Many of the changes we observe in the world around are caused by chemical reactions. Chemistry is not limited to beakers and laboratories. It is all around us, and the better we know chemistry, the better we know our world. Chemistry is present in every aspect of life, and few examples are-

We come to know that an object is coloured because of the light that it reflects. We also learn how Sunscreen combines organic and inorganic chemicals to filter the light from the sun so that less of it reaches the deeper layers of your skin. We learn from the basic concepts of chemistry about some interesting facts like, Coffee keeps us awake because of the presence of a chemical called adenosine, in your brain. It binds to certain receptors and slows the nerve cell activity when sleep is signaled.

Similarly a study on the various spectroscopy, their principles and applications make us know about why many vegetables and fruits are strongly coloured, because they contain a special kind of chemical compound named carotenoids. These compounds have an area called choromophore, which absorbs and gives off particular wavelengths of light, generating the colour that we then perceive. A study on colloids help us to know that Soap is formed by molecules with a ‘head’ which likes water (hydrophilic) and a long chain that hates it (hydrophobic). Then when soap is added to the water, the long hydrophobic chains of its molecules join the oil particles, while the hydrophilic heads go into the water. An emulsion of oil in water is then formed, this means that the oil particles become suspended in the water and are liberated from the cloth. With the rinsing, the emulsion is taken away. On learning Chemistry we are aware that everything we hear, see, smell, taste, and touch involves chemistry and chemicals (matter).

About the Department

The B.Sc., chemistry course was started in the year 1948 with a sanctioned strength of 40 students in shift –I, with a view of imparting scientific innovations and creativity among the students of the rural area. The department has well-equipped laboratories with sophisticated instruments separately for B.Sc., M.Sc., and ancillary courses. The M.Phil., course was started in the year 2011, as per university norms and M.Sc., chemistry couse was started in 2012 with a sanctioned strength of 20 students.

The department at present has 11 faculty members, 8 Ph.D., scholars, 8 M.Phil., scholars, 44 M.Sc., students and 138 B.Sc., students. Our faculty members are actively engaged in frontier research areas of chemistry. The department has so far produced 3 Ph.D., and 39 M.Pil., it has published around 60 papers in highly reputed international journals and around 100 research papers in national/international conferences. The department has successfully completed 4 major research projects and currently running 2 major research projects for about 50 lakhs.