Faculty Publications
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Item Recovery/recycling process of pollutant material in bio/membrane reactor(Elsevier, 2024) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.Currently most of the industrial sectors follow the “make, use, and dispose” linear economy approach. Detrimental effects of the pollutant materials produced by various such industries as well as the anthropogenic activities is a prominent challenge to sustainable development. Hence there is a great need for an effective technology which can restore the circular economy principle. Among the numerous tools available to recover the pollutants, membrane reactors are on the frontline due to their cost-effectiveness, wide applicability, simple operation, and smaller footprints. This chapter gives a broad picture of pollutant recycling with the help of membrane reactors. It also scrutinizes the various configurations of membrane reactors, including catalytic, packed-bed reactor, bioreactor, electrochemical, and enzyme bioreactor. In the later part of the chapter, the recovery techniques used for various pollutants, such as metals, anthrocyanins, proteins, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous, and dissolved methane, have been discussed. Recovery of such resources, which are typically treated as pollutants, can benefit beyond contamination treatment, finally generating revenue as well. © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Item Advanced 2D materials for biohydrogen purification(Elsevier, 2025) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; A.F., A.F.Accumulation of waste on the planet has risen to a peak due to elevating industrialization and urbanization on demand of bursting population growth. Outcomes are severe, including global warming, disease outbreaks, the greenhouse effect, and unpredictable natural calamities. It is, therefore, necessary to think about ways to convert the accumulated waste into some useful form. The growing population needs energy for its life-sustaining activities. Energy production from fossil fuels can lead to undesirable climate change. Potential applications such as powering proton exchange membrane fuel cells can be achieved using biohydrogen. Hydrogen is one of the clean, renewable alternative sources of energy that can be derived from waste. This review discusses the various ways of obtaining clean hydrogen from waste, especially using advanced two-dimensional materials. The role of boron-nitrides, layered double hydroxides, graphene oxide derivatives, two-dimensional covalent organic and metal-organic frameworks, two-dimensional zeolites, MXenes, and graphitic carbon nitrides in biohydrogen purification has been presented. The review also provides, in brief, the mechanism and process variables governing biohydrogen purification. Finally, the write-up scrutinizes the challenges faced during the synthesis of two-dimensional advanced materials and also their hydrogen purification performance. © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Item Fabrication of TiO2@ZIF-67 metal organic framework composite incorporated PVDF membranes for the removal of hazardous reactive black 5 and Congo red dyes from contaminated water(Elsevier B.V., 2024) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; Padaki, M.; Fauzi Ismail, A.Novel application of TiO2@ZIF-67 composite incorporated poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) mixed matrix flat-sheet membranes for treating the water contaminated with hazardous reactive black 5 and congored dyes was the crux of this work. The composite was characterized by FTIR, BET, XRD, zeta potential and particle size, and TGA. The as-synthesized composite was embedded in the PVDF polymeric matrix and flat-sheet-membranes were fabricated adopting the NIPS method followed by the different characterizations like scanning electron microscopy, EDS, elemental mapping, contact angle, atomic force microscopy, surface energy, and XPS. Results of the performance studies showed an enhanced pure water permeability from 150.99 Lm-2h?1 for neat membrane to 261.39 Lm-2h?1 for TZM-2. The reactive black 5 dye was rejected in 97.4 %, 92.2 %, and 84.84 % in acidic, basic and neutral conditions respectively by TZM-2 membrane. Whereas, the PVDF membranes without the composite showed rejections of 83.19 %, 82.5 %, and 72.1 % respectively in acidic, basic, and neutral conditions. The Congo Red dye was rejected in 89.4 %, 95.68 %, and 92.4 % in acidic, neutral and basic conditions respectively by TZM-2 membranes. Whereas, the PVDF membranes without the composite showed rejections of 82.8 %, 91.9 %, and 85.4 % respectively in acidic, neutral and basic conditions. © 2024Item Effective removal of hazardous atrazine and chlorpyrifos by waste PET bottles-derived linker having novel MIL-53(Al)/PMMA-nanofiber incorporated poly(vinylidene) fluoride membranes(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; Farnood, R.Synthesis of novel MIL-53(Al)/PMMA nanofiber and its incorporation into PVDF thin-film composite flat-sheet membranes for the rejection of hazardous herbicides and pesticides from water is the crux of this work. Initially, poly (methyl methacrylate) polymer dope solution with MIL-53(Al) dispersed in the matrix was subjected to electrospinning to get a novel nanofiber. The linker terephthalic acid, here was derived from waste PET bottles. Both the MOF and nanofibers were characterized using BET, FTIR, zeta potential, and XRD. The optimized nanofibers were used as additives in the TFC in different weight percentages using synthesized porous PVDF as support. TFC Membranes were analyzed by pure water flux, chlorpyrifos, and atrazine rejection. MPM-2 with 0.05 wt% nanofiber gave a pure water flux of 18.6824 Lm?2h?1. The rejection of chlorpyrifos (a hazardous pesticide) was 86.8 % for MPM-2 membranes and atrazine (a herbicide) gave rejection of 60.48 %. Further, membranes gave excellent antifouling property with FRR of 95.45 %. © 2025 Elsevier LtdItem Efficient removal of hazardous dyes/heavy-metal ions by in-house fabricated poly (vinylidene fluoride) thin-film nanocomposite membranes with functionalized Zr-based metal-organic framework(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; Farnood, R.; A.F., A.F.The need for effective solutions to address removal of dyes and heavy metal ions from water has driven significant interest in membrane science and separation technology. This work explores the potential of EDTA-modified MOF-808 as a novel additive to enhance the performance of PVDF supported TFC membranes. The innovation lies in aiming the unique properties of MOF and the chelating properties of EDTA in rejecting the target pollutants. The thin film nanocomposite membranes fabricated in this study with optimized MOF-EDTA loading demonstrated remarkable improvement in hydrophilicity, surface smoothness, porosity, and morphology as confirmed by water contact angle, atomic force microcopy, water uptake, and scanning electron microscopy. The optimized membrane with 0.1wt% MOF-808-EDTA exhibited a water flux of 37.36 Lm-2h-1, a 2.7-fold increment compared to the unmodified one. This was complemented by 98.6%, 91.48%, 88.7%, and 88.96% rejections in hazardous heavy metal ions namely lead, arsenite, cadmium and mercury respectively along with more than 95% rejections for 50ppm of sunset yellow and reactive black 5 dyes. The study also highlights the significant enhancement in antifouling properties with a reduction in irreversible fouling from 41.5% to 5.68% along with a flux rejection ratio of 94.3%. These findings underscore the potential of EDTA-modified MOF as an additive in enhancing the performance and durability of TFC membranes paving the way for efficient and sustainable water treatment. The current study explores an innovative approach for mitigating heavy metal ion and dye pollution in water via fabrication of. © 2025 Published by Elsevier Ltd.Item Fabrication and incorporation of MIL-53(Fe)-zwitterionic brushes into PVDF thin film composite membranes for enhancing heavy metal/dye rejection from aqueous body(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; Farnood, R.; Fauzi Ismail, A.The bioaccumulation of heavy metal ions is a serious concern for researchers. The dyes and heavy metal ions also aquatic life impacting the biodiversity adversely. Synthesis of novel MIL-53(Fe)-PSBMA particles, and its incorporation into PVDF-based thin-film composite membranes is the crux of this work. Firstly, H2N-MIL-53(Fe) was synthesized by metal displacement reaction which was then modified into MIL-53(Fe)-PSBMA brushes. The brushes were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization method. The amine groups of the NH2-MIL-53(Fe) help connecting the MOF to the polymeric moiety. The as-synthesized material and the fabricated TFCs were characterized by BET, FTIR, XRD, XPS, TGA, AFM, FE-SEM, zeta potential, and DLS particle sizer. The presence of sulphur groups on the XPS spectrum of modified MOF ensured the successful polymer grafting on it. Zwitterionic moieties have both positive and negative charges within a single molecule which gave a resultant zeta potential of ?13.1 mV for the brushes. A pure water flux of 26.32 Lm?2 h?1 and 97.33 %, 95.19 %, 82.06 %, and 78.47 % rejections for Pb2+, Hg2+, As3+, Cd2+ ions and 96.23 % and 94.04 % rejection for 100 ppm reactive black-5 and sunset yellow dyes respectively were obtained for the optimized membrane having 0.035 wt% loading of zwitterionic MOF. This result was attributed to the enhanced membrane hydrophilicity which was also correlated with contact angle and water uptake studies. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.Item Sustainable waste water purification via integration of novel COF@UiO-66 dual-layer PVDF/PEI hollow fiber membranes(Elsevier B.V., 2025) Prabhakar, N.; Isloor, A.M.; Othman, M.H.D.; A.F., A.F.In the present study, dual-layer (polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/ polyether imide (PEI) blend membranes were fabricated by coextrusion technique, with varying loadings (0–1.5 wt%) of covalent organic framework (COF) grafted UiO-66, for dye and heavy metal ion removal. UiO-66-NH2 was chosen for its excellent surface area and water stability, which can enhance the water permeability through the membrane without getting degraded over a period of time. The structures of the synthesized UiO-66-NH2 and COF@UiO-66 were confirmed by characterizations like scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy), and XRD (X-ray Diffraction). The membrane fabricated with the synthesized additive in the outer layer, was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for the surface topography and morphology. The incorporation of the additive significantly affected the hydrophilicity, porosity, and surface area of the membrane, resulting in improved permeability and rejection, along with imparting relatively good antifouling nature to the membrane. Membrane with outer dope flow rate of 2 mL/min and an optimized loading of the additive (1.0 wt.%) displayed a water permeability of 117.5 Lm?2 h?1 bar?1, whereas the neat membrane showed only 60 Lm?2 h?1 bar?1. The dyes, Congo red and reactive black-5, showed rejections of 99.1 %, and 97.96 % respectively. Whereas, the heavy metal ions mercury and lead showed 69.58 %, and > 99.9 % in the complexed state with humic acid for the optimized membrane, along with a bovine serum albumin (BSA) fouling rejection ratio of 74.22 %. Whereas the neat membrane without the MOF additive showed 89 %, 79 %, 75 %, and 43 % rejections for reactive black 5, congo red, lead, and mercury ions, respectively, with an FRR of only 57 %. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.