ST.XAVIER'S COLLEGE

Department of Chemistry

About The Department

In the year 1924, Chemistry Department was established at the intermediate level by the initiatives taken by Rev. Fr. Hartenstein. Then it became an under graduate department in the year 1955. The Department grew with the dedicated services of Prof. A. Srinivasan, Prof. D. Felix Packianathan, Prof. K. Pattan and Prof. V. Rajadurai. During the tenure of Prof. D. Felix Packianathan as the Head, M. Sc chemistry was started in the self-financing section. The Department celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2005 during the Headship of Prof. V. Rajadurai. Dr. S. Jesu Antony Diraviam and Dr. S. Augustine Thomas were the first Doctoral Degree holders of the department. They completed one minor research project each. The Department was promoted to the level of research centre in the year 2011 under the headship of Dr. S. Augustine Thomas. When Dr. V. Jeyabal was the Head of the Department, the department celebrated its Diamond Jubilee and a mega alumni meet in the year 2015. At present the department has eight faculty members among which five are with doctorates and guideship for Ph.D, three are pursuing for their Ph.D. There are four faculties in the self financing section for M.Sc chemistry. The department is well supported by one store keeper and four lab assistants. At present the department has three laboratories for regular classes, one laboratory for research and one air conditioned instrumentation room. The research center is equipped with rotary vacuum distillator, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, cyclic voltameter and guoy balance. The important research fields concentrated by the department are phytochemistry, electro organic chemistry, nano chemistry, green chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and adsorption studies. The department also has the separate library for ready reference. It is also provided with three lap top computers and three desk top computers with internet connectivity. All the class rooms are fitted with LCD projectors.