Avinash R. Pai is an Assistant Professor at the International & Inter University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. His research was funded under the auspices of Visvesvaraya Ph.D Scheme instituted by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Government of India. As a part of his doctoral research, he was also a visiting researcher at Lancaster University, United Kingdom under the Newton Bhabha Ph.D Placement programme which was funded by the British Council & Newton Bhabha Fund.