Practical Chemist with a Green Approach
UALR chemistry Professor Tito Viswanathan bridges the gap between theory and practice everyday. While guiding students to make their own research discoveries, he teaches them how to attack problems and analyze possible solutions, leading them to become wavemakers in their own right.
Dr. Viswanathan’s work is concentrated largely on conductive polymers, or materials that conduct electricity, and has brought the University international recognition, new equipment and over $2 million in funding in the past 10 years. His work has produced the only water-dispersible conducting polymers on a mass scale in the United States, and eight patents have been issued on his work.
“It’s good to see something we’ve done in this laboratory being used in a practical application,” Viswanathan. “These polymers are able to elevate conductivity while preventing corrosion. Through this research, we will be able to save lots of money by preventing corrosion. What we are doing here will have a great impact on what people are able to do in the future.”
Through “green chemistry,” or the practice of chemistry aimed at environmentally safe and economically sound research, Dr. Viswanathan has discovered ways to use renewable resources to produce materials currently being produced with non-renewable resources.
Dr. Viswanathan earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Delhi, his master’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of Houston, and his doctoral degree from Tulane University. He is a member of the American Chemical Society’s national and local sections as well as Sigma Xi, a scientific research society.