Research Projects

Chemical dyes are the complex molecular structures, which are widely used in many industries such as textiles, paint, leather and food processing. The acquittal of dyes from these industries into the aquatic environment has triggered many problems to the public health due to their toxic nature and carcinogenicity. The project proposes to utilize the outstanding properties of activated carbon made of feather fiber (bio waste) i.e., high surface area. Due to its high degree of microporosity, just one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m2, as determined by gas adsorption. It also proposes to utilize the outstanding properties of titania, TiO2 (anatase phase). It has been made to photocatalytically mineralize pollutants (to convert into CO2 and H2O) in waste water. It offers great potential as an industrial technology for detoxification or remediation of wastewater due to several factors. The photocatalyst is inexpensive, readily available, non-toxic, chemically and mechanically stable, and has a high turnover. The project proposes to utilize the synergetic effect of co-doped titania, TiO2 (anatase phase), ferric oxide, and alumina in epoxy matrix having trimethyl amine. The project proposes to utilize industrial-waste fly ash. Materials will be characterized through X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogrevimetric analysis (TGA), differential thermal analyser (DTA), X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), BET-surface area analyser (BET-SSA), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Zeta potential device (ZPD), FT-Infra Red spectrometer (FTIR), Raman spectrometer (RS), Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS-ppb level detection), inductively coupled plasma-emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), surface roughness, specific gravity, thermal stability, specific heat, storage modulus, loss modulus, complex modulus, thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, mechanical properties i.e., Young’s modulus, tensile strength, strain at failure, energy density, etc other mechanical properties i.e., interlaminer fracture toughness, interlaminer shear strength, stress relaxation, degree of carbonization, microstructure and fracture surface, etc (1-3). Finally 20 filters will be made to evaluate its performance as per WHO.

Three patents applied in 2014.