Himanshu Mishra, Ph.D.

Faculty

Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering

Current

Social Profile:

Research Interests

We investigate water-hydrophobe interfaces across some twelve orders of magnitude – molecular to kilometer scales – via a broad set of experimental techniques, theory, and computation. Problems of specific interest include, global food-water security through bio-inspired technologies, superhydrophobic insects and plants, chemical reactions “on-water” and in sprays, and nanoconfined liquids (dilute to ultraconcentrated).

Selected Publications

Why did only one genus of insects, Halobates, take to the high seas?
L. Cheng, H. Mishra
PLOS Biology (2022) 20(4) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001570
Effects of Superhydrophobic Sand Mulching on Evapotranspiration and Phenotypic Responses in Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) under Normal and Reduced Irrigation
K. Odokonyero, A. Gallo Jr., V. Dos-Santos, H. Mishra
Plant-Environment Interactions (2022) DOI: 10.1002/pei3.10074
Nature-Inspired Superhydrophobic Sand Mulches Increase Agricultural Productivity and Water-Use Efficiency in Arid Regions
A. Gallo Jr., K. Odokonyero, M. Mousa, J. Reihmer, S. Al-Mashharawi, R. Marasco, E. Manalastas, M. Morton, D. Daffonchio, M. McCabe, M. Tester, and H. Mishra
ACS Agricultural Science & Technology (2022), DOI: 10.1021/acsagscitech.1c00148 (Journal cover)
Zwitterions Layer at but Do Not Screen Electrified Interfaces
M. Ridwan, B. Shrestha, N. Maharjan, H. Mishra
The Journal of Physical Chemistry B (2022), 126., 8, 1852-1860 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.1c10388
On the Formation of Hydrogen Peroxide in Water Microdroplets
A. Gallo Jr., N. Musskopf, X. Liu, Z. Yang, J. Petry, P. Zhang, S. Thoroddsen, H. Im, H. Mishra
Chemical Science (2022), 13, 2574-2583 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC06465G (Journal cover)
Suppression of Leidenfrost effect on superhydrophobic surfaces
M. Shi, R. Das, S. Arunachalam, H. Mishra
Physics of Fluids (2021), 33, 122104 DOI: 10.1063/5.0064040

Electrification at Water-Hydrophobe Interfaces
J. Nauruzbayeva, Z. Sun, A. Gallo Jr, M. Ibrahim, J.C. Santamarina, H. Mishra
Nature Communications (2020) 11, 5285 (Nature Communications Editors’ Highlights)
First-principles Based Rationally Designed Materials for treating Wastewaters
A. Santana, A.S. Farinha, A.Z. Torano, M. Ibrahim, H. Mishra
International Journal of Quantum Chemistry (2020), DOI:10.1002/qua.26501 (Journal cover)

Counterintuitive Wetting Transitions in Doubly Reentrant Cavities as a Function of Surface Make-up, Hydrostatic Pressure, and Cavity Aspect Ratio
S. Arunachalam, Z. Ahmad, R. Das, H. Mishra
Advanced Materials Interfaces (2020), DOI:10.1002/admi.202001268 (Journal cover)
Biomimetic Coating-free Superomniphobicity
R. Das, Z. Ahmad, J. Nauruzbayeva, H. Mishra
Scientific Reports (2020), 10, Article number: 7934
Superhydrophobicity and size reduction enabled Halobates (Insecta: Heteroptera, Gerridae) to colonize the open ocean
G. A. Mahadik, J. F. Hernandez Sanchez, S. Arunachalam, A. Gallo Jr., A.S. Farinha, S.T. Thoroddsen, H. Mishra, C.M. Duarte
Scientific Reports, 2020, 10, Article number: 7785
A Molecular to Macro-Level Assessment of Direct Contact Membrane Distillation for Separating Organics from Water
S. Pillai, A. Santana, R. Das, B.R. Shrestha, E. Manalastas, H. Mishra
Journal of Membrane Science, 2020, Vol. 608, 118140
Mitigating Cavitation Erosion Using Biomimetic Gas-Entrapping Microtextured Surfaces (GEMS)
S.R. Gonzalez-Avila, D.M. Nguyen, S. Arunachalam, E. Domingues, H. Mishra, C-D. Ohl
Science Advances, 2020, Vol. 6, No. 13, eaax6192
Nuclear Quantum Effects in Hydrophobic Nanoconfinement
B.R. Shrestha, S. Pillai, A. Santana, S.H. Donaldson, Jr., T.A. Pascal, H. Mishra
Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019, 10, 5530-5535 (Journal cover)
Bio-inspired Gas-entrapping Membranes (GEMs) Derived from Common Water-wet Materials for Green Desalination
R. Das, S. Arunachalam, Z. Ahmad, E. Manalastas, H. Mishra
Journal of Membrane Science, 2019, Vol 588, 117185
The chemical reactions in electrosprays of water do not always correspond to those at the pristine air–water interface
A.Gallo Jr, A.S. Farinha, M. Dinis, A.H. Emwas, A. Santana, R.J. Nielsen, W.A. Goddard, H. Mishra
Chemical Science (2018) 10(9), 2566-2577 (Journal cover)
Biomimetic coating-free surfaces for long-term entrapment of air under wetting liquids
E.M. Domingues, S. Arunachalam, J. Nauruzbayeva, H. Mishra
Nature Communications, volume 9, Article number: 3606, (2018)
Assessing omniphobicity by immersion
S. Arunachalam, R. Das, J. Nauruzbayeva, E.M. Domingues, H. Mishra
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol 534, pp. 156-162, (2019)
Evaluating the Potential of Superhydrophobic Nanoporous Alumina Membranes for Direct Contact Membrane Distillation
N. Subramanian, A. Qamar, A. Alsaadi, A. Gallo Jr., M. Ghifari, J.-G. Lee, S. Pillai, S. Arunachalam, D. Anjum, F. Sharipov, N.Ghaffour, H. Mishra
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol. 533, pp. 723-732, (2019)
Doubly Reentrant Cavities Prevent Catastrophic Wetting Transitions on Intrinsically Wetting Surfaces
E. Domingues, S. Arunachalam, H. Mishra
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 9 (25), pp. 21532-21538, (2017)
Time-Dependent Wetting Behavior of PDMS Surfaces with Bioinspired, Hierarchical Structures
H. Mishra, A.M. Schrader, D.W. Lee, A. Gallo, S.-Y. Chen, Y. Kaufman, S. Das, J.N. Israelachvili
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Volume 8, Issue 12, pp. 8168-8174, (2016)
Brønsted basicity of the air-water interface
H. Mishra, S. Enami, L. A. Stewart, R. J. Nielsen, M. R. Hoffmann, W. A. Goddard III, A. J. Colussi
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(46) 18679-18683, (2012)
Anions dramatically enhance proton transfer across aqueous interfaces
H. Mishra, S. Enami, R. J. Nielsen, W. A. Goddard III, M.R. Hoffmann, A. J. Colussi
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(26), pp. 10228-10232, (2012)
Quantum chemical insights into the dissociation of nitric acid on the surface of aqueous electrolytes
H. Mishra, R. J. Nielsen, S. Enami, M.R. Hoffmann, A. J. Colussi, W. A. Goddard III
International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, 113(4), pp. 413-417, (2012)
Branched polymer resins with high binding capacity and selectivity for boron in aqueous solutions
H. Mishra, D. P. Chen, C. J. Yu, M. R. Hoffmann, W.A. Goddard III, M. S. Diallo
Environmental Science &Technology, 46, pp. 8998-9004, (2012)

Education

Ph.D., Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA, 2013
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, Indiana, USA, 2007
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Punjab Engineering College, India, 2005

Professional Profile

2020-Present: Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
2014-2020: Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering, KAUST, Saudi Arabia
2014: The Elings Prize Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

Awards

Awards and Recognitions:

2022: Golden Jubilee Visiting Fellowship Endowment awarded by ICT, Mumbai, India.
2022: Cover Article, Chemical Science, DOI: 10.1039/D1SC06465G
2020: Editors’ Highlights, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19054-8
2020: Cover Article, Advanced Materials Interfaces, DOI:10.1002/admi.202001268
2020: Cover Article, International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, DOI:10.1002/qua.26501
2020: Student delegate to the 70^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Interdisciplinary Meeting: Adair Gallo Jr., PhD student
2019: Invited lecture: Physical Chemistry Seminar, College of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, CA, USA
2019: Invited lecture: Chemical Physics Seminar, Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
2019: Best Poster Prize, 45^th International Conference on Micro and Nano Engineering, Rhodes, Greece (Zain Ahmad, MS student) (Out of 404 entries; cash prize: 400 Euros)
2019: Session Chair, Wetting on Soft or Microtextured Surfaces, Bad Honnef, Germany (Host: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz)
2019: Cover Article, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b01835
2019: Cover Article, Chemical Science, 10, 2566–2577, DOI: 10.1039/C8SC05538F
2018: Lecture at the United Nations COP-24 meeting on climate change at Katowice, Poland, got >92k views on Facebook through Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) reporting.
2017: Elsevier Best Poster Award, 7^th International Colloids Conference, Sitges-Barcelona, Spain (Presenter: H. Mishra)
2017: First Place, Doctoral Level Students Poster Contest, 5^th Water Arabia Conference and Exhibition, Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia (2017) (Presenter: Adair Gallo Jr., Ph.D. student)
2016: Best Presentation Award, International Conference on Science and Technology of Emerging Materials (STEMa, 2016), Thailand (Presenter: H. Mishra)
2016: Cover Article, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5b10721
2014: The Elings Prize Postdoctoral Fellow, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, USA

KAUST Affiliations

Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC)
Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE)