Punit Kohli | Chemistry and Biochemistry | SIU

Punit Kohli

Professor and Distinguished Scholar

We focus on the design, synthesis, characterization and applications of nanoscale materials functionalized with (bio)chemical molecules/polymers. We are particularly interested in the fabrication of biosensors based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer mechanism;self- and forced assembly of nanomaterials; template-synthesis of novel nanotubes and nanowires; and controlling and probing nanoscale environments inside of nanotubes. We synthesized nanomaterials using template-synthesis method; the materials synthesized takes the shape, size and morphology of the template used. This is a very general and versatile method for preparing nanoscale materials. Using this method, we have synthesized nanotubes and nanowires of various shapes (conical, cylindercal,bent, titled); sizes (with inner diameter of nanotubes randing from <1 nm to > 5 micron); and materials (silver, gold,copper, polymers, silica etc.). We modify the surface of nanoparticles with nucleic acids, proteins, biocompatible polymers etc. This imparts them with surface functionalities that are useful in many applications such as biosensing, bioseparations, and gene and drug delivery etc. The characterization of nanomaterials is carried out using electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), AFM,optical spectroscopy and microscopy (UV-Vis, Fluorescence, and FTIR), surface analysis (XPS, ellipsometry, and SIMS

Education

B. Tech., Indian Institute of Technology
M. Appl. Sc., University of South Australia
Ph.D., Michigan State University
Postdoctoral Associate, University of Florida

Selected Publications

Ten important publications:

1. Pradeep Ramiah Rajasekaran, Chuanhong Zhou, Mallika Dasari Reddy, Kay-Obbe-Voss, Christina Trautmann, and Punit Kohli “Polymeric Lithography Editor: Editing Lithographic Errors with Nanoporous Polymeric Probes”, Science Advances 2017; 3: e1602071 9 June 2017 (highlight at the University of Maryland press release, twitter (https://twitter.com/ScienceAdvances/status/875007362255507457, and the rotating banner at http://advances.sciencemag.org/).
2. Kexin Jiao, Chuanhong Zhou, Nathalie Becerra-Mora, Jared Fiske, Punit Kohli. “Vapor-enhanced covalently bound ultra-thin films on oxidized surfaces for enhanced resolution imaging” Journal of Materials Chemistry C 2016, 4, pp 8585-8830 (org/10.1039/C6TC02707E). Highlighted on the cover page of the issue.
3. Navneet Dogra, Ruplal Choudhary, Punit Kohli, John D. Haddock, Sanjaysinh Makwana, Batia Horev, Yakov Vinokur, Samir Droby, and Victor Rodov “Polydiacetylene Nanovesicles as Carriers of Natural Phenylpropanoids for Creating Antimicrobial Food-contact Surfaces” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2015, 63, 2557-2565 (doi.org/10.1021/jf505442w).  Highlighted in Chemical and Engineering News:  “Turmeric Compound Spices Up An Antimicrobial Surface”, March 12, 2015.  Please see  http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/web/2015/03/Turmeric-Compound-Spices-Antimicrobial-Surface.html for more information.
4. Dogra, Navneet; Li, Xuelian; Kohli, Punit “Investigating ligand-receptor interactions at bilayer surface using electronic absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence resonance energy transfer” Langmuir, 2012, 28 (36), 12989–12998 (DOI: 10.1021/la300724z). This article is published on the cover page of Langmuir on September 11, 2012.
5. Weaver, Joseph E.; Dasari, Mallika R.; Datar, Aniket; Talapatra, Saikat; Kohli, Punit “Investigating Photoinduced Charge Transfer in Carbon Nanotube-Perylene-Quantum Dot Hybrid Nanocomposites” ACS Nano 2010, 4, 6883-6893 DOI:10.1021/nn1020067).
6. Loh, O; Ho, Andrea M.; Rim, Jee; Kohli, Punit; Patankar, Neelesh; Espinosa, Horacio D. “Electric-field Induced Direct Delivery of Proteins by a Nanofountain Probe” PNAS 2008, 105, 16438-16443 (doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0806651105).
7. Siwy, Zuzanna; Trofin, Lacramioara; Kohli, Punit; Baker, Lane A.; Trautmann, Christina; Martin, Charles R. Protein “Biosensors Based on Biofunctionalized Conical Gold Nanotubes” Journal of the American Chemical Society 2005, 127, 5000-5001 (doi.org/10.1021/ja043910f).
8. Kohli, P.; Harrell, C. C.; Zehui, C.; Gasparac, R.; Tan, W.; Martin, C. R. “DNA-functionalized Nanotube Membranes for Single-Mismatch DNA Selectivity” Science 2004, 305, 984-986 (DOI: 10.1126/science.1100024).
9. Martin, C. R.; Kohli, P. “The Emerging Field of Nanotube Biotechnology” Nature Drug Discovery 2003, 2, 29 (doi.org/10.1038/nrd988).
10. Kohli, P.; Taylor, K. K.; Harris, J. J.; Blanchard, G. J. “Assembly of Covalently-Coupled Disulfide Multilayers on Gold” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 11962-11968 (doi.org/10.1021/ja981987w).