[CCoE Notice] Zoom Webinar: “Slow Dance of Molecules” for Higher Crop Yields * Online * 10:30 am, Friday, April 24, 2020 * Nilwala Kottegoda * University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka *

[Knudsen, Rachel W]

***** Seminar *****
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Materials Engineering Program
Center for Integrated Bio and Nano Systems
  10:30 a.m., April 24, 2020
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/845619943?pwd=QlZvYUV6M2dxNDkvNWxBd3F2YzdJZz09

Meeting ID: 845 619 943
Password: 016104

“Slow Dance of Molecules” for Higher Crop Yields
Nilwala Kottegoda
Department of Chemistry
University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka
Abstract:.The compulsion of advanced materials is timely imperative for the upgrade of current agricultural systems in the coming decades. Our work discloses a unique and novel nanohybrid based on hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles decorated with urea which is competent in slow and precise delivery of Nitrogen. The high surface area to volume ratio and the rich surface chemistry of HA awarded at the nanoscale permit urea molecules to bound with HA via disparate bonding modes. The aptitude of nanohybrids for the slow release avert the premature loss of urea to the environment, ultimately leading to greater agronomic use efficiencies. The high nitrogen (N) content of 40% and slow-release properties realize these nanohybrids as a propitious candidate in future sustainable agriculture applications.
[cid:image002.png at 01D61834.36CB56B0]Short Bio: Nilwala Kottegoda obtained a first class BSc Special Degree in Chemistry from University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and the Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, UK. She is a Professor in Chemistry, and the Head/Department of Chemistry at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. She was a founder member and the principal scientist at Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC} which emerged as the first ever private-public partnership research institute in Sri Lanka.
She has significantly contributed to the fields of smart agriculture and materials science through her ground breaking innovation of nano-urea fertilizer which improves the efficacy of current global agricultural output, and value addition to commercially important natural minerals. Her pioneering research work on nano-urea fertilizer has been highlighted as the “Global First” and the innovation has been awarded three US patents extending to six other countries. Her smart agriculture solution was sold to Indian fertilizer Company for commercial production in 2012. She is a co-author of nine US patents, and many high-indexed journal publications. As a result of her exceptional contributions to the field of materials science she received the world academy of science young scientist award 2013, national award for the best innovation with commercial potential 2010 and she was nominated as one of the nine most inventive women scientists in the world by World Intellectual Property Organization in 2018. Her contributions to nanoagriculture were further recognized by rewarding the “Iron Citizen award for contribution to economic development of the country” in 2019.  She was also offered a Fulbright Fellowship to Rice University, Houston, USA in 2018.
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