Environmental Nanotechnology Lab
(ENano Lab)

Currently, I am working as an Associate professor in the Environmental Science and Engineering Department at IIT Bombay before that was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, where I was focusing on the development of a cutting-edge anti-biofouling membrane technology for desalination, water, and wastewater treatment. I am developing new nanomaterials and technology to address the pressing challenges of current membrane technology, such as biofouling control and the efficient removal of emerging contaminants. Furthermore, I am using state-of-the-art technologies (CO2 laser and ink-jet printers) to modify and fabricate micro-, ultra-, nano- and reverse osmosis membranes. Characterization and testing of these membranes for antibiofilm properties and other membrane properties (flux, rejection, organic fouling, and scaling) have also been performed. Results from these works have recently been published in high impact journals such as ACS Nano, ACS Applied Materials and Interface, and Journal of Membrane Science, and other manuscripts are under review or in preparation. The intellectual property in which I am an inventor has also been protected in one United States patents, and one provisional patent.

I hold an M.Tech. and a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering (Civil Engineering) from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. During this period, I have focused on protocol development for faster remediation of chlorinated pesticides (DDT and endosulfan) using biodegradation and Zero-Valent Iron Nano Particles (NZVI), and on the fate and transport of these chlorinated pesticides in the environment. I have used mathematical and quantum chemical modeling to formulate the hydrolysis of endosulfan in different environmental conditions. I have established the effect of different types of microbial ecology and carbon sources on the fate of endosulfan. Endosulfan and its metabolites have six chlorine atoms which lead to their high toxicity. By the use of NZVI and other metals, we showed partial to complete dechlorination of endosulfan isomers and metabolites and concluded that the dechlorination of all six compounds (endosulfan-1, 2, endosulfan alcohol, endosulfan ether, endosulfan sulfate and endosulfan lactone) follows the same dechlorination pattern.  I have published six articles based on these studies in reputable journals, and two others are under review or in preparation