Libu Manjakkal

Biography

Dr Libu Manjakkal is a Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University's School of Computing and Engineering and the Built Environment. He received B.Sc., and M.Sc. degrees in physics from Calicut University and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India, in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He obtained Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE), Poland (currently known as - Łukasiewicz Research Network - Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics), in 2015 with Marie Curie Fellowship. Before joining PhD, from 2009 to 2012, he was with CMET, Thrissur, India as a Project Staff and short term at 2012 he worked as a researcher in CENIMAT, School of Science and Technology , FCT NOVA, Portugal. After completing Ph.D. from 2015 to 2016, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher with ITE. In 2016, he joined in University of Glasgow, UK as a Marie Curie Experienced Researcher and later has been a working as a Research Assistant in an EPSRC project until 2018. Since 2018 -2022 he is a Research Associate in same University. He is also working in the role of Scientific Project Manager in a Marie Curie ITN Project AQUASENSE.

He has authored/co-authored 65+ peer reviewed articles in high impact journals including Advanced Materials, Progress in Material Science, Nano Energy, Advanced Science, etc. Libu’s research achievements have been recognized by several credible agencies and institutes. He was shortlisted for important awards such as by the European Commission for Marie Curie Awards in the “Promising Research Talent” category and “Outstanding Young Scientists Scholarship Award” from the Polish Ministry of higher education. BBC Science Focus Magazine selected sweat based supercapacitor work as one of the “Future technology: 22 ideas about to change our world”-July/2020 and in 2018, the work on graphene foam-based supercapacitor received ELEKTRA award in the best UK University research category. His multiple works in the area of electrochemical sensors and energy storage selected as a most downloaded article in different journals.

Dr. Manjakkal is an active member of Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC) and was member in International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society Poland chapter (2015- 2020). He acted as a Guest editor in IEEE Internet of Things Journal and Biosensors Journal. His research products were attracted to display in many trade fairs, public engagement activities and INNOVATIVE ICURe grant.
Dr. Manjakkal currently building his new research group on energy autonomous sensing system through electrochemical technology. His major research interest are
-Advanced functional materials synthesis,
-Printed electrodes and sustainable electronics
- Electrochemical and biosensors,
-Gas sensors,
-Transparent electronics,
-Ceramic actuators,
-Energy storage devices (batteries and supercapacitors),
- Wearable sensors and energy storage devices,
- Environmental pollution monitoring
- Healthcare monitoring devices.

Research Areas

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • SCEBE Health and safety committee member
  • PhD Interview team member- London Metropolitan University
  • Dissemination and Training Committee member- Marie Curie ITN project

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Organiser- International Conference on Advnaces in Functional Materials and Coatings (ICAFMC-2024)

 

Editorial Activity

  • Guest Editor- Special Issue -Results in Engineering - Topic: Electrochemical Sensors for Environmental and Healthcare Applications: Materials and Methods
  • Editor- Results in Engineering Journal, ELSEVIER
  • Guest Editor- Biosensors Journal- Special Issue
  • Guest/Associate Editor- IEEE Internet of Things Journal

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • 2024 RINENG Young Investigator Award
  • Student Award (Febin Paul-PhD): The best oral presentation award, first runner-up at the Doctoral College Conference 2024 organised by Edinburgh Napier University.
  • Royal Society of Chemistry - Materials Chemistry Poster Symposium (MCPS) Selection : PhD student Febin Paul presented the work
  • Royal Society of Chemistry - Faraday Community Poster Symposium Selection : PhD student Prasutha R Markapudi presented the work
  • Studnet Award (Mustehsan Beg-PhD) SCEBE- “Best Postgraduate Research Paper Award of 2023” for our work
  • Listed in top 2% cited September 2023 data-update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators"”, Mendeley Data.
  • Listed in top 2% cited September 2022 data-update for "Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators"”, Mendeley Data.
  • The second place for a "ceramic film with a low dielectric constant"- Polish Patent, during Eureka Awards Gala! DGP – Polish inventions
  • Top downloaded research article (among 10) in 2019-2020- Advanced Materials
  • BBC Science Focus Magazine selected sweat based supercapacitor work on “Future technology: 22 ideas about to change our world”-
  • Top downloaded research article- Advanced Science Journal.
  • ELEKTRA Award
  • Short listed in Outstanding Young Scientists Scholarship Award
  • Marie Curie Postdoctoral Position-2016
  • Cash Award: Distinction (Hons.) grade for Ph.D. Thesis
  • shortlisted candidates for the “Promising Research Talent” category of Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Prizes
  • Best Poster Award Third place, “INDO-US workshop
  • Marie Curie Fellowship-PhD Study
  • Best Poster Award
  • Academic Excellence- Master Degree

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • EPSRC Panel member for Project proposal- EPSRC Working with centres: advanced materials
  • EPSRC Panel Chair (two projects) and member for Project proposal

 

Grant Reviewer

  • Grant Reviewer -EPSRC standard research grant
  • Grant Reviewer- RAEng Research fellowship
  • EPSRC
  • Reviewer- Open Fellowship- EPSRC
  • NSERC Horizons CRSNG- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Reviewer of Project Panel-National Science, Poland
  • FCT - Portuguese National funding agency
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

 

Invited Speaker

  • Invited Speaker- MESKCONJ International conference, India
  • Invited Participant- Scotland-Germany Green ICT Research Roundtable discussion organised by CENSIS at British Embassy Berlin, Germany.
  • Invited Speaker- INFRACHIP School, an online series of webinars organized by the Hellenic Mediterranean University (HMU), Greece
  • Invited Speaker-International Conference on recent trends in experimental Physics (ICRTEP-2024)
  • Invited Speaker- International Conference on Advnaces in Functional Materials and Coatings (ICAFMC-2024)
  • ICMPMA 2022- International Conference on Materials - Properties, Measurements and Applications, Kerala, India
  • Textile based electrochemical devices and its advantages for circular economy
  • C-MET- Textile based electrochemical devices and its advantages for circular economy
  • CISMA- Future of Intelligent Sensing and Measurement Wearable Sensing Technologies for Healthcare Monitoring , Glasgow, UK 2021
  • Webinar- SAVIEZZA, The Annual Stephanian Erudite Series, Dept. Physics, St. Stephen’s College, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India 2021
  • International Webinar - World Ozone Day 2021, V.T.M.N.S.S College, Dhanuvchapuram, Kerala, India, 2021,
  • National Science Day Celebration, Dept. Chemistry, Fatima Mata National College Kollam, Kerala, India 2021
  • IEEE, IISC student Chapter-Wearable Energy Autonomous Systems- India -2021
  • International Webinar on Advances in Materials and Nanostructures (IWAM-2020), NSS Hindhu College, Changassery, Kottayam)
  • Energy Storage: Materials and Methods (webinar Series), Dep. of Physics, St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous) Devagiri, Calicut, Kerala, India 9th September 2020
  • International Webinar on supercapacitors, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, Kerala, India, 3rd, August, 2020
  • International Webinar Series, Pavanatma College, Kerala, India (2020)
  • Needs-2020- The International Webinar Series, Organized by Indian Institute of Technology Madars (IITM), University of Madras and Abinnovus Consulting Pvt. Ltd. August, 2020
  • Lecture- AQUASENSE Workshop, linkoping university, Sweden, (02/2020)
  • Electrochemical Sensors, INSIGHT 1.10, International Webinar Series on Physics, May 31, 2020, PG & Research Department Physics and IQAC Payyanur College, Kerala.
  • Lecture- Energy storage material for postgraduate student at University of West Scotland’s Physics Department (2019)

 

Media Activity

  • Named Global Winner of the 2024 RINENG Young Investigator Award

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member- Royal Society of Chemistry- MRSC
  • International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society Poland chapter

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Trade Fair: Innovative UK KTN -Wearble Technology Shows, London, UK, March 2019
  • Participated in Curiosity Live- Glasgow Science Center, Glasgow, UK March
  • Participated in European Researchers’ Night (Explorathon) at Glasgow Science Centre
  • Participated in European Researchers’ Night (Explorathon) at Glasgow Science Centre
  • Trade Fair: Prototype of fabricated pH sensors exhibited in: Electronica 2014 – 26th International Trade Fair for Electronic Components, Systems and Applications, Munich, Germany
  • he Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action 2014 conference on “The Empowerment of the Next Generation of Researchers “Promoting talents, spreading excellence”, Trento, Italy

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • PhD External Thesis Evaluator: Cochin Univeristy of Science and Technology (CUSAT), India
  • PhD External Examination- Univeristy of Leeds, Uk
  • PhD Examination - External Examiner - NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal

 

Reviewing

  • IoP e Books- Book proposal Reviewer
  • Journal Reviewer- Advanced Materials
  • Journal Reviewer - Journal of Materials Research
  • Journal Reviewer- Silicon , Springer Nature
  • Journal Reviewer- ACS Applied Material Interfaces
  • Journal Reviewer- Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry
  • Journal Reviewer- Journal of electrochemical society
  • Journal Reviewer - Sensors and Actuator a Physical
  • Journal Reviewer- IEEE Internet of Things Journal
  • Journal Reviewer- Sensors and Actuator B. Chemical
  • Journal Reviewer- Chemical Engineering
  • Journal Reviewer- Biosensors
  • Journal Reviewer- Sensors
  • Journal Reviewer- IEEE Sensors

 

Visiting Positions

  • Affiliate Researcher- University of Glasgow, UK
  • Vienna University of Technology (TUW), Austria (Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher)
  • University of Novi Sad, Serbia (Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher)
  • NORTH Point Ltd. Subotica, Serbia (Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher)

 

Date


77 results

Flexible Electrochemical Capacitors based on ZnO-Carbon Black Composite

Journal Article
Habib, W., Saji, A., Paul, F., Markapudi, P. R., Wilson, C., & Manjakkal, L. (online)
Flexible Electrochemical Capacitors based on ZnO-Carbon Black Composite. Results in Engineering, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rineng.2025.104510
Flexible electrochemical capacitors (EC) or supercapacitors are found to be an efficient energy storage device for modern and future electronic gadgets that offer lightweight ...

Spindle‐Shaped Ni‐Fe‐Layered Double Hydroxide: Effect of Etching Time on Flexible Energy Storage

Journal Article
Nair, K. M., Ajith, S., Paul, F., Pallilavalappil, S., Thomas, N., Hinder, S. J., Manjakkal, L., & Pillai, S. C. (2025)
Spindle‐Shaped Ni‐Fe‐Layered Double Hydroxide: Effect of Etching Time on Flexible Energy Storage. Small, 21(7), Article 2409959. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202409959
The rising demand for efficient energy storage in flexible electronics is driving the search for materials that are well‐suited for the fabrication of these devices. Layered D...

Biodegradable biopolymers for electrochemical energy storage devices in a circular economy

Journal Article
Beg, M., Saju, J., Alcock, K. M., Mavelil, A. T., Markapudi, P. R., Yu, H., & Manjakkal, L. (2025)
Biodegradable biopolymers for electrochemical energy storage devices in a circular economy. RSC Sustainability, 3(1), 37-63. https://doi.org/10.1039/d4su00468j
The rising trend of green energy has made it necessary to utilise efficient green materials in electrochemical energy storage devices (EESDs) under a green economy. The need f...

Transparent Electrochemical Capacitors for the Next Generation of Bio-inspired Sensing Systems in Human-Machine Interaction

Presentation / Conference Contribution
Manjakkal, L. (2024, September)
Transparent Electrochemical Capacitors for the Next Generation of Bio-inspired Sensing Systems in Human-Machine Interaction. Presented at 38th Topical Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Manchester, UK

MIMO Smartphone Antenna with CPW-Fed Stepped Resonators for sub 6 GHz Cellular Networks

Conference Proceeding
Basherlou, H. J., Ojaroudi Parchin, N., manjakkal, L., See, C. H., Amar, A. S. I., & Eldamak, A. R. (in press)
MIMO Smartphone Antenna with CPW-Fed Stepped Resonators for sub 6 GHz Cellular Networks.

Gain-Enhanced/End-Fire Phased Array Antenna for Future Cellular Networks

Conference Proceeding
Basherlou, H. J., Ojaroudi Parchin, N., Manjakkal, L., See, C. H., Amar, A., & Salama, A. (in press)
Gain-Enhanced/End-Fire Phased Array Antenna for Future Cellular Networks.

Opto-electrochemical variation with gel polymer electrolytes in transparent electrochemical capacitors for ionotronics

Journal Article
Kumar, C., Sebastian, A. K., Markapudi, P. R., Beg, M., Sundaram, S., Hussain, A., & Manjakkal, L. (2024)
Opto-electrochemical variation with gel polymer electrolytes in transparent electrochemical capacitors for ionotronics. Applied Physics Letters, 124(11), Article 111603. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0190801
Advanced flexible ionotronic devices have found excellent applications in the next generation of electronic skin (e-skin) development for smart wearables, robotics, and prosth...

Screen Printed RuO2 Films for Energy Storage and Electrochemical Sensors

Presentation / Conference
Paul, F., Sam, V., Uppuluri, K., Beg, M., & Manjakkal, L. (2024, February)
Screen Printed RuO2 Films for Energy Storage and Electrochemical Sensors. Poster presented at The 10th annual Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (innoLAE 2024), Cambridge

Electrochemical Capacitors based on Organic Semiconductors and Metal Oxides

Presentation / Conference
Kanathedath, J., Nair, R., Peringath, A. R., Sasikumar, A., Paul, F., Beg, M., & Manjakkal, L. (2024, February)
Electrochemical Capacitors based on Organic Semiconductors and Metal Oxides. Poster presented at The 10th annual Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (innoLAE 2024), Cambridge

Eco-friendly Water Hyacinth Cellulose Nanofiber Separator for Flexible Paper Energy Storage Devices

Presentation / Conference
Beg, M., Sam, V., Paul, F., O’Rourke, D., Sun, D. D., Goh, K., …Yu, H. (2024, February)
Eco-friendly Water Hyacinth Cellulose Nanofiber Separator for Flexible Paper Energy Storage Devices. Poster presented at The 10th annual Innovations in Large-Area Electronics Conference (innoLAE 2024), Cambridge

Pre-Napier Funded Projects

  • SEED (Role -PI ~£10k) : Sustainable Energy System Development from Waste/Polluted Water
  • MUSES (EP/R026173/1)- Role – Co-I; Multi-Sensory Skin for Underwater Robots, Partnership Fund- EPSRC- ORCA Hub
  • UK ICURe (Midland Cohort D): Role-Senior Researcher -Flexible Supercapacitor- (Midland, Cohort D by INNOVATE UK programme
  • AQUASENSE (H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018-813680): Role – Co-I and Scientific Project Manager
  • PHL-SENSE (Role-PI- £30k) Royal Academy of Engineering Seed Fund-Circular Economy- Post harvest loss monitoring sensors

Current Post Grad projects

Previous Post Grad projects

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • Second Supervisor (MSc)- Anjana Ramesh - University of Glasgow