Akhoury Purnendu Bhusan Sinha (23 September 1928 – 4 July 2021) was an Indian solid state chemist who was the head of the Physical Chemistry Division of the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. He is known for his theories on semiconductors and his studies on synthesis of

manganite Manganite is a mineral composed of manganese oxide-hydroxide, MnO(OH), crystallizing in the monoclinic system (pseudo-orthorhombic). Crystals of manganite are prismatic and deeply striated parallel to their length; they are often grouped togethe ...

s. He was an elected fellow of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

and the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded Sinha the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

A. P. B. Sinha, born on 27 December 1928, joined the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

from where he secured a PhD in 1954; his thesis was based on solid state chemistry. Later, he served the National Chemical Laboratory, Pune as a director's grade scientist and headed the Physical Chemistry division of the institution. Continuing his researches on solid state chemistry, Sinha studied low mobility semiconductors with respect to its electron transport and crystal distortions caused by electron lattice transitions, switching, magnetic ordering and memory effects. He is known to have synthesized new manganites and reportedly developed a number of solid state products such as thermistors, photocells, magnets and photovoltaic products. Based on his studies on electron lattice interaction, Sinha proposed support theories for the

ferroelectricity In physics and materials science, ferroelectricity is a characteristic of certain materials that have a spontaneous electric polarization that can be reversed by the application of an external electric field. All ferroelectrics are also piezoel ...

theory and developed new theories on the ''thermoelectrical power and mobility in semiconductors''. His researches are reported to have widened the understanding of conduction in semiconductors. The body of his literary work is composed of one book, ''Spectroscopy in inorganic chemistry'', chapters to the book, ''A study of the growth and structure of layers of oxides, sulphides and related compounds, with special reference to the effect of temperature'', edited by C. N. R. Rao, and several articles published in peer reviewed journals. His work has been cited by several authors. Sinha was associated with journals such as ''Bulletin Materials Science'' and ''Indian Journal of Pure Applied Physics'' as a member of their editorial boards. The

awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972. Sinha was elected by the Indian Academy of Sciences as their fellow in 1974 before he became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1978. He is also an elected fellow of the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences and a recipient of the Meritorious Invention Award of the

National Research Development Corporation The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) was a non-departmental government body established by the British Government to transfer technology from the public sector to the private sector. History The NRDC was established by Attlee's La ...

which he received in 1978. After his stint at NCL, Sinha migrated to the US and is associated with the Morris Innovative Research. Sinha died in the United States on 4 July 2021, at the age of 92.

Citations

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Selected bibliography

Books

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Articles

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Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinha, A. P. B. 1928 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science Alumni of the University of London 20th-century Indian chemists Solid-state chemistry Indian physical chemists Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy