Shilpa Mohanakumar

Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Biophysical chemistry
  • Molecular interactions in biological systems
  • Interfacial and materials chemistry
  • Clay-based materials and heavy-metal adsorption
  • Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS)

Biography

Shilpa Mohanakumar holds a master’s and bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal. She earned her PhD in Biophysical Chemistry from the University of Cologne, Germany while performing her research at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany. Her doctoral research examined molecular transport phenomena and interactions in electrolyte solutions and protein – ligand systems. She subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Twente, The Netherlands, where she worked on a British Petroleum funded project that focused on understanding and utilising Olivine for enhanced Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). 

Her teaching and research interests include biophysical and physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and undergraduate laboratory education. She is particularly interested in developing experimental approaches that help students connect chemical theory with real-world systems.

Publications

Journal articles

  • Mohanakumar, S., Alagia, V., Schilderink, N., Siretanu, I., Mugele, F., & Duits, M. G. H. Accelerated dissolution of olivine pebbles by oxalic acid at low pH. Accepted
  • Alagia, V., Mohanakumar, S., Duits, M. G. H., & Mugele, F. (2025). Influence of anions on the formation of a passivating Fe-rich interfacial layer during olivine dissolution. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 403, 152 – 165.
  • Murmiliuk, A., Iwase, H., Kang, J.-J., Mohanakumar, S., Appavou, M.-S., Wood, K., Almásy, L., Len, A., Schwärzer, K., Allgaier, J., Dulle, M., Gensch, T., Förster, B., Ito, K., Nakagawa, H., Wiegand, S., Förster, S., & Radulescu, A. (2024). Polyelectrolyte-protein synergism: pH-responsive polyelectrolyte/​insulin complexes as versatile carriers for targeted protein and drug delivery. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 665, 801 – 811.
  • Lee, N., Mohanakumar, S., Briels, W. J., & Wiegand, S. (2024 Non-monotonic Soret coefficients of aqueous LiCl solutions with varying concentrations. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 26, 7830 – 7840.
  • Mohanakumar, S., Kriegs, H., Briels, W. J., & Wiegand, S. (2022 Overlapping hydration shells in salt solutions causing non-monotonic Soret coefficients with varying concentration. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 24, 27380 – 27390.
  • Lee, N., Mohanakumar, S., & Wiegand, S. (2022). Thermophoretic microfluidic cells for evaluating Soret coefficient of colloidal particles. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 194, 123002.
  • Mohanakumar, S., & Wiegand, S. (2022). Towards understanding specific ion effects in aqueous media using thermodiffusion. European Physical Journal E, 45, Article 10.
  • Mohanakumar, S., Luettmer-Strathmann, J., & Wiegand, S. (2021 Thermodiffusion of aqueous solutions of various potassium salts. Journal of Chemical Physics, 154, 084506.
  • Khamari, L., Pramanik, U., Shekhar, S., Mohanakumar, S., & Mukherjee, S. (2021). Thermal Reversibility and Structural Stability in Lysozyme Induced by Epirubicin Hydrochloride. Langmuir, 37, 3456 – 3465.