Research and mentoring is an integral part of my career profile which is one of the main reasons for me to pursue a career in academia. The art of research and mentoring as well as learning from your own experience is unique itself. My enthusiasm for research areas such as flexible and printable electronics for healthcare and digital agricultural applications, smart sensing technologies with wireless connectivity, sensor materials and nanocomposites, sustainable and green electronics inspired my drive to pursue a PhD/Post-doctoral and to contribute within several research outcomes/projects. I believe that academic career is a truly rewarding career path for me so far, which has motivated me to work with prominent academics within innovative and exciting research projects, supporting and receiving support from my PhD and Post-doctoral colleagues, presenting and getting feedback in world-leading conferences, and presently being part of a multidisciplinary research group at University Col
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Surfaces, Coatings and Films, Multidisciplinary, Materials Science
Room-Temperature-Operated Fe2O3/PANI-Based Flexible and Eco-Friendly Ammonia Sensor With Sub-ppm Detectability Ajay Beniwal, Rahul Gond, Xenofon Karagiorgis, Brajesh Rawat, Chong Li IEEE Sensors Letters, 2025 In this letter, a room temperature (RT) (∼27 °C) operated ferric oxide/polyaniline (Fe2O3/PANI) composite-based flexible ammonia sensor with substantial sensing performance is reported. Initially, interdigitated electrodes were screen printed (using graphene-carbon-based ink) on a bio-degradable paper substrate. Further, PANI nanofibers were electrospun on printed IDEs, followed by drop casting a layer of Fe2O3. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies were performed to confirm the composite formation, followed by scanning electron microscopy analysis to examine the sensing surface morphology. The ammonia sensing performance was examined within the range of 0.5 ppm (i.e., 500 ppb) to 50 ppm, with a 1.99% response achieved even at 0.5 ppm. The response/recovery times were noted as 950/250 s toward 0.5 ppm of ammonia. In addition, selectivity toward interference gases including carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide was also investigated. The proposed sensing mechanism of the composite material toward ammonia gas detection is also presented.
Polydimethylsiloxane Foam-Based Fully 3D Printed Soft Pressure Sensors Xenofon Karagiorgis, Gaurav Khandelwal, Ajay Beniwal, Radu Chirila, Peter J. Skabara, et al. Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2024 Highly sensitive pressure sensors, with a wide operating range, are needed in applications such as wearables, prostheses, and haptic‐based interactive systems. Herein, fully 3D printed capacitive pressure sensors comprising polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) foam‐based dielectric layer, sandwiched between the poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate and silver nanowire‐based electrodes, are presented. The printed electrodes exhibit excellent electrical properties (1.6 Ω sq−1, 20.35 kS m−1) and bendability. Various ratios of PDMS to ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3) are evaluated to obtain dielectric layer with optimum pore sizes for better performance and ease of fabrication. The device with a PDMS:NH4HCO3 ratio of 4:0.8 exhibits a linear response with a sensitivity of 0.0055 kPa−1 in the tested pressure range of 5–170 kPa. The fully 3D printed sensors also show excellent repeatability over 500 cycles with an average hysteresis of 1.53%, and fast response and recovery times of 89 and 195 ms, respectively. The superiority of the presented 3D printed foam‐based device is confirmed by 30% higher sensitivity in comparison with PDMS‐based sensors. Finally, as a proof‐of‐concept, the pressure sensors presented in this study are assessed for their suitability in underwater environments and touch‐based object recognition.
Eco-Friendly Textile-Based Wearable Humidity Sensor with Multinode Wireless Connectivity for Healthcare Applications Ajay Beniwal, Gaurav Khandelwal, Rudra Mukherjee, Daniel M. Mulvihill, Chong Li ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2024 Textile-based wearable humidity sensors are of great interest for human healthcare monitoring as they can provide critical human-physiology information. The demand for wearable and sustainable sensing technology has significantly promoted the development of eco-friendly sensing solutions for potential real-world applications. Herein, a biodegradable cotton (textile)-based wearable humidity sensor has been developed using fabsil-treated cotton fabric coated with a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) sensing layer. The structural, chemical composition, hygroscopicity, and morphological properties are examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), contact angle measurement, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The developed sensor exhibited a nearly linear response (Adj. R-square value observed as 0.95035) over a broad relative humidity (RH) range from 25 to 91.5%RH displaying high sensitivity (26.1%/%RH). The sensor shows excellent reproducibility (on replica sensors with a margin of error ±1.98%) and appreciable stability/aging with time (>4.5 months), high flexibility (studied at bending angles 30°, 70°, 120°, and 150°), substantial response/recovery durations (suitable for multiple applications), and highly repeatable (multicyclic analysis) sensing performance. The prospective relevance of the developed humidity sensor toward healthcare applications is demonstrated via breathing rate monitoring (via a sensor attached to a face mask), distinguishing different breathing patterns (normal, deep, and fast), skin moisture monitoring, and neonatal care (diaper wetting). The multinode wireless connectivity is demonstrated using a Raspberry Pi Pico-based system for demonstrating the potential applicability of the developed sensor as a real-time humidity monitoring system for the healthcare sector. Further, the biodegradability analysis of the used textile is evaluated using the soil burial degradation test. The work suggests the potential applicability of the developed flexible and eco-friendly humidity sensor in wearable healthcare devices and other humidity sensing applications.
MESSAGE Proceedings IEEE 2024 1st International Conference on Advances in Computing Communication and Networking Icac2n 2024, 2024
Disposable and Flexible PEDOT:PSS-based Temperature Sensor for Healthcare Applications Ajay Beniwal, Chong Li Apscon 2024 2024 IEEE Applied Sensing Conference Proceedings, 2024 Temperature sensors with excellent disposability, biocompatibility, flexibility, and a facile fabrication process are strongly desirable for real-world applications in the realm of wearable healthcare. In this paper, we demonstrate poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)based temperature sensor that has a PEDOT:PSS sensing layer and drop casted on graphene carbon ink based interdigitated electrodes (IDEs), screen printed on a paper substrate. The temperature sensing characteristics were examined in the range of $25^{\\circ}\\mathrm{C}$ to $60^{\\circ}\\mathrm{C}$. The results show that the sensors have a substantial sensitivity of -0.486 %$/^{\\circ}\\mathrm{C}$ in the considered range and exhibit an excellent linear fit with a Adj. R-Square value of 0.96412. Other imperative characteristics like hysteresis analysis (4.08 %), response/recovery time, repeatability (3-cyclic), reproducibility etc. were also studied and discussed. The results show that the sensor is an excellent candidate for temperature sensing in the healthcare sector particularly for monitoring wound healing temperature via smart bandages.
Sustainable, Flexible and Ambient Temperature Operated Polyaniline-based Chemiresistive Ammonia Sensor with Eco-Friendly Design A Beniwal, R Gond, X Karagiorgis, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Letters , 2026 2026 Citations: 1
Graphene/PEDOT: PSS Hybrid Ink based Flexible and Eco-friendly Humidity Sensor for Early Plant Leaf Stress Monitoring A Beniwal, T Odedeyi, I Darwazeh IEEE Sensors Letters , 2026 2026
Additive Strategies to Mitigate Humidity Interference Effects on PEDOT: PSS Sensors for Ammonia Detection A Beniwal, P Ganguly, G Khandelwal, R Gond, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Journal , 2025 2025 Citations: 8
Disposable and Highly Sensitive Humidity Sensor based on PEDOT: PSS/GO Heterostructure P Shukla, R Gond, A Beniwal, C Li, B Rawat IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics , 2025 2025 Citations: 3
Room Temperature Operated Fe 2 O 3 /PANI-based Flexible and Eco-friendly Ammonia Sensor with Sub-ppm Detectability A Beniwal, R Gond, X Karagiorgis, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Letters , 2025 2025 Citations: 4
Polydimethylsiloxane Foam‐Based Fully 3D Printed Soft Pressure Sensors X Karagiorgis, G Khandelwal, A Beniwal, R Chirila, PJ Skabara, R Dahiya Advanced Intelligent Systems 6 (10), 2300367 , 2024 2024 Citations: 26
Eco-Friendly Textile-Based Wearable Humidity Sensor with Multinode Wireless Connectivity for Healthcare Applications A Beniwal, G Khandelwal, R Mukherjee, DM Mulvihill, C Li ACS Applied Bio Materials 7 (7), 4772-4784 , 2024 2024 Citations: 35
Disposable and Flexible PEDOT: PSS-Based Temperature Sensor for Healthcare Applications A Beniwal, C Li 2024
Room Temperature Operated PEDOT: PSS Based Flexible and Disposable NO 2 Gas Sensor A Beniwal, P Ganguly, R Gond, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Letters 7 (9), 1-4 , 2023 2023 Citations: 13
MoS₂ Modified Screen Printed Carbon Electrode Based Flexible Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Copper Ions in Water DK Neethipathi, A Beniwal, AM Bass, M Scott, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Journal 23 (8), 8146-8153 , 2023 2023 Citations: 21
PEDOT: PSS-Based Disposable Humidity Sensor for Skin Moisture Monitoring A Beniwal, DA John, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Letters 7 (3), 1-4 , 2023 2023 Citations: 34
Electrochemical Detection of Fe2+ ions in Water using 2-Dimensional g-C3N4 modified Glassy Carbon Electrode-based Sensor DK Neethipathi, A Beniwal, P Ganguly, A Bass, M Scott, R Dahiya 2023 IEEE Applied Sensing Conference (APSCON), 1-3 , 2023 2023 Citations: 4
Degradable nanofibers-based capacitive pressure sensor for underwater monitoring X Karagiorgis, A Beniwal, P Skabara, R Dahiya 2023 IEEE Applied Sensing Conference (APSCON), 1-3 , 2023 2023 Citations: 1
Screen-printed graphene-carbon ink based disposable humidity sensor with wireless communication A Beniwal, P Ganguly, AK Aliyana, G Khandelwal, R Dahiya Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 374, 132731 , 2023 2023 Citations: 155
PEDOT: PSS-Coated Screen-Printed Graphene–Carbon Ink-Based Humidity and Temperature Sensor A Beniwal, DK Neethipathi, R Dahiya IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics 2 (2), 111-118 , 2022 2022 Citations: 9
V 2 O 5 Nanowires-Coated Yarn-Based Temperature Sensor With Wireless Data Transfer for Smart Textiles G Khandelwal, AS Dahiya, A Beniwal, R Dahiya IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics 2 (2), 119-126 , 2022 2022 Citations: 5
Disposable pH sensor on paper using screen-printed graphene-carbon ink modified zinc oxide nanoparticles AK Aliyana, P Ganguly, A Beniwal, SKN Kumar, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Journal 22 (21), 21049-21056 , 2022 2022 Citations: 33
MoS 2 modified screen printed carbon electrode based flexible sensor for detection of Copper DK Neethipathi, P Ganguly, A Beniwal, M Scott, A Bass, R Dahiya 2022 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and … , 2022 2022 Citations: 4
Influence of Thickness of Screen Printed Carbon Electrodes on Electrochemical Sensing P Ganguly, DK Neethipathi, A Beniwal, R Dahiya 2022 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and … , 2022 2022 Citations: 4
PEDOT: PSS modified Screen Printed Graphene-Carbon Ink based Flexible Humidity Sensor A Beniwal, P Ganguly, DK Neethipathi, R Dahiya 2022 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and … , 2022 2022 Citations: 10
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Screen-printed graphene-carbon ink based disposable humidity sensor with wireless communication A Beniwal, P Ganguly, AK Aliyana, G Khandelwal, R Dahiya Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 374, 132731 , 2023 2023 Citations: 155
Electrospun SnO2/PPy nanocomposite for ultra-low ammonia concentration detection at room temperature A Beniwal, Sunny Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 296, 126660 , 2019 2019 Citations: 80
Novel TPU/Fe2O3 and TPU/Fe2O3/PPy nanocomposites synthesized using electrospun nanofibers investigated for analyte sensing applications at room temperature A Beniwal, Sunny Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 304, 127384 , 2020 2020 Citations: 42
Sol-gel assisted nano-structured SnO2 sensor for low concentration ammonia detection at room temperature A Beniwal, V Srivastava, Sunny Materials Research Express 6 (4), 046421 , 2019 2019 Citations: 39
Eco-Friendly Textile-Based Wearable Humidity Sensor with Multinode Wireless Connectivity for Healthcare Applications A Beniwal, G Khandelwal, R Mukherjee, DM Mulvihill, C Li ACS Applied Bio Materials 7 (7), 4772-4784 , 2024 2024 Citations: 35
PEDOT: PSS-Based Disposable Humidity Sensor for Skin Moisture Monitoring A Beniwal, DA John, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Letters 7 (3), 1-4 , 2023 2023 Citations: 34
Sol–gel spin coating assisted room temperature operated nanostructured ZnO ethanol sensor with behavior transformation A Beniwal, PK Sahu, S Sharma Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology 88 (2), 322-333 , 2018 2018 Citations: 34
Disposable pH sensor on paper using screen-printed graphene-carbon ink modified zinc oxide nanoparticles AK Aliyana, P Ganguly, A Beniwal, SKN Kumar, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Journal 22 (21), 21049-21056 , 2022 2022 Citations: 33
Polydimethylsiloxane Foam‐Based Fully 3D Printed Soft Pressure Sensors X Karagiorgis, G Khandelwal, A Beniwal, R Chirila, PJ Skabara, R Dahiya Advanced Intelligent Systems 6 (10), 2300367 , 2024 2024 Citations: 26
MoS₂ Modified Screen Printed Carbon Electrode Based Flexible Electrochemical Sensor for Detection of Copper Ions in Water DK Neethipathi, A Beniwal, AM Bass, M Scott, R Dahiya IEEE Sensors Journal 23 (8), 8146-8153 , 2023 2023 Citations: 21
Apple fruit quality monitoring at room temperature using sol–gel spin coated Ni–SnO 2 thin film sensor A Beniwal, Sunny Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization 13 (1), 857-863 , 2019 2019 Citations: 17
Enhancing room temperature ethanol sensing using electrospun Ag-doped SnO 2–ZnO nanofibers SK Lalwani, A Beniwal, Sunny Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 31 (20), 17212-17224 , 2020 2020 Citations: 15
Room Temperature Operated PEDOT: PSS Based Flexible and Disposable NO 2 Gas Sensor A Beniwal, P Ganguly, R Gond, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Letters 7 (9), 1-4 , 2023 2023 Citations: 13
PEDOT: PSS modified Screen Printed Graphene-Carbon Ink based Flexible Humidity Sensor A Beniwal, P Ganguly, DK Neethipathi, R Dahiya 2022 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and … , 2022 2022 Citations: 10
Baseline Drift Improvement Through Investigating a Novel Ag Doped SnO 2/ZnO Nanocomposite for Selective Ethanol Detection A Beniwal, S Kumar, Sunny IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology 18, 412-420 , 2019 2019 Citations: 10
PEDOT: PSS-Coated Screen-Printed Graphene–Carbon Ink-Based Humidity and Temperature Sensor A Beniwal, DK Neethipathi, R Dahiya IEEE Journal on Flexible Electronics 2 (2), 111-118 , 2022 2022 Citations: 9
SnO 2-ZnO-Fe 2 O 3 tri-composite based room temperature operated dual behavior ammonia and ethanol sensor for ppb level detection A Beniwal, Sunny Nanoscale 12 (38), 19732-19745 , 2020 2020 Citations: 9
Additive Strategies to Mitigate Humidity Interference Effects on PEDOT: PSS Sensors for Ammonia Detection A Beniwal, P Ganguly, G Khandelwal, R Gond, B Rawat, C Li IEEE Sensors Journal , 2025 2025 Citations: 8
Room Temperature Operated Electrospun Nanofibers-Based SnO 2/PTh Sensor for Acetone Sensing Applications A Beniwal, Sunny IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 68 (8), 4084-4089 , 2021 2021 Citations: 8
Highly selective and sensitive O 2 plasma treated sputtered thin film sensor for sub-ppm level NH 3 detection at room temperature A Beniwal, Sunny Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics 30 (3), 3144-3155 , 2019 2019 Citations: 8
CONSULTANCY
Project: DETECT: Disposable Sensor for Continuous Detection of Renal Disease
Role: Principal Investigator (PI)
Funded Value: £203,795
Funder: Horizon Europe Guarantee / UK Research and Innovation
Funded Period: 2 Years
Organisation: University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Engineering
