Fire Retardant Jute Composites:

• Eco-friendly surface treatment of carbohydrate polymers (e.g., cellulose, chitin) for enhanced durability, hydrophobicity and mechanical properties of the composites

• Degradation study of the composites (e.g., UV, Biological, chemical exposure)

• Application of electrospun nano-fibers for high-end composites

• Surface modification method:

• Alkali treatment for greater accessibility of functional group (-OH) and strength enhancement

• Synthesis of plant based phenolic resin with vegetable oil for coating of degradation susceptible groups (-OH)

• Polymer grafting for blocking of functional groups by trans-esterification of vegetable oil

• Enzymatic bio-modification of natural polymers

• Fire Retardant Composites:

• Preparation of nano char-forming agent from chemically altered jute fibers

• Identification of durable fire-retardant chemical treatment / coating for jute with novel non-hazardous materials

• Formation of thermoset and thermoplastic polymeric composites with jute based nano charring agent

• Optimization and standardization of chemical formulations and manufacturing of thermoset and thermoplastic polymeric composites with jute based nano charring agent

 

Group Members Involved: Amit Roy, Md. Minhajur Rahman, Sukanya Chowdhury Saha, Soumanti Hazra​, Suprabha Bandyopadhyay

 

​Electrospinning and 3D Bioprinting of Biopolymers for Artificial Skin and Bone Implant:

• Chitin or chitinase can be used to prepare biocompatible materials for artificial skin, or organs

• Chitin electrospun nanofibers can be used as reinforcement of high performance non-toxic elastomer nanocomposites

• 3-D bioprinted chitin can also be used for highly specific and sensitive smart skin

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 3D Bioprinting Unit                                              

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                            Electrospinning Machine

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                                                             Flow Diagram of Formation of Artificial Skin by Electrospinning and 3D Bioprinting

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Group Members Involved: Amit Chanda, Jaideep Adhikari, Pritam Chakraborty, Anindya Das

 

Water Purification:

Organic halides and pesticides removal from polluted water using inexpensive natural fiber adsorbent:

• Chemically / biologically trans-esterified waste biomass was used to remove halide from drinking water

• Water with elevated halide content was passed through a fixed bed of treated biomass (jute, banana, water-hyacinth, elephant grass) and the halide was partly trapped within the biomass

• An outlet effluent with acceptable halide content was obtained

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Flow Diagram of the Filter

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Fulvic acid removal by iron-functionalized reduced graphene oxide:

• Iron-functionalized reduced graphene oxide (fRGO)-coated sand was used for the adsorption of natural organic matter, such as fulvic acid (FA), from synthetic water

• A novel synthesis route was achieved to prepare an fRGO nanocomposite

• FTIR, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were applied to investigate the morphologies and structures of fRGO

• The effects of pH of the FA solution and the adsorbent dose (0.5–2.5 mg g-1 ) of fRGO were further evaluated for the determination of a possible removal mechanism

• The π– π interaction between the carbon atoms of FA and fRGO and electrostatic interaction between iron and functional radicals of FA were responsible for the removal

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Flow Diagram of Fulvic Acid Removal by Iron Fictionalized Reduced Graphene Oxide

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Group Member Involved: Soumya Kanta Ray

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