Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340

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Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry

S.K. Rangarajan, a tribute

The scientist, the man and the mentor the MCC, worked there for some time, and then joined the postal
department until he was offered an assistant professorship
Sarukkai Krishnamachari Rangarajan (fondly referred to as SKR (1955) at the Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering & Technol-
by his friends, colleagues and students) passed away on 29th April, ogy in Karaikudi. While teaching there, he was actively pursuing
2008. He was a genius, a man of many talents, unique in that his research in mathematics.
ability in science was matched by his fine qualities as a human At that time, the Central Electrochemical Research Institute
being. (CECRI), also located in Karaikudi, was headed by the distinguished
SKR was born on September 9, 1932. He obtained his B.A. (Hon) electrochemist Prof. K.S.G. Doss. He had just discovered the phe-
in mathematics from the Madras Christian College (MCC), in 1953. nomenon of faradaic rectification, and was looking for someone
After graduation, he started off as a film critic, and also wrote for to develop a proper theory for the process. Doss approached SKR,
the Tamil arts magazine ‘‘Ajanta”. He then took up a tutorship at expecting the theory to be developed in about a year, but the

doi:10.1016/j.jelechem.2008.07.007
334 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340

problem was solved in a day! Doss was so impressed that he per- He is survived by his wife, daughter and four sons. His eldest
suaded SKR to join CECRI. He did so in 1960, but left in 1970, after son, Sundar Sarukkai, works at the Indian National Institute of Ad-
the retirement of Doss. Doss, who had contributed significantly to vanced Studies, and is well known in his own right. In SKR’s death,
electrochemistry, is reputed to have said ‘‘my most significant con- the world, and especially electrochemistry, has lost an outstanding
tribution to electrochemistry was finding SKR”. scientist. Personally, I have lost my brilliant, warm hearted, affec-
SKR spent the next two years as a Homi Bhabha fellow at the tionate, kind ‘‘Guru”, a sorrow shared by all his students and
National Aeronautical Laboratory and continued there as a scientist admirers. He will live on in our memory for ever.
till 1975, when he was invited by Prof. S. Dhawan, Director of the
Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, to join its Department of The publications of Prof. S.K. Rangarajan
Inorganic and Physical Chemistry (IPC) as a professor. During his
term at this department, he was a visiting professor at Georgetown In the memories of those who have known S.K. Rangarajan, he
University and was a Science Research Council Senior Visiting Pro- will live on as an exceptionally kind and wise man. But he is no
fessor at the University of Newcastle. He spent a sabbatical year longer with us, and those fond memories are not transferable.
visiting the IBM Thomas J. Watson labs in the US and has been a S.K. Rangarajan was also as close to a scientific genius as I have
frequent visitor to that lab. In addition, he travelled widely in the had the privilege to know, and this is reflected in his papers,
world, attending conferences, giving invited lectures and collabo- which will be there for everyone to study and build on, now
rating with scientists from different parts of the world. During and in the future. This short annotation is a guide to some of
1988–1992, he was on deputation from his parent department, those papers.
working as the Director of CECRI. S.K. Rangarajan was trained as a mathematician, and often
At the Indian Institute of Science, SKR had a very active group seemed to think in purely mathematical terms. But he was much
and had several bright students, who continue to be very active more than that, because he had great insight in physics and theo-
in the field. SKR worked mainly on theoretical problems in electro- retical chemistry, and the rare gift to apply both his mathematical
chemistry. In addition he also continued to work on mathematics, skills and his physical insight to practical problems, especially in
biophysical chemistry, theoretical physics and even mechanical electrochemistry, which became his scientific home. And even
engineering. After retiring from the IPC department in 1993, he though he was not himself an experimentalist, he well understood
was a senior professor at Matscience for three years, and after that the possibilities and problems of experimental data.
he was a visitor at the Raman Research Institute. The IPC very He was primarily interested in the mathematical structure of a
much wanted him to spend time in the department, and persuaded problem; once he understood that to his satisfaction, he often
him to visit them once in a week. He was very active until the very moved on to another interesting topic. Many of his publications
end, was working on an interesting and important problem, and therefore came in the form of a short burst of papers on one such
had solved it just the day previous to his death. A week before topic, typically stimulated by a good graduate student or coworker,
his death, he had come to the IPC and excitedly told us that he although he often returned to some problems, such as adsorption,
was planning to give a series of lectures on ‘‘Stochastic Problems crystallization, and linear as well as nonlinear perturbation effects,
in Chemical Sciences” and that he would start in a week’s time. and the interactions (‘‘coupling”) between various seemingly unre-
SKR was an outstanding theoretician and electrochemist. lated phenomena, that kept his interest throughout the years. If he
Though the only degree that he ever had was a bachelor’s degree solved a problem and could not find a worthy student to work out
in mathematics, he was a world renowned theoretical electro- its details with him, he sometimes gave a talk about it at some con-
chemist, and was on the editorial boards of international journals ference, but before writing it up for publication he might get inter-
in the field. While at the Indian Institute of Science and else- ested in solving another problem. He occasionally did mention
where, he was an inspiration to a large number of bright stu- such solved but unpublished subjects to his friends and colleagues,
dents, even though they were not working with him. To quote such as his two-dimensional Laplace transform solution of electro-
one such, S. Arunachalam: ‘‘A truly great teacher, SKR was a self- chemical mass transport problems, or his extensive model for
less and self-effacing man. He gave away his knowledge to any- electrochemical machining, and some may still be recoverable
one who came to him without ever expecting any return. The from his personal notes and the extensive viewgraphs he prepared
very thought of returns never occurred to him. He was not a for his talks, but most likely only by someone who is already well
man of mere intellect. Indeed, it was just one small part of him. on his way to reach that level of understanding.
At a time when lesser mortals get easily tempted to fall prey to Rangarajan practiced science as it was commonly done before
the ways of the world, he remained steadfast in his values and World War II, without grant applications and publication pressure;
principles, never once deviating from his chosen, or should I say his drive to produce was entirely internal. He worked to solve a prob-
preordained path”. lem that intrigued him, and if it were not for the benefit of a graduate
He was well recognized by the usual standards – was elected as student, many more of his papers might have remained unwritten.
Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Indian Na- He realized clearly how far ahead of his time some of his models
tional Academy, and Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sci- were, but he completely lacked any urge to self-promote.
ences. In addition, he was given the Alumni Award (1993) of the Throughout his career he published papers on purely
Indian Institute of Science and the lifetime achievement award of mathematical subjects, such as polynomials [7,8,16–27,37], series
the Chemical Research Society of India (2008), as well as many acceleration and perturbation expansion methods [90,
other awards and honors. However, to those who were privileged 106–107,111–112], Green’s functions [126], and derivatives
to know him closely, his abilities were far more than what these [181]. Below I will focus on the bulk of his scientific output, which
awards convey. was in electro- chemistry.
The first topic, the one that got him interested in that field, was
K.L. Sebastian
faradaic rectification [1], initially called the redoxokinetic effect by
Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry,
its discoverers, K.S.G. Doss and H.P. Agarwal. Doss, the director of
Indian Institute of Science,
the Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Kairakudi, asked
Bangalore,
for Rangarajan’s help, recognized his gifts, and promptly hired
India
him. A few years after Doss retired, Rangarajan moved to
E-mail address: kls@ipc.iisc.ernet.in
 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340 335

Bangalore, first to the National Aeronautical Laboratory, then to the and put much of electrochemistry on a far higher theoretical level
Indian Institute of Science. He returned to Karaikudi for a short than where he had found it.
stint as its director, until he in turn reached India’s mandatory
retirement age of 60. After that he was associated with the Insti-
tute for Mathematical Sciences in Madras and, after his return to S.K. Rangarajan’s publications
Bangalore, with the Raman Research Institute as well as the Indian
Institute of Science. He spent some extended time periods abroad, 1960
at the University of Newcastle on Tyne with Thirsk and Fleisch- 1. S.K. Rangarajan, Derivation of the general equation for redox-
mann, at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. with me, at okinetic potential, J. Electroanal. Chem. 1 (1960) 396–402.
the IBM Watson Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, and at the Mate-
rials Science Laboratory of Pennsylvania State University. He often 1961
visited his children, four of whom now live in the US, but he always 2. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradaic admittance of electro-
returned to his cultural roots. chemical processes, Austral. J. Chem. 14 (1961) 458–459.
The theory of the electrochemical admittance was the topic of 1962
his next papers with Doss [2,4–6,12,13]. Rangarajan would return 3. S.K. Rangarajan, Comments on the linearisation of current-
to it repeatedly [10,15,31,32,39], and I will briefly dwell on it be- potential characteristics, Anal. Chem. 34 (1962) 1382–
cause it gives a good indication of how he worked. He was clearly 1383.
intrigued by Delahay’s 1960 conclusion that two quantities that 4. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradaic admittance: sign con-
were conceptually seemingly unrelated, double layer charging ventions, Electrochim. Acta 7 (1962) 201–204.
and faradaic current, would actually become ‘‘coupled” in the pres- 5. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, AC polarographic wave: modified
ence of strongly adsorbed reagent or product of the faradaic pro- equations, J. Electroanal. Chem. 3 (1962) 217–218.
cess, and he convinced himself of its correctness by a simple 6. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradaic admittance and adsorp-
thought experiment [46]. But rather than following Delahay’s der- tion: a diffusion model, J. Electroanal. Chem. 4 (1962)
ivation, he looked at the problem in a much wider context, which 237–241.
allowed him to find a powerful and elegantly compact general for-
malism [67–70] that encompassed double layer charging, faradaic 1963
reactions, and mass transport. It included Delahay’s effect as well 7. S.K. Rangarajan, On particular solutions of r4/ = 0 and
as other couplings, such as that between electrode kinetics and 4
E / = 0, Defence Sci. J. 13 (1963) 199–208.
mass transport of the reactants and products, another set of pro- 8. S.K. Rangarajan, Series involving products of Laguerre polyno-
cesses that had seemed to be unrelated and that, not long before, mials, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 58 (1963) 362–367.
had been associated by Vetter with mutually independent types 9. S.K. Rangarajan, Diffusion with migration in the diffuse dou-
of ‘‘overvoltage”. Rangarajan’s approach was so general that he ble layer, Can. J. Chem. 41 (1963) 983–1006.
could also apply it to ion transport through lipid bilayer mem- 10. S.K. Rangarajan, Faradaic impedance: effect of migration in
branes [94]. the diffuse double layer, Can. J. Chem. 41 (1963) 1007–
Faradaic rectification is, of course, an example of a nonlinear re- 1015.
sponse, and Rangarajan quickly put such nonlinear responses on a 11. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrode processes with a preceding chem-
solid mathematical footing [71-73, 78]. ical reaction: effect of the diffuse double layer, Can. J. Chem. 41
Another enduring interest was electrocrystallization [28,29, (1963) 1469–1476.
34–36,40,53,60,63,64,87–89,99,100,102,105,106,143,163,164], 12. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradaic admittance, a diffusion
which he again approached systematically and with great success, model II, J. Electroanal. Chem. 5 (1963) 114–123.
and even extended to non-electrochemical, homogeneous 13. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradaic admittance, a diffusion
nucleation [110,111]. model III, J. Electroanal. Chem. 5 (1963) 253–260.
In short order he began to contribute to some of the other ‘‘hot” 14. S.K. Rangarajan, Migration in the diffuse layer: studies on
electrochemical topics of the time, such as adsorption (many with the steady state, J. Electroanal. Chem. 5 (1963) 350–361.
Sangaranarayanan) [46,47,61,62,74,81,84,93,103,104,114–119,170], 15. K. Narayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Faradaic admittance and
chemisorption [95,123], and their effects on electron transfer reac- migration in the diffuse double layer: effect on the phase angle,
tions (many with A.K. Mishra) [70,130,132–135,140,154,175]; the Austral. J. Chem. 16 (1963) 565–571.
theory of electron transfer reactions [128,131,149,153,154]; prob-
lems of current distribution [33], electrodeposition [161,168,172], 1964
and the electrochemical effects of surface roughness (with R. Kant) 16. S.K. Rangarajan, Some infinite series involving Legendre
[165,171,174,182]; the theories of porous electrodes [44,51,86, functions, Defence Sci. J. 14 (1964) 311–314.
91,138] and of polarographic maxima [75,77]; the improved use of 17. S.K. Rangarajan, A new formula for P m mþn ðcos aÞ, Quart. J.
existing experimental methods [43,45,50,66,82,83,97,98,101, Math. 15 (1964) 32–34.
120–122,139,141] and the development of new measurement tech- 18. S.K. Rangarajan, Generalised Angelescu polynomials: some
niques [58,59,65,79,80] including noise analysis (with Seralathan) properties, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 60 (1964) 65–73.
[125,126]; semiconductor- and photo-electrochemistry [142, 19. K. Rangarajan, On some infinite series involving Appell poly-
144–147,150,156,160,162,166,167,173], membrane electrochemis- nomials and the functions f(z,a), Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 60 (1964)
try [92–94], and electrochemical corrosion and passivation 153–158.
[30,42,52, 54,56].
In fact, a quick perusal of the publications listed below will 1965
show that Rangarajan made major contributions to many areas 20. S.K. Rangarajan, Generalised Tricomi polynomials I, Bull.
of theoretical electrochemistry. In these he aimed for and often Acad. Pol. Sci. 13 (1965) 91–95.
reached his highest goal: a general, formal understanding of the 21. S.K. Rangarajan, Generalised Tricomi polynomials II, Bull.
phenomena, from which he would then derive the most popular Acad. Pol. Sci. 13 (1965) 97–100.
approximations and illustrate their ranges of applicability. In doing 22. S.K. Rangarajan, Bilinear generating functions for the Jacobi
so, he inspired and trained a group of gifted Indian electrochemists, polynomials, Bull. Acad. Pol. Sci. 13 (1965) 101–103.
336 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340

23. S.K. Rangarajan, Generating functions for Gegenbauer and 44. S.K. Rangarajan, Theory of flooded porous electrodes I: gal-
Legendre polynomials: some generalisations I, Proc. Ind. Acad. vanostatic transients and generalized impedance, J. Electroanal.
Sci. 61 (1965) 41–49. Chem. 22 (1969) 89–104.
24. S.K. Rangarajan, Some infinite series involving the products 45. G.P. Rao, S.K. Rangarajan, Electroanalysis of trace materials,
of the generalized Angelescu polynomials and the F-functions, Trans. SAEST 4 (1969) 116–125.
Proc. Ind. Acad. Sci. 61 (1965) 50–55.
25. S.K. Rangarajan, Generating functions for Gegenbauer and 1970
Legendre polynomials: some generalisations II, Proc. Ind. Acad. 46. S.K. Rangarajan, An illustration of the problem of ‘‘a priori
Sci. 61 (1965) 283–287. separation” of double-layer and faradaic currents, J. Electroanal.
26. S.K. Rangarajan, Some generating functions for Legendre Chem. 25 (1970) 344–347.
functions, J. Sci. Engin. Res. 9 (1965) 151–156. 47. S. Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Mixed adsorption at mer-
27. S.K. Rangarajan, Some properties of A-polynomials-I, J. In- cury/solution interfaces I: a thermodynamic analysis, J. Electroanal.
dian Math. Soc. 29 (1965) 109–118. Chem. 27 (1970) 127–134.
28. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallization I: surface diffusion. 48. S. Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Activity coefficients in
Can. J. Chem. 43 (1965) 1052–1079. mixed electrolytes: a note on Guggenheim’s relation, J. Electroanal.
Chem. 27 (1970) 170–174.
1966
29. J.A. Harrison, S.K. Rangarajan, H.R. Thirsk, Some problems in 1971
electrodeposition, J. Electrochem. Soc. 113 (1966) 1120–1129, dis- 49. S. Venkatesan, S.K. Rangarajan, Hydrogen in zinc electroplat-
cussion 1130–1133. ing: effect of CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide) on code-
30. K.S. Rajagopalan, S.K. Rangarajan, Some aspects of electro- position, Metal Finishing, 69 (1971) 52–55, 60.
chemical corrosion, Bull. Nat. Inst. Sci. India 29 (1965) 137– 50. S.K. Rangarajan, Double pulse galvanostatic method: a gen-
151. eralized theory, J. Electroanal. Chem. 32 (1971) 329–335.
31. S.K. Rangarajan, A.C Polarographic wave: modified equation, 51. S.K. Rangarajan, Theory of porous electrode operations, Cur-
Bull. Nat. Inst. Sci. India 29 (1965) 120–127. rent Science 40 (1971) 175–179.
32. S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Faradic admittance: sign con- 52. N. Subramanyan, S.K. Rangarajan, K. Balakrishnan, S.V. Iyer,
ventions, Bull. Nat. Inst. Sci. India 29 (1965) 128–136. S. Venkatesan, B. Sathianandhan, The Influence of azoles and
methyl pyridines on the corrosion of mild steel in acids, Ann. Univ.
1967 Ferrara: Chim. Pura Appl. (1971) Suppl. 5, 591–616.
33. S.K. Rangarajan, M.J. Dignam, B.E. Conway, Comments on a
theory of current distribution and potential profile at electrodes, 1972
Can. J. Chem. 45 (1967) 422–425. 53. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallisation and the potential step
34. M. Fleischmann, S.K. Rangarajan, H.R. Thirsk, Effect of diffu- method, J. Electroanal. Chem. 42 (1972) 443–446.
sion through solution and along surface on electrocrystallization 54. K.S. Rajagopalan, S.K. Rangarajan, Fundamental aspects of
processes I: potentiostatic case, Trans. Faraday Soc. 63 (1967) electrochemical corrosion, J. Sci. Ind. Res. 31 (1972) 95–97.
1240–1250. 55. J.P. Nityanandan, S.K. Rangarajan, Hydrogen in cadmium
35. M. Fleischmann, S.K. Rangarajan, H.R. Thirsk, Effect of diffu- plating: effect of addition agents, Metal Finishing 70 (1972) 49–
sion through solution and along surface on electrocrystallization 52.
processes II: faradaic impedance, Trans. Faraday Soc. 63 (1967) 56. N. Subramanyan, S.K. Rangarajan, K. Balakrishnan, N.J. Paul,
1251–1255. S. Venkatesan, B. Sathianandham, Effect of corrosion inhibitors on
36. M. Fleischmann, S.K. Rangarajan, H.R. Thirsk, Effect of diffu- the permeation of hydrogen through steel, Trans. SAEST 7 (1972)
sion through the solution and along surface on electrocrystalliza- 108–112.
tion processes III: influence of finite rate of lattice formation,
Trans. Faraday Soc. 63 (1967) 1256–1260. 1973
57. S.K. Rangarajan, On linear relaxation methods, J. Electroanal.
1968 Chem. 41 (1973) 459–471.
37. S.K. Rangarajan, Some identities involving Kampé de Fériet’s 58. G.P. Rao, S.K. Rangarajan, A new relaxation method for
double hypergeometric functions I, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 67 studying electrode reactions, J. Electroanal. Chem. 41 (1973)
(1968) 247–261. 473–489.
38. S.K. Rangarajan, Surface diffusion and galvanostatic tran- 59. S.K. Rangarajan, An exponential relaxation technique: the-
sients I, J. Electroanal. Chem. 16 (1968) 485–492. ory, J. Electroanal. Chem. 41 (1973) 491–502.
39. S.K. Rangarajan, Faradaic impedance measurement and ada- 60. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallization and the potential step
tom transport, J. Electroanal. Chem. 17 (1968) 61–68. method, J. Electroanal. Chem. 42 (1973) 443–446.
40. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallization and surface diffusion: 61. S.K. Rangarajan, On the congruence problem of adsorption
Effect of chemical reaction in the solution, Can. J. Chem. 46 (1968) isotherms, J. Electroanal. Chem. 45 (1973) 279–282.
1803–1811. 62. S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption isotherms: a critique, J. Electro-
41. S.K. Rangarajan, Comments on the linearized current-poten- anal. Chem. 45 (1973) 283–293.
tial characteristic, Anal. Chem. 40 (1968) 1382–1383. 63. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallization: a stochastic theory of
monolayer formation, J. Electroanal. Chem. 46 (1973)
1969 119–123.
42. K.S. Indira, S.K. Rangarajan, K.S.G. Doss, Further studies on 64. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrocrystallization: multilayer formation
periodic phenomena in passivating systems, J. Electroanal. Chem. and potentiostatic transients, J. Electroanal. Chem. 46 (1973) 125–
21 (1969) 57–68. 129.
43. S.K. Rangarajan, Controlled potential electrolysis: current– 65. A. Poojari, S.R. Rajagopalan, S.K. Rangarajan, Instrumenta-
time curves for the EDE mechanism, J. Electroanal. Chem. 21 tion for electrochemical trace analysis, Trans. SAEST 8 (1973)
(1969) 257–268. 147–153.
 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340 337

1974 1978
66. G.P. Rao, S.K. Rangarajan, Accelerated Tafel plots, a new 88. S.K. Rangarajan, Contribution to the theory of electrochem-
technique, J. Electroanal. Chem. 55 (1974) 151–156. ical phase formation, Faraday Symp. Chem. Soc., 1978, pp. 101–
67. S.K. Rangarajan, A unified approach to linear electrochemi- 114.
cal systems I: the formalism, J. Electroanal. Chem. 55 (1974) 89. J.A. Harrison, S.K. Rangarajan, Simulation studies in electro-
297–327. crystallization, Faraday Symp. Chem. Soc., 1978, pp. 70–82.
68. S.K. Rangarajan, A unified approach to linear electrochemi- 90. K.L. Sebastian, S.K. Rangarajan, A matrix identity and pertur-
cal systems II: phenomenological coupling, J. Electroanal. Chem. bation expressions, Mol. Phys. 36 (1978) 343–353.
55 (1974) 329–335. 91. B.V. Tilak, S.K. Rangarajan, Determining the double layer
69. S.K. Rangarajan, A unified theory of linear electrochemical capacity of porous electrodes, Trans. SAEST 13 (1978)
systems III: the hierarchy of special cases, J. Electroanal. Chem. 261–276.
55 (1974) 337–361.
70. S.K. Rangarajan, A unified theory of linear electrochemical 1979
systems IV: electron transfer through adsorbed modes, J. Electro- 92. S.K. Rangarajan, R. de Levie, On the ionic displacement cur-
anal. Chem. 55 (1974) 363–374. rent in lipid bilayer membranes, Biophys. J. 25 (1979) 235–
71. S.K. Rangarajan, Nonlinear relaxation methods I: an operator 252.
formalism, J. Electroanal. Chem. 56 (1974) 1–25. 93. R. de Levie, S.K. Rangarajan, P.F. Seelig, O.S. Andersen, On the
72. S.K. Rangarajan, Nonlinear relaxation methods II: a unified adsorption of phloretin onto a black lipid membrane, Biophys. J. 25
approach to sinusoidal and modulation techniques, J. Electroanal. (1979) 295–300.
Chem. 56 (1974) 27–53. 94. S.K. Rangarajan, P.F. Seelig, R. de Levie, On the admittance of
73. S.K. Rangarajan, High amplitude periodic signal theory I: po- lipid bilayer membranes I: membrane-permeable ions, J. Electro-
tential controlled, J. Electroanal. Chem. 56 (1974) 55–71. anal. Chem. 100 (1979) 33–62.
74. S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption isotherms, a critique II: the Ah2 95. K.L. Sebastian, S.K. Rangarajan, Superoperator formalism
approach and the functional expansion, J. Electroanal. Chem. 57 and chemisorption theory, Mol. Phys. 38 (1979) 1567–1577.
(1974) 1–17.
75. S.K. Rangarajan, S. Sathyanarayana, Unified theory of polar- 1980
ographic maxima, Trans. SAEST 9 (1974) 75–86. 96. S.K. Rangarajan, The electrical double layer, Specialist Peri-
od. Rept. Electrochem. 7 (1980) 203–256.
1975 97. A.C. Ramamurthy, S.K. Rangarajan, Small-amplitude cyclic
76. S.K. Rangarajan, Professor K.S.G. Doss, in honour of his voltammetry I: a simple Fourier synthesis approach, J. Electroanal.
reaching his seventieth year, J. Electroanal. Chem. 62 (1975) 1– Chem. 112 (1980) 189–196.
9. 98. A.C. Ramamurthy, S.K. Rangarajan, Small amplitude cyclic
77. S.K. Rangarajan, On the theory of polarographic maxima, J. voltammetry and impedance interpretations, Electrochim. Acta
Electroanal. Chem. 62 (1975) 21–30. 25 (1980) 735–736.
78. S.K. Rangarajan, Nonlinear relaxation methods III: current-
controlled perturbations, J. Electroanal. Chem. 62 (1975) 31– 1981
41. 99. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical phase formation:
79. S.K. Rangarajan, Random processes in electrochemistry I: time-dependent nucleation and growth rates, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday
noise as an input signal, J. Electroanal. Chem. 62 (1975) 43–50. Trans. I: Phys. Chem. Cond. Phases, 77 (1981) 483–495.
80. G.P. Rao, S. Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Decreasing current 100. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Some adsorption-nucleation-
ramp technique for the study of fast electrode reactions, J. Electro- based models for electrochemical phase formation, J. Chem. Soc.
anal. Chem. 62 (1975) 273–279. Faraday Trans. I: Phys. Chem. Cond. Phases 77 (1981)
1673–1696.
1976 101. A.C. Ramamurthy, S.K. Rangarajan, A Gaussian quadrature
81. S.R. Vishvanath, S. Sathyanarayana, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorp- analysis of linear sweep voltammetry, Electrochim. Acta 26
tion of cyclohexanone and polarographic maxima, J. Electroanal. (1981) 111–115.
Chem. 68 (1976) 377–382. 102. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical phase formation
(ECPF): nucleation growth vis-à-vis adsorption models, J. Electro-
1977 anal. Chem. 129(1981) 25–51.
82. S.R. Rajagopalan, A. Poojary, S.K. Rangarajan, In situ methods 103. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso-
for charging current compensation in d.c. polarography, J. Electro- therms – some new results, J. Electroanal. Chem. 130 (1981)
anal. Chem. 75 (1977) 135–149. 339–344.
83. A.C. Ramamurthy, S.K. Rangarajan, Fournier polarography 104. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Microscopic mod-
revisited, J. Electroanal. Chem. 77 (1977) 267–286. elling of adsorption and the generalized surface layer hypothesis,
84. S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption isotherms – microscopic model- Can. J. Chem. 59 (1981) 2072–2079.
ling, J. Electroanal. Chem. 82 (1977) 93–132.
85. G.P. Rao, M. Usman, S.K. Rangarajan, Anodic behavior of sil- 1982
ver in alkaline formaldehyde, Electrochim. Acta 22 (1977) 137– 105. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical phase formation
140. (ECPF) and macrogrowth I: hemispherical models, J. Electroanal.
86. B.V. Tilak, C.G. Rader, S.K. Rangarajan, Techniques for char- Chem. 134 (1982) 213–224.
acterizing porous electrodes I: determination of the double layer 106. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical phase formation
capacity, J. Electrochem. Soc. 124 (1977) 1879–1886. (ECPF) and macrogrowth II: two-rate models, J. Electroanal. Chem.
87. S.K. Rangarajan, Some models for nucleation and growth, 134 (1982) 225–241.
Ext. Abstr., 28th Meeting, Int. Soc. Electrochem. 1 (1977) 107. E. Bosco, S.K. Rangarajan, Kinetic Ising models: some exact
67–69. solutions, Phys. Lett. A 88 (1982) 375–378.
338 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340

1983 127. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Spectral functions and Green’s
108. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, An e-convergence functions: a critique, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., Chem. Sci. 97 (1986)
method for the evaluation of critical parameters, Chem. Phys. Lett. 307–331.
101 (1983) 49–54. 128. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Theory of electron transfer
109. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Extrapolation and processes – an overview of concepts I, Indian J. Techn. 24 (11)
series acceleration procedures: hard spheres and discs as illustra- (1986) 727–736.
tions, Phys. Lett. A, 96 (1983) 339–343.
110. M.P. Firestone, R. de Levie, S.K. Rangarajan, On one-dimen- 1987
sional nucleation and growth of ‘‘living” polymers I: homogeneous 129. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Two-adsorbate problem: a
nucleation, J. Theor. Biol. 104 (1983) 535–552. superoperator analysis, J. Phys. Chem. 91 (1987) 3406–3416.
111. S.K. Rangarajan, R. de Levie, On one-dimensional nucle- 130. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Theory of electron-transfer
ation and growth of ‘‘living” polymers II: growth at constant mono- processes via chemisorbed intermediates, J. Phys. Chem. 91
mer concentration, J. Theor. Biol. 104 (1983) 553–570. (1987) 3417–3425.
131. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Electron transfer through
1984 film-covered surfaces: case of monolayer submonolayer – a coher-
112. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Perturbation ent potential approximation formalism, J. Phys. Chem. 91 (1987)
expansions and series acceleration procedures I: the e-convergence 3425–3430.
and critical parameters, Pramãna 22 (1984) 183–201. 132. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Many-body effects in electro-
113. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Perturbation chemisorption I: Green function-superoperator formalism, J. Elec-
expansions and series acceleration procedures II: extrapolation troanal. Chem. 229 (1987) 51–65.
techniques, Pramãna 22 (1984) 407–419. 133. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Many-body effects in electro-
114. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso- chemisorption II: operator averages and MF-HF limits, J. Electro-
therms for neutral organic compounds – a hierarchy in modeling anal. Chem. 229 (1987) 67–86.
I, J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 (1984) 1–27. 134. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Many-body effects in electro-
115. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso- chemisorption III: beyond mean field and Hartree-Fock, J. Electro-
therms for neutral organic compounds – a hierarchy in modeling anal. Chem. 230 (1987) 1–21.
II, J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 (1984) 29–44. 135. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Many-body effects in electro-
116. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso- chemisorption IV: multi-Boson formalism, J. Electroanal. Chem.
therms for neutral organic compounds – a hierarchy in modeling 230 (1987) 23–41. Erratum: A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Many-
III, J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 (1984) 45–64. body effects in electrochemisorption IV: multi-Boson formalism,
117. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso- J. Electroanal. Chem. 235 (1987) 408.
therms for neutral organic compounds – a hierarchy in modeling 136. R. Sridharan, R. de Levie, S.K. Rangarajan, Two-dimensional
IV: charge of maximum adsorption – statistical mechanical basis, phase transitions at electrochemical interfaces, Chem. Phys. Lett.
J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 (1984) 65–98. 142 (1987) 43–47.
118. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso-
therms for neutral organic compounds – a hierarchy in modeling 1989
V: models for the inner layer potential difference in the presence 137. S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemically induced cold fusion? A
of dipolar adsorption, J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 (1984) commentary, Current Sci. 58 (1989) 598–599.
99–118. 138. B.V. Tilak, S. Venkatesh, S.K. Rangarajan, Polarization
119. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption iso- characteristics of porous electrode systems with adsorbed
therms – microscopic modeling II, J. Electroanal. Chem. 176 intermediates participating in the electrode reaction: a study of
(1984) 119–137. limiting Tafel slopes, J. Electrochem. Soc. 136 (1989) 1977–
1982.
1985 139. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Chronopotentiometry with
120. M. Seralathan, S.K. Rangarajan, Scheme of squares I: sys- power-law perturbation functions at an expanding plane electrode
tems formalism for potentiostatic studies, J. Electroanal. Chem. with and without a preceding blank period for systems with a cou-
191 (1985) 209–228. pled first-order homogeneous chemical reaction, J. Electroanal.
121. M. Seralathan, S.K. Rangarajan, Scheme of squares II: sys- Chem. 265 (1989) 39–65.
tems formalism for sinusoidal perturbations, J. Electroanal. Chem. 140. A.K. Mishra, D.F. Milner, M.J. Weaver, S.K. Rangarajan,
191 (1985) 229–235. Many-body effects in electrosorption: some numerical conse-
122. M. Seralathan, S.K. Rangarajan, Scheme of squares III: the quences for partial charge transfer, J. Electroanal. Chem. 271
single and two square schemes, J. Electroanal. Chem. 191 (1985) (1989) 351–358.
237–252.
123. G.V. Kulkarni, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemisorption – a 1990
cluster approach, J. Electroanal. Chem. 196 (1985) 375–385. 141. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Padé approach to potential tran-
sients I: electron transfer without and with coupling to first-order
1986 homogeneous reactions at planar electrodes, J. Electroanal. Chem.
124. S.K. Rangarajan, High amplitude periodic signal theory II: 277 (1990) 19–42.
nonlinear analysis and phenomenological decoupling, Indian J. 142. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A. S. Lakshma-
Techn. 24 (1986) 352–356. nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Photoconducting and photoelectrochemical
125. M. Seralathan, S.K. Rangarajan, Fluctuation phenomena in characteristics of selectively plated cadmium selenide films, Proc.
electrochemistry I: the formalism, J. Electroanal. Chem. 208 Internat. Soc. Opt. Engin. 1323 (1990) 235–242.
(1986) 13–28.
126. M. Seralathan, S.K. Rangarajan, Fluctuation phenomena in 1991
electrochemistry II: modeling the noise sources, J. Electroanal. 143. B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Adsorption-nucleation/
Chem. 208 (1986) 29–56. growth based model for electrochemical phase formation and
 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340 339

Avrami ansatz for a multicomponent competitive growth process, thin film wet solar cells, in: Proc. 6th Internat. Photovoltaic Sci.
J. Electroanal. Chem. 302 (1991) 207–218. Eng. Conf., 1992, pp. 1051–1054.
144. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma-
nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Photoelectrochemical studies on pulse plated 1993
cadmium selenide (CdSe) films, J. Electroanal. Chem. 303 (1991) 161. B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Random sequential mul-
261–266. tilayer deposition of different-sized k-mers on a one-
145. S. Ramakrishna, S.K. Rangarajan, A note on transient photo- dimensional infinite substrate, J. Chem. Phys. 99 (1993) 8897–
currents at semiconductor electrodes, J. Electroanal. Chem. 308 8907.
(1991) 39–48. 162. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S.
146. S. Ramakrishna, S.K. Rangarajan, Surface recombination at Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Photoelectrochemical characteristics
semiconductor electrodes: a single level study, J. Electroanal. of slurry coated cadmium selenide films, Bull. Electrochem. 9
Chem. 308 (1991) 49–61. (1993) 249–251.
147. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma-
nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Septum electrochemical photovoltaic cells, 1994
Bull. Electrochem. 7 (1991) 230–231. 163. B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Multicomponent layer-
148. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma- by-layer electrocrystallization: cascade model, J. Electroanal.
nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Preparation of gallium arsenide films by the Chem. 365 (1994) 19–28.
pulse plating technique, J. Mater. Sci.: Materials in Electronics 2 164. B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical phase
(1991) 149–151. formation involving multicomponents: hemispherical overlap
149. A.K. Mishra, B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Electron models for varied nucleation and growth conditions, J. Electroanal.
transfer through monolayers; dependence of current on potential Chem. 366 (1994) 271–286.
and coverage, J. Electroanal. Chem. 318 (1991) 387–393. 165. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Effect of surface roughness on dif-
150. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma- fusion-limited charge transfer, J. Electroanal. Chem. 368 (1994)
nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Photoelectrochemical characteristics of slurry 1–21.
coated cadmium selenide telluride films, Proc. Internat. Soc. Opt. 166. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma-
Engin. 1536 (1991) 289–295. nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Brush-plated CdSe films and their photoelect-
151. M. Kamaludeen, N.G. Renganathan, M. Raju, A. Visuvasam, rochemical characteristics, J. Electroanal. Chem. 368 (1994)
S.Veeraraghavan, S.K. Rangarajan, S.R. Babu, G. Periaswamy, C.K. Math- 95–100.
ews, Sodium sulfur battery, Bull. Electrochem. 7 (1991) 531–532. 167. S. Ramakrishna, S.K. Rangarajan, A kinetic equation for
152. S. Muzhumathi, S. Dheenadayalan, A.I. Raj, C. Solaiyan, R. minority carriers at the surface of semiconductor electrodes, J.
Chandrasekaran, R. Pattabiraman, S.K. Rangarajan, Development Electroanal. Chem. 369 (1994) 289–291.
of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC), Bull. Electrochem. 7 168. B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Multicomponent multi-
(1991) 520–523. layer random irreversible deposition model I: a mean field study,
153. M.V. Saranganarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Long-range elec- J. Electroanal. Chem. 370 (1994) 41–51.
tron transfer reactions: progress and prospects in modelling, in: 169. M.V. Sangaranarayanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Electron hopping
B. Bagchi, V. Krishnan (Eds.) Proc. Symp. on Electron Transfer Reac- between redox centers – a formalism using non-equilibrium ther-
tions, Bangalore, World Sci. Publ., Singapore, 1991, pp. 199–236. modynamics, Trans. SAEST 29 (1994) 211–212.
170. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Electrochemical STM
1992 current in presence of adsorbates, Trans. SAEST 29 (1994)
154. A.K. Mishra, B. Bhattacharjee, S.K. Rangarajan, Theory of 215.
electron transfer processes via chemisorbed intermediates II: cur- 171. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Effect of surface roughness on the
rent-potential characteristics, J. Electroanal. Chem. 331 (1992) admittance analysis, Trans. SAEST 29 (1994) 216.
801–813.
155. S. Bharathi, K.L.N. Phani, J. Joseph, S. Pitchumani, 1995
D. Jeyakumar, G.P. Rao, S.K. Rangarajan, Zeolite matrix effects on 172. K. Murugan, G. Vanmathi, S.K. Rangarajan, Characterizing
the electrochemistry of metal hexacyanoferrates, J. Electroanal. the early stages of electrochemical phase formation of lead sulfate
Chem. 334 (1992) 145–153. films, J. Electrochem. Soc. 142 (1995) 1770–1776.
156. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, A.S. Lakshma- 173. S. Ramakrishna, S.K. Rangarajan, Time-resolved photolumi-
nan, S.K. Rangarajan, Cadmium selenide telluride septum nescence and microwave conductivity at semiconductor, J. Phys.
photoelectrochemical cells, J. Appl. Electrochem. 22 (1992) 87–89. Chem. 99 (1995) 12631–12639.
157. B.V. Tilak, C.P. Chen, S.K. Rangarajan, A model to character- 174. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Diffusion to rough interfaces: finite
ize the impedance of electrochemical capacitors arising from reac- charge transfer rates, J. Electroanal. Chem. 396 (1995)
tions of the type Oad + n e, Rad, J. Electroanal. Chem. 324 (1992) 285–301.
405–414; Errata 356 (1993) 319–321.
1996
158. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan,
175. A.K. Mishra, S.K. Rangarajan, Scanning tunneling micros-
A.S. Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Preparation and characterization
copy currents in the presence of a chemisorbate, J. Mol. Struct.
of pulse plated cadmium selenide films, Proc. Internat. Soc. Opt.
(Theor. Chem.) 361 (1996) 101–109.
Engin. 1523 (1992) 121–127.
176. S. Ramakrishna, S.K. Rangarajan, Self-absorption and focus-
159. N. Mani, P.V. P.V.V. Rao, N. Venkatakrishnan,
ing effects in carrier relaxation dynamics under depletion condi-
M. Devasahayam, A. Alagappan, S. Ambalavanan, P.G. Balakrishnan,
tions, J. Phys. Chem. 100 (1996) 16365–16372.
P.C. Warriar, G. Venkatesan, S.K. Rangarajan, A pasted plate deep
discharge stationary lead acid battery for RAPS systems, Trans. 1997
SAEST 27 (1992) 174–176. 177. S.K. Rangarajan, V. Yegnanarayanan, Current losses in a
160. K.R. Murali, V. Subramanian, N. Rangarajan, bipolar cell – an analysis of the Tafel regime, Electrochim. Acta
A.S. Lakshmanan, S.K. Rangarajan, Large area polycrystalline CdSe 42 (1997) 153–165.
340 Personal Report/ Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 624 (2008) 333–340

1998 2003
178. S.K. Rangarajan, V. Yegnanarayanan, M. Muthukumar, Cur- 182. R. Kant, S.K. Rangarajan, Effect of surface roughness on
rent losses in a bipolar cell II: an analysis of the Butler-Volmer re- interfacial reaction-diffusion admittance, J. Electroanal. Chem.
gime, Electrochim. Acta 44 (1998) 491–502. 552 (2003) 141–151.
179. V.R. Vedula, A.E. Segall, S.K. Rangarajan, Transient analysis
of internally heated tubular components with exponential thermal 2005
loading and external convection, Internat. J. Heat Mass Transfer 41 183. S.K. Rangarajan, S.P. Purushotaman, Lanczos’ generalized
(1998) 3675–3678. derivative for higher orders, J. Comput. Appl. Math. 177 (2005)
461–465.
1999 Book edited:
180. B.V. Tilak, V.I. Birss, J. Wang, C.-P. Chen, S.K. Rangarajan, Topics in Pure and Applied Electrochemistry, S.K. Rangarajan
Deactivation of thermally formed Ru/Ti oxide electrodes – an a.c. (Ed.), SAEST, Karaikudi, India, 1975, 287p.
impedance characterization study, J. Electrochem. Soc. 148
(2001) D112–D120. R. de Levie 1
Orr’s Island,
2001 ME 04066,
181. B.V. Tilak, V.I. Birss, J. Wang, C.-P. Chen, S.K. Rangarajan, USA
Deactivation of thermally formed Ru/Ti oxide electrodes, J. Electro- E-mail address: rdelevie@bowdoin.edu
chem. Soc. 148 (2001) L10.

1
The assistance of numerous former students, coworkers, and friends of Rangarajan
in assembling and checking this publication list is gratefully acknowledged.