Research Projects

Dal Lake, also known as the "Jewel in the Crown of Kashmir," is a vital hub of tourism and livelihood for 30% of srinagar City's residents. However, the lake faces a permanent threat to aquatic life due to the overgrowth of weeds such as Lemina, Catail, Azolla, and Myrophylum. These weeds suppress the growth of other vegetation and increase the biological oxygen demand (BOD), leading to the death of aquatic animals, particularly fish. The local administration supports the removal of these weeds annually, but their decomposition spreads infection and health issues to the surrounding area. Recycling these weeds into useful materials is crucial, as they contain a high percentage of lingo-cellulose, which can be converted into high surface area carbon-based adsorbents. Water bodies have been polluted with various pollutants, including personal care products, phenols, antibiotics, and endocrine disruptors, which pose a severe threat to aquatic and human life. Antibiotic pollutants are dangerous due to their incomplete metabolism within the human body and can trigger antibiotic-resistant bacterial growth. This research proposes recycling carbon-rich weeds from Dal Lake into low-cost high surface area adsorbents to remove antibiotic pollutants from water. The lignocellulose-based biomass will be converted to high surface area activated carbons and biochar under high temperature and pressure conditions, while the silicon-rich weeds will be converted to high surface area zeolite-activated carbon composites. The adsorbents will be characterized using scanning electron microscopy, BET surface area analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.