Dr Sumit Konar
Solid-State Chemist and Materials Scientist

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I am a solid-state chemist with over a decade of research experience in single-crystal and powder crystallography, thermal energy storage and materials characterisation, in universities and with industry.

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I completed my PhD in Chemistry at Stockholm University in 2015 under Prof. Ulrich Häussermann, then spent six years as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh. From 2022 until August 2026 I was Instrument Scientist at the University of Lincoln, running a shared analytical facility, and I am now an Honorary Fellow there.

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My research looks at how solids change structure, especially solid-solid phase-change materials that store heat. As Principal Investigator on an EPSRC-funded project (£50,000), I studied their latent heat and their thermal and structural stability, which led to a first-author paper in Chemistry of Materials (2024). On a Global Challenges Research Fund project (£39,210), I designed and built a prototype solar cooker for developing countries, where sunlight is plentiful and cooking smoke harms health and causes many deaths. The same heat-storage research could also be used to heat electric cars.

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My techniques include single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, neutron and synchrotron diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, high-pressure diamond anvil cells, DSC and TGA, Raman spectroscopy, and SEM and TEM. I have secured beamtime at Diamond Light Source, ESRF, DESY, MAX IV and ISIS.

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Working with industry
At Lincoln I led commercial consultancy for my technique through The Bridge. I would speak to a company about its problem, work out what it needed, and match it with the right method and the right colleague, then follow the project through to the final report. Since 2023 this has covered 23 projects for 16 companies. One client began with a £56,550 project and later became a £178,000 subcontract on a £634,000 BBSRC bid. Earlier, at Edinburgh, I worked with Eli Lilly on a pharmaceutical materials project, and I also worked with Pharmaron on a pharmaceutical materials project.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and author of 21 peer-reviewed publications. I also tutor chemistry at GCSE, National 5, Higher, Advanced Higher and A-level, and I am available for consulting and training in solid-state materials science.