Dr. Vinay Arya
Welcome

About

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, working with Prof. Chirodeep Bakli in the Tensore Lab. I did both my M.Tech. and my PhD (as a Prime Minister's Research Fellow) at IIT Kharagpur under his supervision.

My research asks how fluids, ions and polymers move when squeezed into spaces only a few molecules wide, and how to turn that understanding into technology. I combine all-atom molecular dynamics with physics-informed machine learning, and take the ideas to the bench: graphene membranes for desalination, passive oil–water separation, and hydrogels that cool solar panels and electronics without power.

NanofluidicsMolecular dynamicsInterfacial phenomenaPhysics-informed MLDesalinationHydrogels & passive coolingHeat transferEnergy storage
20journal articles
1granted patent
247citations
PMRFPrime Minister's Research Fellow

News

  • Successfully defended my PhD (viva-voce) at IIT Kharagpur, supervised by Prof. Chirodeep Bakli. Read more →
  • Submitted my PhD thesis, Transport control under confinement, supervised by Prof. Chirodeep Bakli.
  • Physics-informed machine learning for graphene desalination membranes published in Desalination. Read more →
  • Two papers on hydrogel passive cooling, in Solar RRL and Advanced Sustainable Systems, both featured on the journal covers. Read more →
  • Presented my PhD synopsis seminar at IIT Kharagpur.
PhD thesis · IIT Kharagpur · 2026

Transport control under confinement: molecular mechanisms, soft matter effects, and multiscale integration

A physics-driven multiscale framework linking molecular mechanisms in nanochannels to system-level performance in desalination, oil-spill remediation and passive cooling.

Supervisor: Prof. Chirodeep Bakli · Read more →
Hydrated sodium and chloride ions in bulk water and at a graphene interface

Research highlights All research →

Water flowing through a graphene nanochannel

Water & ions in graphene nanopores

Molecular design rules for low-energy desalination membranes.
Nanoscale cover art: oil droplets over a graphene surface

Passive oil–water separation

Nanoscale wettability that fractionates oil spills, featured on a Nanoscale cover.
Physics-informed neural network architecture

Physics-informed machine learning

PINNs that turn molecular simulations into device-scale predictions.
Hydrogel–thermoelectric cooling set-up

Hydrogels for passive cooling

Power-free cooling for solar panels and high-heat-flux electronics.

Academic journey

  1. Postdoctoral Research FellowCurrent
    School of Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
    With Prof. Chirodeep Bakli · Tensore Lab
  2. PhD (Engg.) · Prime Minister's Research Fellow
    Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur · 2020 – 2026
    Supervisor: Prof. Chirodeep Bakli · CGPA 9.0
  3. M.Tech.
    Energy Science and Engineering, IIT Kharagpur · 2018 – 2020
    Supervisor: Prof. Chirodeep Bakli · CGPA 9.11
  4. B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering
    DCRUST, Murthal · 2013 – 2017
    Full CV & teaching →

Selected publications All publications →

V Arya, A Agarwal, C Bakli (2026). Physics-informed machine learning for electroosmotic flow in graphene nanochannels: Towards next-generation desalination membranes. Desalination, 119824.
Thesis coreDOI
V Arya, A Chaudhuri, C Bakli (2024). Passive fractionating mechanism for oil spill using shear-wettability modulation. Nanoscale 16 (29), 13885–13894.
Journal coverDOI
V Arya, A Chaudhuri, C Bakli (2022). Coupling solute interactions with functionalized graphene membranes: towards facile membrane-level engineering. Nanoscale 14 (44), 16661–16672.
Cited by 29DOI
V Arya, V Chandra, A Roy, C Bakli (2026). Dual-Function Hydrogel Synthesis for Passive Photovoltaic Cooling for Climate-Resilient Solar Infrastructure. Solar RRL 10 (6), e202500913.
DOI

Looking forward to collaborationsEspecially work that connects molecular simulations and machine learning with experiments in water, thermal and energy systems.

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