael A. Pope, ACS Applied Nano Materials. 2023, 6, 10, 8302–8314.
21. “Electrolyte-mediated assembly of graphene-based supercapacitors using adsorbed ionic liquid/non-ionic surfactant complexes” Sima Lashkari, Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Rajinder Pal and Michael A. Pope. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2023, 11, 11222-11234.
22. "Pulsed laser deposition grown La0.3Ca0.7Fe0.7Cr0.3O3-δ thin films on yttria-stabilized zirconia substrates for fundamental electrochemical energy conversion studies" Haris Ansari, Dhanvini Gudi, Dipanjan Nandi, Ozhukil Valappil Manila, Yuan Hui, Guanluigi Botton, Manisha Gupta, and Viola I. Birss. Thin Solid Films, 2023, 784,140071.
23. “Toward Scalable Electrochemical Exfoliation of Molybdenum Disulfide Powder through an Accessible Electrode Design” Nicholas David Wilson, Manila Ozhukil Valappil#, Barbara Y. Martin, Teri Siu, Joel Pennings, Mira Mackintosh, Mahmoud N. Almadhoun, Jianying Ouyang, Neil Graddage, and Michael A. Pope. Small Methods 2024, 2400298 (#Co-first authorship.)
24. “Rethinking Electrochemical Exfoliation: Controlled Cathodic Intercalation at Low Overpotentials for High-Quality, Atomically Thin MoS2 Layers without Gas Evolution-Induced Expansion” Manila Ozhukil Valappil, Teri Siu, Barbara Y. Martin, Nicholas Wilson, Varshini Rajakumaran, Darsh Kanani, Jochen Konieczny, Jury J. Medvedev, Jianying Ouyang, Neil Graddage, Rodney D.L. Smith, Franziska Münzer, Michael A Pope. Chemistry of Materials, 2025, 37, 15, 5658–5671.