It is the bane of our modern-day existence – dying batteries! Batteries, which are essentially another name for capacitors, are everywhere; from mobile phones, laptops, toys, cars and a plethora of portable electronic devices – in fact, you’re probably reading this on one right now. Batteries are a lot like any other consumable, they deplete over time and akin to the end-user, get weaker over time too. The multi-billion-dollar electronics and tech industry cannot wait for the next breakthrough in battery technology. This research might have had the ball rolling and we are extremely excited to share this with you!

Dr. Salman N. Arshad (Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering) has been working to re-imagine battery tech from the ground up to help alleviate us from the conundrums of current battery technology. His research focuses on developing carbon-based electrode material for an increase in specific capacitance and charge retention. But there’s more – his team has developed a method where carbon nanotubes, nanofibers and iron oxide work together in a beautiful display of chemistry to produce desired results for capacitance retention.

Through what seems a microscopic miracle, Iron nano particles are fabricated on to carbon nanotubes through a process called chemical vapour deposition. The resulting contraption looks a lot like a matchstick (an iron blob sitting on top of a thin carbon nanotube). Millions of these tiny iron-encapsulated carbon nanotubes are fabricated to a carbon nanofiber. By design, the iron gets ‘rusty’ or oxidised through oxygen present in air and this resulting apparatus of iron oxide + carbon nanotube + carbon nanofiber is the key concoction that has been shown to exhibit long term durability with 95% capacitance retention even after 5000 charge-discharge cycles. Compare this to your average lithium ion battery that falls to well below 70% retention after that many charge cycles.

Dr. Salman’s research paper will be published in the November 2020 issue of the journal Synthetic Metals. Reference: Faryal Aftab, Shahid Tanveer, Shahid Ur Rehman, Samina Ghafoor, Hatice Duran, Katrin Kirchhoff, Ingo Lieberwirth, Salman N. Arshad. 

Encapsulation of Fe/Fe3O4 in carbon nanotubes grown over carbon nanofibers for high performance supercapacitor electrodes, Synthetic Metals, Volume 269, 2020, 116575, ISSN 0379-6779

Not fun doing outdoor work on an extremely hot and humid day? We’re with you, and so is the oxide ion! But is it possible to change the ‘weather’ just because we don’t like it? Aha!!! That’s exactly what researchers at the School of Science and Engineering’s Chemistry and Chemical Engineering figured out. By changing the environment to help oxide ions move more comfortably, researchers can help generate electricity through a technique that’s more efficient, quieter and just plain better! Enter the world of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs)!

The whole process is as easy as 1…2…3!

    1. Break up molecular hydrogen into H+ ions on one side.

    2. Break up molecular oxygen into O-2 ions on the other side.

    3. Generate electrons by allowing O-2 ions to travel through a dense electrolyte material from one side and combine with impatient H+ ions waiting on the other side. We get water (2H+ + O-2 -> H2O) as a by-product along with clean electricity.

This seems like the best of both worlds! However, this is where the challenge begins. The key process by which SOFCs are able to generate electricity is the conductivity of oxide ions through the dense, solid electrolyte that sits between the electrodes. With current methods, the electrolyte needs to be at a temperature above 700 °C to enable good oxide ion conductivity, adding cost and complexity to SOFCs that render them difficult to commercialise. The research work highlighted in this article has discovered a different type of electrolyte that has good oxide ion conductivity even at lower temperatures of 600 °C. This may not sound like a big deal since we are still way above room temperature, but this is how scientific inquiry progresses, every little bit counts.

This research, supervised by Dr. Falak Sher and his PhD student Asma Gilane, who is a co-author, has revealed that the crystal structure of the hexagonal perovskite derivative (Ba3VWO8.5) exhibits electrical properties that render ultra-high oxide ion conductivity inside SOFCs. The key feature enabling this lies in the fascinating crystal structure, and is linked to the random and disorderly, yet highly connected distribution of oxygen-vacant and oxygen-occupied sites in the crystal, making continuous oxide ion migration possible even at lower temperatures. This is tantamount to creating the pathways for a smoother flow of traffic in a congested urban environment, the movers here are oxide ions and the alleys, streets and crossings are the conduction pathways for the ions.

The perovskites are a class of crystals that have enabled high-temperature superconductivity, magnetism, solar cells and ferroelectrics that we use in piezoelectric buzzers.

The work is published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Reference: J. Mater. Chem. A, 2020, 8, 16506-16514 (DOI: 10.1039/D0TA05581F)

Link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2020/ta/d0ta05581f

https://rsc.li/2EFxbqE

Dr Akhtar completed his MPhil and MSc in Major in Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry from Quaid e Azam University before he enrolled in the LUMS SBASSE PhD Chemistry program. His expertise lie in inorganic chemistry, which he pursued while he was studying for his Master’s degree, where he opted for Transition matter complexes as the program major while his minor was in material science. So his academic journey is a very well-curated one where he decided very early on in his life of what he’d like to be working on and pursue as he moves forward. He has always taken every challenge in a stride and has been able to give more than a hundred percent in whatever he does. Dr Akhtar feels, that if one has the clarity of mind and focus in vision, then a person can give full concentration to the subject bearing great results.

Although, before studying at LUMS, Dr Akhtar didn’t follow a specialized path for material chemistry or nanotechnology. His interest in this area piqued as he joined LUMS and found like-minded people who were working in the similar field. That’s where he was drawn in to the charm of material technology and started pursuing this as his main subject for his PhD. He explains Nanomaterials, in principle as, materials of which a single unit small sized between 1 and 100 nm. He understands, that the world has too huge challenges to overcome at the moment, one is the importance of innovation and discovers in health and the other is making sure that we as humans, are using lesser fossil fuels to run the world. The non-renewable energy is something which leaves residues to deal with while it provides us with energy. Plus, in the long run, the human race will be outgrowing the depleting reservoirs and the world will need another sustainable source of energy. Hence, the need to find solutions for such global issues was what kept Dr Akhtar up at night and made him work diligently in finding solutions on the nanoscale. So he went on the crusade to work on exploration of the renewable energy resources, like water, wind and sun. Here he picked up water as his main protagonist and the obvious source of energy. Due to the excessive use of the non-renewable energy (NRE), a lot of unwanted gases have been harming the ozone layer of the planet and resulting in global warming. NRE is used by 90% of the industries globally and has had a negative impact on the environment.

He was fascinated by Dr Irshad’s work in material science and so Akhtar took material science as his main research interest; while his major being inorganic chemistry. Akhtar has always been interested in pure sciences and is the only person from his hometown to have pursued PhD science as his passion project. Dr Akhtar Munir, has made significant progress to develop highly effective nanocatlysts for the production of hydrogen (H2) from a sustainable source i.e., water; as his academic work at LUMS. He worked with Dr Irshad’s group on the synthesis of various transitionary complexities of material science. Akhtar set out to develop transition metals (Cu, Ni and Co) based nanoscale materials decorated on various conducting supports, including functionalized graphene oxide and mesoporous carbon, to electrochemically catalyze the breakage of water molecules to produce hydrogen with high efficiency.

While reminiscing about his experiences at LUMS, Dr Akhtar shares that starting from the first day when his admission test was being taken, he was impressed by the sheer dexterity and systematic efficiency of how the university deals with potential PhD students. He joined LUMS in 2016 and he claims that the past four and half years have been life altering for him not only in education, but also on a personal level. He made friends throughout the school, and found colleagues and professors who understood his passion and hard work and worked with him day and night to achieve what he set out to do. The fact that LUMS admits students strictly on merit and then develops a culture of steadfastness, honesty and diligence in students, is something which Dr Akhtar says has shaped his personality during his time on campus. He appreciates all the help and support which he received from his peers and the especially the faculty who had an open-door policy and would always welcome him if he ever came across any difficulty. Most of his time was split between studying, seeking council of the faculty and untangling administrative matters, and throughout his time, he was met with competent and kind people who helped him every step of the way. He especially applauds Dr Sabieh’s revolutionary steps towards upgrading the SBASSE PhD program to a new level and making every student’s efforts worth it. Back in 2016, Akhtar got accepted in the Quaid e Azam University Islamabad and also the Peking University in China along with getting accepted to LUMS. He preferred LUMS over the other two institutions and claims that this was the best decision which he made in his entire life. He has always been a competitive person and while he was at QAU, the environment was provided to him for productive competition and but when he came to LUMS, he felt as if he has found a family he never knew he wanted in the people here. Dr Akhtar belongs to Lakki Marwat in KPK, and his love affair with chemistry began right after his FSc ended where he feels that a decision was made for him by the universe, that he will be pursuing chemistry as a subject and a source of joy for the foreseeable future. Hence, he earned his bachelors and master degree in this field before continuing with his journey at LUMS. Throughout, he appreciates the support which his family provided him with and the strength and conviction which he found in himself while working with peers, colleagues and faculty throughout his time until he graduated from LUMS.

The research findings of Akhtar Munir have already been published in highly prestigious international journals and can be viewed by clicking the journals name below. He feels extremely blessed to have found the opportunity to showcase his work in global platforms. Impressively, as a first author, Akhtar Munir published a review article in ChemSusChem, and 04 research articles in ChemSusChem, ACS Applied Energy Materials, Electrochimica Acta and Chemistry – A European Journal. As a co-author with other MS/PhD students at LUMS, Akhtar Munir also published research articles in Advanced Functional Materials, ChemCatChem and International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. This original research productivity by PhD students is genuinely outstanding and rarely witnessed in Pakistan, especially keeping in view the quality of journal publications and completely indigenous work done at LUMS.

Dr Akhtar hopes that through his work (current and future) he will be able to make a positive impact by increasing the efficiency of hydrogen as the source of energy and, hence, minimizing the adverse effect on earth. He would like to work in higher education and pursue his research on many other issues which are plaguing us on a global level. He would also like to support the higher education efforts of his hometown in KPK and advance them in management and in research. He would like to collaborate with international researchers in the subject of his interest and produce projects which have a positive impact.

Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering's agenda is to make cutting edge technologies and scientific inquiry accessible to everyone in the country. In this vein, the Central Labs offer services for state-of-the-art scanning electron microscopy to external users. With our FEI NOVA 450 Nanosem and its field-emission capabilities, we promise to provide stunning, high resolution micrographs for your experimental investigations in all scientific disciplines. Even though we do not provide interpretation, you can rely on our committed, highly qualified staff for high quality imaging of biological, nanoscopic, mesoscopic samples and materials from a range of industries and applications.

Visit the Central Lab's website: https://centrallab.lums.edu.pk/ for further details and procedures. 

Surely one cannot provide students with meaningful hands-on learning experience through packets of information sent over the internet, processed in a server and received on a computer. Some things in life are meant to work best when tangible. One such thing is learning enabled by the laboratory.

Worried by the barrier in hands-on learning, Dr. Jahangir Ikram and his team, with support from the Electrical Engineering (EE) Department Chair, worked hard to successfully develop low-cost kits for students, to continue learning even outside of the lab, from the comfort of their homes. It is fair to say that Dr. Jahangir and team made the lab come to the students rather than vice versa.

Each kit contains a variety of necessary tools including micro controllers, LED matrix, programmable chips, and digital to analog converter, an oscilloscope, power distribution core, a complete tool set, multimeter, speed controllers and motors. The oscilloscopes had to be imported from China to meet the goal of making the kit cheaper, more affordable.

In the heat and humidity of the past three months, 50 kits were successfully developed and Dr. Jahangir’s team had gone to lengths with making sure no compromise was made in quality and effectiveness of the kits. The kits will be used for the EE 324 course that focuses on micro controllers interfacing and assembly language program.

We congratulate Dr. Jahangir and his department on leading this initiative and appreciate his interest in extending technical support to other universities in case they’d like to replicate this project.

The Bio-Organic and Medicinal Chemistry (BMC) at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, SBASSE, LUMS has organized its first international symposium on “Antiviral Drug Design and Discovery” on October 10, 2020, Tuesday at 4 pm.

Speakers included globally recognized researchers in the area of drug design and discovery and highlighted the latest innovations and lessons from their laboratories. Speakers at the event:

• Dr Jochen Bodem – Universitat Wurzburg Germany
• Dr Alan C Spivey – Imperial College London UK
• Dr Celia Schiffer – University of Massachusetts Medical School USA
• Dr Connor Coley – Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA
• Dr Akbar Ali – University of Massachusetts Medical School USA

Topics of Interest:

1. Drug design
2. Virology & Antivirals
3. Organics synthesis
4. Structure-activity relationship
5. Computational chemistry

Dr. Rofice Dickson will be joining the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering as Assistant Professor (tenure-track). Dr. Dickson specializes in chemical process modelling and optimization. He is fluent in both mathematical and computational skills – a highly desirable yet rare combination. Some of his research interests lie in figuring out how individual units within a chemical process system should be combined to achieve optimal performance, alternatives to tackle process design and controllability issues, productivity improvements in food and bio-based industry, and something of utmost importance in today’s day and age: e-learning and virtual lab development. An exciting repertoire for sure!

To date, Dr. Dickson has published four journal articles and several conference papers. One of his articles in the journal Green Chemistry was voted as Editor’s pick, with an impact factor of 9.2. With an already impressive research forte, perhaps one of Dr. Dickson’s most exciting strengths is his uncanny ability to describe and explain difficult concepts with ease and fluency.

Dr. Rofice Dickson recently completed his PhD from Pukyong National University in Busan, South Korea. His has had past work experience with DG Khan Cement Company Limited, Denmark Technical University, and as a Graduate Research Assistant in Pukyong National University.

We welcome Dr. Dickson to the SBASSE family and wish him all the best!

Want to know how scientists figure out the structure of complex molecules like proteins, and come up with their 3D structure? We are offering an opportunity for you to get hands-on experience with state-of-the-art mammoth machines that help us understand the microcosm, right here from the SBASSE.

Two positions are open for BS students of SBASSE, for a training internship on the state-of-the-art NMR machine! This is your chance to learn how data from this beautiful equipment is acquired, processed and interpreted. This extensive training program will require internees to work for 10 hours/week in the NMR lab, per semester. After an evaluation at the mid and end of the semester, successful interns will receive their training certificate. Internees will receive an honorarium of Rs. 20,000 after the completion of training.

Please send your application consisting of your brief CV and a paragraph about  your motivation of acquiring this training, to Dr Adil Raees at adil.raees@lums.edu.pk

Environmental Chemistry is an introductory course which Dr. Muhammad Zaheer teaches at the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), LUMS.

The course centers on fundamental chemical principles and processes that help understand and solve environmental challenges related to atmosphere, water, and soil pollution. Specific topics include air pollution (smog, particulate matter, gases, ozone), water contaminants and purification, toxic organic chemicals, and metals in the environment.

These lectures cover the following topics:

1. Chemistry of the Stratosphere
2. Ozone Hole
3. Air Pollution
4. Particulate Air Pollution
5. Improving Air Quality

He has graciously placed his lectures and notes online for people to benefit from. Lectures are based on the book "Environmental Chemistry" by Baird and Cann. No copyright violations intended.

The lessons can be accessed here: https://bit.ly/3cYQ9rv

Crystalline solid products are around us everywhere – they are central to industrially-relevant production as 70% of the products of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry are sold as solids. A prominent example is an aspirin tablet that we take for a headache. An important part in designing a crystallization process of getting solid materials from liquid solutions is to control the size and shape of the crystals. Fundamental and applied research in this area of crystallization leads to improved process performance with less energy consumption as well as more efficient material utilization.

Such solid-liquid systems are complex and challenging in many ways and fluid flow and particles interact in a variety of fashions. In the lab setup, the evolution of the crystal size and shape distribution is tracked by means of image-based shape estimation. This information is then in turn exploited to obtain the crystallization kinetics that are governing the crystallization process. To incorporate these complexities, the numerical methods have been extended and new tools are developed to simulate crystallization in a better way. Our focus has been on relevant phenomena of crystal growth of multi-faceted crystals as well as on crystal agglomeration with specifically developed model experiments working with selected and well-understood model substances. Experiments and flow field simulations serve to parameterize a coupled population balance equation system. This equation system allows predicting the dynamic evolution of the crystal size and shape distribution. Crystal agglomeration is a major phenomenon of crystal size enlargement. Our research concentrates on the understanding and modeling of this phenomenon.

The crystal growth and agglomeration can be combined where the main control variables are temperature profiles and flow rates. Crystals can be separated by size and withdrawn at a varying crystallizer height. The size separation is again controlled by the flow rates.

Crystallization processes are often modeled in terms of a crystal population instead of considering the behaviour of each individual crystal. Utilising macroscopic conservation laws, one derives a system of coupled equations for the population, a so-called Population Balance System (PBS) that describes an averaged behaviour of the crystals. The crystallization process within a moving incompressible fluid is modeled—the movement is in pipes and/or batch crystallizers. It is assumed that the suspension of the crystals is dilute such that the impact of the crystals on the fluid flow is negligible. Then, the first two conservation laws are the balance of the linear momentum and the conservation of mass for the fluid flow, which are modeled by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.

Our study shows that the simulations can indeed be used to model the processes in Fluidized Bed Crystallizers. There is a good agreement between experimental and simulation results. These can be further tested virtually using different operating conditions and settings and this paves the way for cheaper, faster, and informed design and innovation of future fluidized bed crystallizer.

This article is a distilled version of a book chapter: R Ahrens, Z Lakdawala, A Voigt, V Wiedmeyer, V John, Sabine Le Borne, Kai Sundmacher, “Numerical methods for coupled population balance systems applied to the dynamical simulation of crystallisation processes,” in Dynamic Flowsheet Simulation of Solids Processes (2020).