In all our minds, coal is dark black and useful only for burning. Would you like to see fluorescent blue coloured coal? Well, meet this chemist from Assam who developed the technology to make blue fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) from Indian coal. Binoy Kumar Saikia is a Senior Scientist at the North East Institute of Science and Technology, Jorhat (NEIST).
The blue CQDs are nano particles, meaning very small in size, though they have high stability, good conductivity, low toxicity and are environmental friendly. They are used for various applications especially for medicine and environmental science. The CQD technology patented by Dr. Saikia helps to reduce imports from other nations.
Saikia got the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in 2021. It is given for seven categories by CSIR and he alone received it in the category of Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences. Dr. Binoy Kumar Saikia was the first one from Assam who won this award after a gap of twenty years.
Picture Credit : Google
