Sanat Kumar

Sanat K. Kumar is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, specializing in the creation, analysis, and modeling of innovative polymer systems with enhanced properties. His work focuses on hybrid materials, particularly polymer-inorganic composites, with applications in biomimicry, energy storage, and energy conversion.

As a pioneer in Polymer Nanocomposites, Kumar’s research has advanced the understanding of how inorganic nanoparticles interact with polymers to create materials with synergistic properties. A key challenge in this field is the inherent immiscibility of hydrophilic nanoparticles with organic polymers, which has historically hindered the realization of promised material improvements. His work addresses these challenges to improve industrial applications, preventing issues such as tire tread separation caused by poor material compatibility.

Kumar’s research spans self-assembly, microstructure development, mechanical behavior, chain relaxation, and nanoparticle dynamics in polymer nanocomposites. His group integrates theory, simulation, and experimental methods to advance energy-related applications, including gas separation membranes and ion-selective materials for batteries. Additionally, his recent work explores biomimetic structures, such as nacre-inspired hierarchical morphologies and DNA-guided nanoparticle assembly, to develop materials with unprecedented properties.

Kumar earned his BTech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (1981) and his ScD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1987). He joined the faculty at Columbia Engineering in 2006.