Prof. Jagadish K. Patnaik (C), Vice-Chancellor, Nagaland University, with Dr. Nurul Alam Choudhury (L) and Mr. Dipankar Hazarika (R).
Nagaland: In a significant achievement for the North East and India’s scientific community, Dipankar Hazarika, a PhD scholar from Nagaland University, has been awarded the prestigious Energy Innovation Fellowship Grant by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi. He is one of only 13 innovators selected nationwide for this highly competitive fellowship, aimed at creating cutting-edge research in sustainable energy storage technologies.
Working under the mentorship of Dr. Nurul Alam Choudhury, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Hazarika is conducting his research at the Laboratory for Polymer Materials and Renewable Energy, Nagaland University. His innovation, focused on biopolymer-based hydrogel electrolytes, holds promise for next-generation, all-solid-state energy storage systems, including flexible and wearable electronic devices.
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His work has already achieved laboratory-scale validation, and an Indian patent has been filed to protect the innovation.
Titled ‘Sustainable Biopolymer-based Hydrogel Electrolytes for Next-generation Solid-state Energy Storage’, Hazarika’s project aims to address safety, sustainability, and performance gaps in existing battery technologies. His hydrogel electrolyte, developed using chitosan—a biodegradable polymer derived from crab and shrimp shells—along with a non-toxic ionic crosslinker like sodium carbonate, offers a safer and eco-friendly alternative to conventional liquid electrolytes.
Product prototype.
The hydrogel membrane exhibits:
- High ionic conductivity: 7.89 mS/cm
- Electrochemical stability: Up to 2.32 V
- Excellent cycle life: Over 51,500 charge/discharge cycles at 2 mA/cm²
- High areal capacitance and rate capability
A lab-scale prototype of an all-solid-state supercapacitor has already been developed and validated, with an Indian patent filed to protect the innovation.
“This Fellowship will significantly strengthen my research by providing access to expert mentorship and opportunities for industry linkage. I believe it will help translate my research into a product that contributes to sustainable energy solutions. Going forward, we are going to conduct performance testing under real-world conditions and seek industry collaborations for scaling up he product and taking it to the market so that country can benefit from this technology,” said Hazarika expressing gratitude.
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The Fellowship is supported by a consortium including Innovation Norway, NITI Aayog, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and Atal Incubation Centers (AICs). Mr. Hazarika’s selection marks a significant milestone not just for Nagaland University but for the entire North East.
He is one of only two fellows selected from the region, out of over 100 proposals submitted from five zones—Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and the North East.
The program is being implemented regionally by AIC-SMUTBI (Sikkim Manipal University Technology Business Incubation), led by CEO Prof. Tej Chingtham. The national mentorship component is overseen by The Energy Consortium at IIT Madras, with Dr. Nikhil Tambe guiding fellows through stages of technology readiness scaling, product translation, and real-world deployment.
