Mohan Mood

Bio

Mood Mohan is currently working as a postdoctoral research associate in the Biosciences Division, Center for Molecular Biophysics research group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Previously, Dr. Mohan worked as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Bioresource and Environmental Security at Sandia National Laboratories, California. Dr. Mohan received his Ph.D. in 2018 from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. Dr. Mohan's research area is primarily focused on the development of novel green solvents for lignocellulosic biomass, plastic upcycling, and carbon capture using theoretical and computational chemistry calculations (molecular dynamics, quantum chemical, and COSMO-RS model simulations). Dr. Mohan's research interest also covers leveraging both machine learning and first-principles physics-based methods to make improved predictions for biomass conversion, plastic depolymerization, carbon capture (CO2), and thermodynamic property predictions using various ML algorithms.

Professional Experience

•  August 2022 - Present: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Center for Molecular Biophysics, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, United States.
•  Dec 2018 – Aug 2022: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Bioresource and Environmental Security, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, California 94551, United States.

Awards

• Received a “Postdoctoral Excellence Award-2023” in the Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

• Received an “Award” in the Department of Biomass Science and Conversion Technology, Sandia National Laboratory, for working with Roland Kalb (proionic) on Ionic Liquids.

Education

• 2014-2018:  Ph.D., Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India.
• 2012-2014: M. Tech, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India.
• 2008-2012: B. Tech, Department of Chemical Engineering, University College of Technology, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.

Professional Service

• Guest Editor for a Special Issue on "Alternative Solvents, Biomass, and Catalysis as Pivotal Tools in Green Chemistry" for the Journal of Processes, MDPI Publisher, Switzerland (2020-2022). (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/processes/special_issues/green_solvent).

• Reviewer for international Peer-reviewed journals: Scientific Reports, ACS Sustainable & Engineering Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Journal, Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, Journal of Molecular Liquids, Catalysis Today, Carbohydrate Research, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Journal of Chemical Engineering Data, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, ChemPhysChem, Journal of Computational Chemistry, Sustainable Food Technology, APL machine learning, ACS Engineering Au, ACS Omega, Energies, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, Molecules, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Materials, Royal Society of Open Science, Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, Royal Society Open Science, Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, Science and Technology for Energy Transition, and iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry. 

Trademarks and Patents

Patents:

Achinivu EC, Mohan M, Choudhary H, Das L, Huang K, Magurudeniya HD, Pidatala VR, Simmons BA, Gladden JM, “Use of polyamines in the pretreatment of biomass” US Patent 2022 (# US20220194877A1)

Other Publications:

1. Mohan M, Balaji C, Goud VV, Banerjee T. Thermodynamic Insights in the Separation of Cellulose/Hemicellulose Components from Lignocellulosic Biomass Using Ionic Liquids. J Solution Chem (2015), 44: 538-57
2. Mohan M, Goud VV, Banerjee T. Solubility of glucose, xylose, fructose and galactose in ionic liquids: Experimental and theoretical studies using a continuum solvation model. Fluid Phase Equilib (2015), 395: 33-43
3. Mohan M, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Hydrolysis of bamboo biomass by subcritical water treatment. Bioresour Technol (2015), 191: 244-252
4. Mohan M, Timung R, Deshavath NN, Banerjee T, Goud VV, Dasu VV. Optimization and hydrolysis of cellulose under subcritical water treatment for the production of total reducing sugars. RSC Adv (2015), 5: 103265-103275
5. Mohan M, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Solid Liquid Equilibrium of Cellobiose, Sucrose and Maltose Monohydrate in Ionic Liquids: Experimental and Quantum Chemical Insights. J Chem Eng Data (2016); 61(9): 2923–2932
6. Mohan M, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Effect of Protic and Aprotic Solvents on the Mechanism of Cellulose Dissolution in Ionic Liquids: A Combined Molecular Dynamics and Experimental Insight. ChemistrySelect (2016); 1(15): 4823–4832
7. Mohan M, Naik PK, Banerjee T, Goud VV, Paul S. Solubility of Glucose in Tetrabutylammonium Bromide based Deep Eutectic Solvents: Experimental and Molecular Dynamic Simulations. Fluid Phase Equilib (2017); 448: 168-177
8. Mohan M, Viswanath P, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Multiscale Modeling Strategies and Experimental Insights for the Solvation of Cellulose and Hemicellulose in Ionic Liquids. Mol Phys (2018); 116: 2108-2128
9. Mohan M, Banerjee T, Goud VV. COSMO-RS Based Screening of Antisolvents for the Separation of Sugars from Ionic Liquids: Experimental and Molecular Dynamic Simulations. ACS Omega (2018); 3: 7358−7370
10. Mohan M, Deshavath NN, Banerjee T, Goud VV, Dasu VV. Ionic liquid and sulphuric acid based pretreatment of bamboo: biomass delignification and enzymatic hydrolysis for the production of reducing sugars. Ind Eng Chem Res, (2018), 57, 31, 10105-10117
11. Mohan M, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Phase Transition Properties, Chemical Purity and Solubility of Coniferyl Alcohol and D-Mannose: Experimental and COSMO-RS Predictions. Can J Chem Eng (2019), 97, 5, 1100-1106
12. Mohan M, Choudhary H, George A, Simmons BA, Sale K, Gladden JM. Towards Understanding of Delignification of Grassy and Woody Biomass in Cholinium-based Ionic Liquids. Green Chemistry (2021), 23, 6020-6035.
13. Mohan M, Huang K, Pidatala VR, Simmons BA, Singh S, Sale K, Gladden JM. Prediction of Solubility Parameters of Lignin and Ionic Liquids Using Multi-resolution Simulation Approaches. Green Chemistry (2022), 24, 1165-1176.
14. Mohan M, Keasling J, Simmons BA, Singh S. In-silico COSMO-RS Predictive Screening of Ionic Liquids for the Dissolution of Plastic. Green Chemistry (2022), 24, 4140-4152.
15. Mohan M^*, Kumar N, Goud VV, Simmons BA, Sale KL, Gladden JM, Singh S, Banerjee T. Effect of Cosolvent on the Solubility of Glucose in Ionic Liquids: Experimental and Molecular Dynamic Simulations. Fluid Phase Equilibria (2022), 562, 113559 (^*corresponding author)
16. Mohan M^*, Sale K, Kalb R, Simmons BA, Gladden JM, Singh S. Multiscale Molecular Simulations Strategies for Understanding the Delignification Mechanism of Biomass in Cyrene. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. (2022), 10, 33, 11016–11029 (^*corresponding author)
17. Mohan M, Simmons BA, Sale K, Singh S. Multiscale Molecular Simulations for the Solvation of Lignin in Ionic Liquids. Scientific Reports 13, 271 (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25372-2
18. Naik PK^¥, Mohan M^¥, Banerjee T, Paul S, Goud VV. Molecular Dynamic Simulations for the Extraction of Quinoline from Heptane in the Presence of Low Cost Phosphonium Based Deep Eutectic Solvent. J Phys Chem B  (2018); 122(14): 4006-4015. ^¥ equal authorship
19. Verma, R^¥, Mohan M^¥, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Operational Strategies and Comprehensive Evaluation of Menthol Based Deep Eutectic Solvent for the Extraction of Lower Alcohols from Aqueous Media. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. (2018), 6, 12, 16920-16932. ^¥ equal authorship
20. Achinivu EC^*, Mohan M^*, Choudhary H, Das L, Huang K, Magurudeniya HD, Pidatala VR, George A, Simmons BA, Gladden JM. A predictive tool-set for the identification of effective lignocellulosic pretreatment solvents: A case study of solvents tailored for lignin extraction. Green Chemistry (2021), 23, 7269-7289. ^* equal authorship
21. Timung R, Mohan M, Chilukoti B, Sasmal S, Banerjee T, Goud VV. Optimization of dilute acid and hot water pretreatment of different lignocellulosic biomass: A comparative study. Biomass Bioenergy (2015); 81: 9-18
22. Deshavath NN, Mohan M, Veeranki VD, Goud VV, Pinnamaneni SR, Banerjee T. Dilute acid pretreatment of sorghum biomass to maximize the hemicellulose hydrolysis with minimized levels of fermentative inhibitors for bioethanol production. 3 Biotech (2017); 7: 139
23. Huang K, Mohan M, George A, Simmons BA, Yong X, Gladden JM. Integration of acetic acid catalysis with one-pot protic ionic liquid configuration to achieve high-efficient biorefinery of poplar biomass. Green Chemistry (2021), 23, 6036-6049
24. Yao A, Choudhary H, Mohan M, Rodriguez A, Magurudeniya HD, Pelton JG, George A, Simmons BA, Gladden JM. Can Multiple Ions in an Ionic Liquid Improve the Biomass Pretreatment Efficacy? ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. (2021); 9, 12, 4371–4376
25. Achinivu EC, Frank S, Baral NR, Das L, Mohan M, Otoupal P, Shabir E, Utan S, Scown C, Simmons BA, Gladden JM. Alkanolamines as Dual Functional Solvents for Biomass Deconstruction and Bioenergy Production. Green Chemistry (2021); 23, 8611-8631.
26. Choudhary H, Pidatala VR, Mohan M, Simmons BA, Gladden JM, Singh S. Renewable Schiff-Base Ionic Liquids for Lignocellulosic Biomass Pretreatment. Molecules (2022), 27(19), 6278.

Publications

Other Publications