Patcha Ramachandra Rao, Indian metallurgist (Kavutavaram, Andhra Pradesh 21 March 1942 – Madurai, Coimbatore 10 January 2010)
Expert on physical metallurgy and materials science
Authored over 230 research papers
ACHIEVEMENTS
Discovered novel intermetallic phases and phases with 5-fold rotational symmetry
Discovered a new class of quasicrystals in magnesium alloys
Proposed a standard expression of free energy of the undercooled liquid for thermodynamic treatment of under cooled liquids
Successfully synthesized calcium carmonate, calcium hydroxyl apatite and some nanocrystals through biomimetics
Developed a number of innovative techniques for the preparation, characterization and modeling of metastable products including the first ever predesigned quasicrystalline alloy
With G.V.S. Sastry blazed a new path in the synthesis of quasicrystals
Held 20 patents
PATENTS (incomplete list)
With A. Agrawal, I. Chattoraj & G.V. Kumar Puvvada. Process for recover of gallium (2002)
With S. Das, V. Rao, A. Sinha, J. Chakraborty & S.K. Das. Process for the preparation of nanosized iron oxide by biomimetic route (2002)
With A. Agarwal, S. Nayar, A. Sinha & V. Rao. A process for the preparation of nanosized hydroxyapatite (2002)
With S. Das, S.K. Mishra & R.P. Goel. Process for the production of zirconium boride powder (1997)
With D.K. Biswas, K.K. Mishra, B.K. Mitra, S.D. Singh & K.K. Singh. A composition for the preparation of refractory useful for oil/gas based melting furnaces (1997)
With V. Rao & A. Sinha. Process for the production of neodymium-iron-boron-permanent magnet alloy powder (1994)