1. Development of polymer-based nanocomposite in situ functionalized with
nanoparticles and carbon nanofibers for environmental and energy applications
B. Tech. C.S.J.M U. Kanpur (2009)
M. Tech. N.I.T Rourkela (2011)
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur
(supervisor: Prof. Nishith Verma)
1 2
3
4
5
6
0 100 200 300 400 500
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0 100 200 300 400 500
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
b
S.Aureus
Ce/Co
Time(min)
E.Coli
a
2. 2016/7/18
Composites?
Transitional metals :- chelating property, good catalytic and electrical
properties
Challenges in applicability
Stable nanoparticles (NPs) ?
Uniform dispersion of NPs ?
Stability of substrate/support?
Why carbon-nanofibers (CNFs)?
Excellent physio-chemical proprieties such as
• High surface to volume ratio, High tensile strength,
• High conductivity and thermal resistance
• High adsorption capacity and ease in surface functionalization
Metal-Carbon-Polymer based nanocomposite
3. Cu:Ag-PhB-R preparation and its antibacterial activity
S. aureus
37/18/2016
E. coli
N. Verma, P. Khare, A. Sharma, US Patent
(2015/0056260 A1)
Novelty
• NPs incorporated in situ step of suspension
polymerization process
• The fabrication of (Cu/Ag) bi-metal microporous beads to
reduce the manufacturing cost
• Cu NPs also act as an antibacterial agent
4. Preparation of CNFs-decorated carbon bead and its adsorption capacity
47/18/2016
Khare et al., Chem.Eng. J. 229 (2013)
Novelty
• In situ disperse NPs were exposed by CVD process
• Ni and Fe NPs have dual role-
- It acts as the catalyst for growing CNFs within the
beads.
- It also acts as the active sites for removing specific
contamination.
Ni-PhB-CNF Fe-PhB-CNFb b’
c c’
Before-adsorption
Post-adsorption
5. Novelty
• NPs are added in-situ before curing
• Ag-ACF/CNFs played dual role-
- Ag NPs act as antibacterial agent
- CNF provides mechanical and thermal stability to
nanocomposite film
• Laser-ablation exposed the in situ dispersed Ag-NPs to the
bacterial flow (no post treatment )
Microchannel-embedded metal-carbon-polymer nanocomposite
5
N. Verma, P. Khare, J. Ramkumar. US Patent (2014 IN-
867185-01)
6. Carbon Nanofibers-skinned Three Dimensional Ni/Carbon Micropillars:
High Performance Electrodes of a Microbial Fuel Cell
Novelty
• Nitrogen (N) and Ni NPs are doped in situ in
single step during polymerization
• Free standing 3 D microstructures
- Favored the growth of biofilm on the anode
- Exposed N and Ni electro-catalyst
- CNFs enhance the electrical conductivity
6
7/18/2016
Polarization and power density curves
7. Salient findings
• Polymerization as a tool to combine requisite properties of its
constituents (CNFs, NPs and Nitrogen) and transfer to composite
- NPs stabilized in the polymer/carbon-matrix
• NPs exposed for efficient and effective contact with target
pollutant or electrolyte-
- Heat treatment followed by CVD technique
or
- Laser-ablation
- Transitional metal NPs besides taking part as active species in
different end applications also act as catalyst in CVD step
• CNFs enhance electrical property, thermal and mechanical
stability
7
8. 7/18/2016 8
Patents
1.Preparation of Ag-and-Cu-nanometals in-situ doped microbeads as antibacterial applications in water
(US2015/0056260 A1) 26 Febuary 2015; Inventors: Nishith Verma; Prateek Khare; Ashutosh Sharma.
2. Micro Channels Embedded in Polymeric Nanocomposite Films” (US patent IN-867185-01). 20 August
2014 Inventors: Nishith Verma; Prateek Khare; Janakarajan Ramkumar.
Journals
1. PrateekKhare, Janakranjan Ramkumar, Nishith Verma, Microchannel-embedded Metal-Carbon-
Polymer Nanocomposite as a Novel Support for Chitosan for Efficient Removal of Hexavalent Chromium
from Water under Dynamic Conditions, Chemical Engineering Journal 293 (2016) 44–54.
2. PrateekKhare, Nishith Verma, Polypropylene Nanocomposite with Improved Electrical, Thermal, and
Mechanical Properties, Polymer Composites (DOI 10.1002/pc.23783).
3. PrateekKhare, Janakranjan Ramkumar, Nishith Verma, Control of bacterial growth in water using
novel laser-ablated metal-carbon-polymer nanocomposite-based microchannels, Chemical Engineering
Journal 276 (2015) 65-74.
Publications
9. 7/18/2016 9
4. Naveen Kumar Verma, Prateek Khare, Nishith Verma, Synthesis of iron-doped resorcinol formaldehyde-
based aerogels for the removal of Cr(VI) from water, Green Processing and Synthesis 4(1) (2015) 37-46.
2014
5. Prateek Khare, Ashutosh Sharma, Nishith Verma. Synthesis of phenolic precursor-based porous carbon
beads in situ dispersed with copper–silver bimetal nanoparticles for antibacterial applications, Journal of
Colloid and Interface Science 418 (2014) 216-224.
6. Prateek Khare, Neetu Talreja, Dinesh Deva, Ashutosh Sharma, Nishith Verma. Carbon nanofibers containing
metal-doped porous carbon beads for environmental remediation applications, Chemical Engineering Journal
229 (2013) 72–81.
7. Ajit K. Sharma, Prateek Khare, Jayant K. Singh, Nishith Verma. Preparation of novel carbon
microfiber/carbon nanofiber-dispersed polyvinyl alcohol-based nanocomposite material for lithium-ion
electrolyte battery separator, Materials Science and Engineering C 33 (2013) 1702–1709.
8. Prateek Khare, Arvind Kumar. Removal of Phenol from Aqueous Solution using Carbonized Terminalia
Chebula activated carbon: Process parametric optimization using conventional method and Taguchi's
experimental design, adsorption Kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic study. Applied Water Science 2
(2012) 317–326.
9. Ghanshyam Berman, Arvind Kumar, Prateek Khare. Removal of Congo red by carbonized low cost
adsorbents: Process parameter optimization using a Taguchi experimental design. Journal of Chemical &
Engineering Data 56 (2011) 4102–4108
10. Future Research Plan
Environmental pollution control
Microchannels embedded carbon film
capacitive deionization
Energy applications
Electrode and membrane/separators
Microbial fuel cell, Methanol fuel cell
Materials (Hollow carbon sphere-decorated with CNF)
as gas sensor
