Dr. Divya Nayar is an Assistant Professor at Department of Materials Science and Engineering at IIT Delhi. She obtained her Bachelors and Masters in Chemistry from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. She completed her PhD in computational chemistry from Department of Chemistry, IIT Delhi. Subsequently, she pursued post doctoral research at Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany. Before joining IIT Delhi, she worked as Assistant Professor at Centre for Computational and Data Sciences at IIT Kharagpur.
Research Interests:
Her research interests lie in soft matter simulations using concepts of biophysical chemistry and materials science. Her research uses computational methods such as molecular dynamics simulations, statistical mechanics, and theories of solvation thermodynamics. Her research focuses on obtaining a fundamental understanding of the biomolecular self-assembly processes and solvation and employing the understanding to design bio-inspired nanomaterials with tailored applications.
Selected Publications:
1. Crowding effects on water-mediated hydrophobic interactions R Sahu, D Nayar; The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2021, 155, 024903.
2. A cosolvent surfactant mechanism affects polymer collapse in miscible good solvents S Bharadwaj, D Nayar, C Dalgicdir, NFA van der Vegt; Communications Chemistry 2020, 3, 165.
3. Small crowder interactions can drive hydrophobic polymer collapse as well as unfolding D Nayar Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2020, 22 (32), 18091-18101.
4. The hydrophobic effect and the role of cosolvents NFA van der Vegt, D Nayar; The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2018, 121 (43), 9986-9998.
5. Molecular origin of urea driven hydrophobic polymer collapse and unfolding depending on side-chain chemistry D Nayar, A Folberth, NFA van der Vegt; Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2017, 19 (28), 18156-18161.