Panchshil Technology Park, Hinjewadi, Pune 411007 (Hinjewadi Facility)
Battelle India’s Hinjewadi facility is a design and development office. Here, in addition to planning and managing research programs, Battelle India scientists work on computer-related aspects of R&D such as design, computation, intellectual property analyses and idea generation. Some of the projects being carried out at this facility are:

- Development of processes for low-cost extraction of titanium from its ores:
The main reason for the high cost of titanium today is the extraordinarily high amount of energy needed to extract it from its ores. Battelle India is designing novel processes to reduce by two-thirds the energy required to extract titanium from its ore. Such a development can potentially open the use of titanium to a wide variety of applications.

- Development of processes for low-cost and environmentally friendly extraction of aluminium from its ores:
Battelle India is designing novel processes to reduce by one-third the energy required to extract aluminium from its ore. This will have a significant effect on the cost of aluminium. The new process also helps do away with the generation of environmentally unfriendly byproducts such as red mud.

- Development of verity finite element method to predict fatigue life of welded joints:
Battelle India is further developing Battelle’s patented weld life prediction method called Verity. This computation technique has significant applications in Indian industry especially in the automotive and infrastructure industries.

- High throughput membranes for reverse and forward osmosis of water:
Reverse and forward osmosis are very effective processes in water treatment and desalination. However, the energy requirements are high, making them commercially difficult to implement especially in large desalination projects. Increasing the membrane throughput can reduce the specific energy requirements by a large extent. Battelle India is working towards developing higher throughput membranes by designing special polymer systems and functional fillers.

NCL Venture Center, Pashan Road, Pune 411 037 (Venture Center Facility)

Battelle India has its experimental labs located at the NCL Venture Center. Here, experimental scientific work related to material development and chemistry is carried out. Some of the projects under way at this facility are:

- Inorganic nanohybrid materials for encapsulation and controlled release:
Layered double hydroxides (LDH), also known as synthetic hydrotalcites, have been of great research interest in recent times due to their possible applications in catalysis, antimicrobial coating, cosmetics, water purification and drug delivery. They are a class of nanoporous clays consisting of positively charged hydroxylated metal cation layers, which are neutralized by inter lamellar anions. Battelle India is developing processes to encapsulate highly oxidative materials in these nanoclays. This will enable the use of these highly effective oxidants in chemical processes, water and waste water treatments, and cleaning products.

- High efficiency flexible polymer solar cells:
Quantum dots are used in conductive polymer films to form highly flexible solar cells. One of the primary factors controlling the efficiency of these flexible solar cells is the structure of the capping layer of the quantum dots. Many quantum dots are synthesized with large alkyl ligands such as oleic acid, or TOPO as capping layers. These materials act as insulators, inhibiting the transfer of charge carriers into and out of the quantum dot. To enhance performance, these ligands must be exchanged with a more suitable material. Battelle India is currently developing suitable methods to exchange the large molecule capping layer with small molecules that can increase the charge transfer from the quantum dot and thereby increase device efficiency of these flexible solar cells.

- Low-cost pesticide detection:
When agricultural commodity exporters source and ship large produce consignments they sometimes find that their shipment is rejected at the foreign port due to pesticide residues found in the produce. This causes significant losses as they have no recourse but to dispose the produce at the foreign port. Battelle India is developing a novel enzyme-based sensor to detect minute amounts of pesticide in food produce. These sensors can be used while receiving and packing the produce prior to shipping. This will prevent substantial losses to the exporting companies in terms of shipping and procurement losses that they bear in the event of rejections.

- Home kit for blood hemoglobin detection:
Battelle India is developing a novel method to detect hemoglobin levels in blood by a user at home. The method is based on the principle of iron binding ligands that bind to the iron in the hemoglobin and consequently change color. By quantifying the degree of color change, we can quantify the level of iron and thereby the hemoglobin in the blood. This low-cost kit can be used for home detection or for diagnosing hemoglobin-related disorders such as anemia and thalassemia in remote and rural areas with no access to medical diagnostic labs.