Arunkumar Thirugnanasambantham

Research Interests

Arunkumar is passionate about desalination and solar-driven freshwater technologies. His work involves solar evaporation, solar stills, and advanced desalination methods. He focuses on developing innovative techniques to enhance system efficiency, bridging laboratory research with real-world applications, and advancing the commercialization of sustainable water solutions.

Selected Publications

Comprehensive review of advanced desalination technologies for solar powered all-day, all-weather freshwater harvesting systems
T. Arunkumar, Dibyangana Parbat, Sang Joon Lee, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 199, 114505, (2024).
Sustainable solar desalination through interfacial evaporation: Integration of chitosan aerogel-impregnated graphene nanoplatelets solar evaporator and phase change material
T. Arunkumar, Younghoon Suh, Hyeong Woo Lim, S. Christopher, Sang Joon Lee, Desalination, 572, 117102, (2024).
Peanut shell-derived photothermal absorber for solar desalination
T. Arunkumar, Higgins M. Wilson, Hyeong Woo Lim, Ali Zain Hameed, Sang Joon Lee, Desalination, 565, 116901, (2023).
Sensible desalting: Investigation of sensible thermal storage materials in solar stills
T. Arunkumar, Jiaqiang Wang, D. Dsilva Winfred Rufuss, D. Denkenberger, A.E. Kabeel, Journal of Energy Storage, 32, 101824, (2020).
Effect of nano-coated CuO absorbers with PVA sponges in solar water desalting system
T. Arunkumar, D. Murugesan, Kaiwalya Raj, David Denkenberger, C. Viswanathan, R. Velraj, Applied Thermal Engineering, 148, 1416-1424, (2019).
Productivity enhancement of solar still by using porous absorber with bubble-wrap insulation
T. Arunkumar, A.E. Kabeel, Kaiwalya Raj, David Denkenberger, R. Sathyamurthy, P. Ragupathy, R. Velraj, Journal of Cleaner Production, 195, 1149-1161, (2018).
Productivity enhancement of compound parabolic concentrator tubular solar stills
T. Arunkumar, R. Velraj, D. Denkenberger, R. Sathyamurthy, K.V. Kumar, A. Ahsan, Renewable Energy, 88, 391-400, (2016).
Experimental study on a parabolic concentrator assisted solar desalting system
T. Arunkumar, D. Denkenberger, R. Velraj, R. Sathyamurthy, H. Tanaka, K. Vinothkumar, Energy Conversion and Management, 105, 665-674, (2015).
Effect of water and air flow on concentric tubular solar water desalting system
T. Arunkumar, R. Jayaprakash, A. Ahsan, D. Denkenberger, M.S. Okundamiya, Applied Energy, 103, 109-115, (2013).
An experimental study on a hemispherical solar still T. Arunkumar, R. Jayaprakash, D. Denkenberger, A. Ahsan, M.S. Okundamiya, S. Kumar, H. Tanaka, H.S. Aybar, Desalination, 286, 342-348, (2012).

Education

Ph.D., Physics, Bharathiar University, India, 2012.

M.Sc., Physics, Bharathiar University, India, 2007.

B.Sc., Physics, Periyar University, India, 2004.

Professional Profile

Dec 2022–Jan 2024: Brain-Pool Fellowship, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, South Korea.

April 2021–March 2022: Brain-Korea 21 (BK21) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, South Korea.

March 2022–Dec 2022: Associate Scientific Editor-Energy, Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd.

Dec 2018–Dec 2019: State-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship, Yunnan University, Kunming, P.R. China.

July 2015–July 2018: Dr. D.S. Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship, Anna University, India.

Awards

June 2018: South Asian Young Talents Visiting Fellowship, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), P.R. China.

July 2015: Visiting Scientist Fellowship, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), India.

Jan 2010: Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), Minstry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India.

KAUST Affiliations

Division of Physical Science and Engineering (PSE)

Research Interests Keywords

Solar desalination, materials, solar evaporation