Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2026
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-10-09

Karthik Nayani

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Federal Grant PI

Assistant Professor - Engineering

Also affiliated: Georgia Institute of Technology (2015–2018); University of Wisconsin–Madison (2017); Cornell University (2019–2021); Renewable Bioproducts Institute (2017); Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (2011)

13 h-index 48 pubs 686 cited

  • Liquid Crystals
  • Peptides
  • Water
  • Elasticity
  • Humans
  • Cell Shape
  • Unilamellar Liposomes
  • Chickens
  • Heat Stress Disorders
  • Schwann Cells
  • Cations
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Erythrocytes
  • Viscosity

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Karthik Nayani's research focuses on the investigation of soft matter, particularly liquid crystals, and their applications in functional materials and sensors. His work explores the fundamental properties of liquid crystal phases, including their spontaneous emergence of chirality and macroscopic alignment through patterned substrates. Nayani has also studied the dynamic and reversible shape response of biological entities, such as red blood cells, within synthetic liquid crystal environments.

His research extends to hierarchical chirality transfer across multiple length scales, demonstrated through the creation of polymer nanohelices. Nayani is the Principal Investigator on an NSF CAREER grant totaling $500,000, which focuses on harnessing liquid-liquid crystal phase separation in rod-shaped particle solutions for the design of novel functional materials. His scholarship metrics include an h-index of 12, with 48 total publications and 665 citations. Nayani actively collaborates with researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, including Elizabeth Adeogun and Elizabeth S. Greene, among others.

Metrics

  • h-index: 13
  • Publications: 48
  • Citations: 686

Positions

  • University of Arkansas at Fayetteville 2020–present
    Chemical Engineering ORCID
  • Assistant Professor - Engineering publications 2020–2026
    University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Institution web page

Selected Publications

  • An Active Matter Pathway for Non-Equilibrium Liquid-Liquid Extractions (2026)
    arXiv (Cornell University) DOI OpenAlex
  • Thermodynamics of Binding Between Adeno-Associated Viruses and Heparin in Bulk and at Interfaces via Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (2026)
    Bioengineering DOI OpenAlex
  • Introduction to optical microscope and image formation (2025)
  • Experiment 4: Liquid crystals, phase transitions, morphologies, and defects (2025)
  • Experiment 2: Comparison of a real space image and q-space (diffraction) image for size measurement (2025)
  • Experiment 7: Structural color and iridescence of Morpho butterfly (2025)
  • Experiment 1: Getting to know your optical microscope (DM 750P) and its basic software (2025)
  • Experiment 6: Polymer crystallization (2025)
  • Experiment 3: Microporous polymer films and 2D diffraction (2025)
  • Through a Modern Microscope (2025)
  • Experiment 5: Features in liquid crystal display (LCD) (2025)
  • "Empowering Undergraduate and High School Students for Biotechnology Careers through Research, Internships, and Mentorship" (2025)
  • Computationally Guided Liquid Crystal‐Based Competitive Binding Sensing Platform for Optical Detection of Spike Protein (2025)
    Advanced Materials Technologies DOI OpenAlex
  • Liquid crystalline collagen assemblies as substrates for directed alignment of human Schwann cells (2024)
    Soft Matter 3 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • A liquid crystal-based biomaterial platform for rapid sensing of heat stress using machine learning (2024)
    Sensors & Diagnostics 3 citations DOI OpenAlex

View all publications on OpenAlex →

Federal Grants 1 $500,000 total

Collaboration Network

45 Collaborators 12 Institutions 2 Countries

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