Faculty & Staff

Dr. Marimuthu Andiappan

Marimuthu Andiappan

Associate Professor of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering

Phone: 813-396-0691 |Office: ENC 2202

Email: marimuthuandiappan@usf.edu

Research webpage

Research Clusters: Energy and Sustainability

Honors and Awards

  • NSF CAREER Award (2023)
  • All India 6th rank in GATE 2005 (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering), organized by IITs and IISc.
  • Kokes award, 23rd North American Catalysis Society Meeting, 2013.
  • Rackham Travel Grants from the University of Michigan (2011 and 2012).
  • 1st rank in class and 3rd rank (top ~0.5%) in Anna University, chemical engineering branch in undergraduate degree.

Education and Training

  • PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • ME, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
  • BE, Anna University, Chennai

Research Overview

Andiappan Research Group focuses on plasmonic metal nanomaterials and high-dielectric metal oxide nanomaterials-based heterogeneous catalysis and photocatalysis. Ongoing projects include

  • Solar energy conversion and storage in the form of chemical fuels
  • Photocatalysis for sustainable production of fuels, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals
  • Photocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion and valorization into fuels and chemicals
  • Photocatalysis for decarbonization of the chemical industry
  • Solar desalination

Selected Publication

  • Kumar, S.; Tirumala, R. A.; Gyawali, S.; Le, T.; Tan, S.; Goswami, D. Y.; Wang, B.; Bristow, A. D.; Andiappan, M. Plasmonic versus Dielectric Mie Resonance Mediated Photocatalytic Reverse Water–Gas Shift Reaction on Copper-Based Nanocubes. ACS Nano 2025 (DOI).
  • Tirumala, R. A.; Gyawali, S.; Le, T.; Kumar, S.; Tan, S.; Wang, B.; Bristow, A. D.; Andiappan, M. Visible Light-Driven Photocatalytic Carbon–Carbon Coupling Reaction under Atmospheric Temperature and Pressure Conditions Using Hybrid Cu₂O–Pd Nanostructures. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2025 (DOI).
  • Tirumala, R. A.; Gyawali, S.; Wheeler, A.; Ramakrishnan, S. B.; Sooriyagoda, R.; Mohammadparast, F.; Tan, S.; Kalkan, K. A.; Bristow, A. D.; Andiappan, M. Structure–Property–Performance Relationships of Cuprous Oxide Nanostructures for Dielectric Mie Resonance-Enhanced Photocatalysis. ACS Catal. 2022, 12 (13), 7975–7985 (DOI).
  • Ramakrishnan, S. B.; Mohammadparast, F.; Mou, T.; Le, T.; Jain, P. K.; Wang, B.; Andiappan, M. Photoinduced Electron and Energy Transfer Pathways and Photocatalytic Mechanisms in Hybrid Plasmonic Photocatalysis. Adv. Opt. Mater. 2021, 2101128 (DOI).
  • Tirumala, R. A.; Dadgar, A.; Mohammadparast, F.; Ramakrishnan, S. B.; Mou, T.; Wang, B.; Andiappan, M. Homogeneous versus Heterogeneous Catalysis in Cu₂O Nanoparticles Catalyzed C–C Coupling Reactions. Green Chem. 2019, 21, 5284–5290 (DOI).