Hi! I am Raghavendra Meena, a PhD Candidate at Wageningen University & Research.

Raghavendra Meena

About Me

I am a fourth-year PhD candidate at Wageningen University & Research. I do science, love football, and take photographs. Besides these core domains, I like listening to music, reading books, and learning to play the guitar. I also like to paint and am currently enjoying building this website.

Research
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Soccer
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Photography
Photography Image

Projects

As a doctoral researcher at Wageningen University & Research, I regularly perform first principle simulations for chemical reactions. I employ computational approaches such as density functional theory (DFT), ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), and microkinetic modelling (MKM) to investigate catalytic mechanisms and kinetics. I aim to design affordable and efficient catalysts for converting biomass to platform chemicals for biofuels, contributing to a sustainable and circular economy. Specifically, I work on designing efficient transition metal carbide (TMC) based catalysts for biomass conversion. First, I use static DFT to study the reaction mechanisms of fundamental processes involved in biomass conversion, such as the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction. The energetics obtained from static DFT calculations are then used to perform MKM. Furthermore, I use insights from DFT and MKM results to optimize the HDO activity of these catalysts through heteroatom doping. I also conduct band analysis (density of states) to understand these processes further and identify the descriptors responsible for the activity of these catalysts. The results of these studies have been summarized in the publication “Toward the Rational Design of More Efficient Mo2C Catalysts for Hydrodeoxygenation–Mechanism and Descriptor Identification”. More details about my projects can be found on my LinkedIn profile.

Photographs

I enjoy taking photographs during my travels. Check out my Gallery page to see my photograph collection.

Contact

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