Sumit Bhattacharya

Dr. Sumit Bhattacharya is a Materials Scientist in the Chemical and Fuel Cycle (CFC) division at Argonne National Laboratory. He is part of the Advanced Fuels and Materials group under the department of Fuel Development and Qualification (FDQ) group at Argonne. His primary research focus has been in the field of surface science/surface modifications to understand and generate thin film coatings for diverse nuclear applications.

Dr. Bhattacharya has been helping develop various successful coatings specifically designed for nuclear fuel and its cladding to function as a barrier against metal and oxygen diffusion. To generate these single and tailored multilayer coatings for use as diffusion barriers against metals, he has used techniques such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), and electrochemical deposition methods. Multilayer coatings have been primarily designed to survive extreme thermal cycling while remaining inside a nuclear environment. He has also applied the coating technique of corroding mediums within a high temperature nuclear environment.

Dr. Bhattacharya has been collaborating with researchers both from CFC as well as the Nuclear Science and Engineering division at Argonne to implement these coatings in projects involving both private and public partners. His research also focuses on developing techniques involving electrophoretic/electrochemical depositions, from which he has successfully developed methods to generate thicker ceramic/metal films and composite coatings.

Dr. Bhattacharya is a current participant in Argonne’s Launchpad Program, designed to provide motivated early- and mid-career researchers with enhanced training and mentoring for developing multimillion-dollar sponsored research programs. He has been inducted in the Launchpad group called ​“Material Innovations to Advance High-performance Nuclear Microreactors Development” for his expertise in the surface science field. As part of the Launchpad Program, his team is developing and promoting designs to enable next-generation nuclear microreactors through cutting-edge material innovations and to efficiently commercialize these solutions while accelerating proof-of-concept of these innovations to attract more industry interests. Dr. Bhattacharya’s primary role on the team will be to design and develop materials (e.g., coatings) tuned for very high temperature nuclear applications to protect the base materials, which can range from heat exchangers to moderators and heat pipes.