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Prof. Sunil K. Maity

Professor

Department of Chemical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Kandi, Sangareddy-502284, Telangana, India

Ph: 040-2301-6202

Email: sunil_maity@che.iith.ac.in

Google Scholar Profile

Research areas

Our research group is currently working on the broad theme of biorefinery, focusing on

(i) Production of hydrocarbon/green biofuels and platform/drop-in chemicals from biomass,

(ii) Heterogeneous catalysis, and

(iii) Techno-economic analysis using Aspen Plus and process integration using pinch technology.

Our expertise lies in the thermochemical and chemo-catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels and biochemicals. We work with an extensive range of supported metal/bimetal, metal oxide, mixed metal oxide, zeolite, silica-alumina, cation/anion exchange resin, and sulfonic acid-functionalized materials as heterogeneous catalysts. We prepare the catalysts, characterize them to understand their physicochemical properties, and perform the reaction in batch-scale/bench-scale fixed-bed reactors. Our work is primarily focused on a fundamental understanding of structure-catalytic activity correlation, elucidating reaction mechanisms, developing robust catalysts for commercial applications, and optimizing process conditions. We collaborate with complementary research experts on fermentative biomass conversion and life cycle analysis. We are currently working on

Sustainable aviation fuels production via hydroxyalkylation-alkylation reaction
Sustainable aviation fuels production from terpenes and terpenoids
Catalytic conversion of butanediols to value-added chemicals
Production of cyclopentanone from furfural

We also worked on

Hydrodeoxygenation of vegetable oils
Steam reforming and oxidative steam reforming
Production of gasoline, butylene, and aromatics from bio-butanol,
Thermodynamic analysis
Process design using Aspen Plus
Techno-economic analysis

Selected Publications

Abhishek R. Varma, Md Ziyaur Rahman, Siddharth Gadkari, Atthasit Tawai, Malinee Sriariyanun, Ao Xia, Vinod Kumar, Sunil K. Maity, Recent Advances in Catalytic Conversion of Bioethanol to 1,3-Butadiene: Reaction Mechanism, Catalyst Design, and Process Scalability. ChemSusChem 2026, 19 (1), e202501926. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202501926
A. Kunamalla, SK. Maity, Production of green jet fuel from furanics via hydroxyalkylation-alkylation over mesoporous MoO3-ZrO2 and hydrodeoxygenation over Co/γ-Al2O3: Role of calcination temperature and MoO3 content in MoO3-ZrO2. Fuel 2023, 332, 125977.
S Mailaram, SK Maity, Dual liquid–liquid extraction versus distillation for the production of bio-butanol from corn, sugarcane, and lignocellulose biomass: A techno-economic analysis using pinch technology. Fuel 2022, 312, 22932.
SK Maity, Opportunities, recent trends and challenges ofintegrated biorefinery: Part I. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2015, 43, 1427-1445.
SK Maity, Opportunities, recent trends and challenges ofintegrated biorefinery: Part II. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2015, 43, 1446-1466.
SR Yenumala, SK Maity, D Shee, Hydrodeoxygenation of Karanja Oil over Supported Nickel Catalysts: Influence of Support and Nickel Loading. Catalysis Science & Technology 2016, 6, 3156 - 3165
VCS Palla, D Shee, SK Maity, Conversion of n-butanol to gasoline range hydrocarbons, butylenes and aromatics. Applied Catalysis A: General 2016, 526, 28-36.
M Varkolu, A Kunamalla, SAK Jinnala, P Kumar, SK Maity, D Shee, Role of CeO2/ZrO2 mole ratio and nickel loading for steam reforming of n-butanol using Ni–CeO2–ZrO2–SiO2 composite catalysts: A reaction mechanism. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2021, 46, 7320-7335.