Institution: 

Nanomaterials and Pharmaceuticals Research LAB,

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Rajshahi

Supervisor: 

Professor Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan

Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Rajshahi

Project Title: Degradation and decolorization of textile wastewater by Electrochemical Method using redox mediator 

Project Ref. No.এ-১২৩৪/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০১৯-২০২০) 

Project Directors:

Md. Tamzid Hossain Molla 

Associate Professor

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh 

Abstract

Electrochemical technology (EC) is a promising technique for water and wastewater treatment in the world. This technology has many advantages as a compact model, saving area, highly removal efficient of non-biodegradable compounds, and reduction of secondary by-products. This work focused on the development of an electrochemical system for direct electrochemical oxidation, the indirect electrochemical oxidation mediated by electrogenerated active chlorine, and the coupling between anodic and cathodic processes. Experiments are carried out in a batch electrochemical cell for the degradation of dispersed red-1(DR-1) and reactive orange-14(RO-14). The influence of effluent initial concentration, pH, supporting electrolyte concentration, and current density on pollutant degradation has been critically examined. Together with the removal process, the properties of electrode materials are also well investigated. Iron (Fe), copper (Cu), stainless steel (Ss), and graphite (Gr) electrodes were used at 8 different combinations at both the anode and the cathode. The optimum conditions were obtained at the Monopolar-Parallel connected electrodes (Gr- Ss) with 7.0 pH, voltage 7.25 V , 0.4 A current, 353 A/m2 current density, 1 g/L NaCl, 60 min of operating time and a distance of 3 cm between each other. From the experiments it was observed that with an increase in current density the color removal also increases while with increase in initial dye concentration, removal efficiencies decrease. These processes have great potential to destroy persistent organic pollutants in aqueous medium and most of the studies reported complete removal of dyes from water. In addition, the technique showed good removal efficiency in the simulated real dyeing wastewater. The degradation rate follows the first-order kinetics. The great capacity of these processes indicates that EC constitute a promising technology for the treatment of the dye contaminated effluents 

Finding

Textile wastewater composition was favorable for carrying out electrochemical oxidation due to the high salt content. The present work aimed to examine the applicability of EO for the degradation of dyes in an aqueous solution by utilizing an electrochemical batch reactor, which is offered the development of new technology for removal of dye with simplicity in design and operation and low energy consumption. The oxidative degradation of DR-1 and RO-14 dyes followed a pseudo-first-order kinetic and its apparent constant increased with rising j, CN and reducing Co. The rapid decolorization is observed because of the quicker attack of •OH formed in the bulk. The electrogenerated active chlorine could destroy the chromophore groups of dye rapidly and oxidize the intermediates to CO2 and other inorganic products efficiently. The best experimental conditions are followed: j of 353 Am−2 , Co of 50 mg/L and CN 1 g/L provided the optimum balance with desirable decolorization efficiency and relatively low specific energy consumption. Finally, the electrochemical oxidation of dyestuffs was carried out in dyeing bath wastewater. The results showed that the complex composition of such wastewater has a high influence on the rate of dyestuff removal. Complete decolorization was observed in all cases and there was no noticeable difference in the loaded charge needed for the decolorization in solution with a single dye or with the real wastewater. The presence of chloride ions significantly accelerated the removal of dyestuffs from the treated effluents. The overall experimental results indicate that this electrochemical method can be used effectively for treating dye wastewater. 

Project Title: Synthesis of eco-friendly CoFe2O4-based magnetic carbon quantum dots (CQDs) nanocomposite for the degradation of eco-toxic dyes from industrial effluents

Project Ref. No. :এ-৪১/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০২২-২০২৩)  

Project Directors:

Md. Tamzid Hossain Molla 

Assistant Professor

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh 

Objectives

The goal of this work was to develop a cost effective, easy and eco-friendly wastewater treatment technique, using suitable magnetic nanophotocatalyst. The major aim and objectives of this research work were

Ø  CoFe2O4 nanodots have been synthesized by hydrothermal process. After that, the prepared nanodots coated by polymerization of carbon quantum dots (CQDs).

Ø  Collection of a number of effluent samples from different industries (textile, tannery, etc.).

Ø  Characterization of nanodots and carbon quantum dots (CQDs) coated photocatalyst (CQDs /CoFe2O4) by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA).

Ø  Photocatalytic study of CQDs coated CoFe2O4 photocatalyst on the degradation of RO-16 and RB-222 dyes as a sample of dye pollutants.

Ø  To study the influences of different parameters such as pH, Temperature, initial dye concentration, photocatalyst dosage, and CoFe2O4 nanodots: CQDs ratio on the photocatalytic experiment.

Ø  To study the reaction kinetics of RO-16 and RB-222 dyes degradation based on the Pseudo first order kinetic model.

Ø To study the recyclability of the prepared CoFe2O4/CQDs for multiple cycles

Project Title: Synthesis of a suitable nano-sorbent for the treatment of textile wastewater dyestuffs.

Project Ref. No. :এ-৩০/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০২২-২০২৩) 

The goal of this work was to develop a cost-effective, easy, and eco-friendly wastewater treatment technique, using suitable nano-sorbents through the adsorption process. The major aim and objectives of this research work were:

i. Production of chitosan from waste prawn shells.

ii. Preparation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles by hydrothermal process.

iii. Synthesis of magnetically active chitosan-based Fe3O4 nanoparticles and its surface modifications.

iv. Characterization of the synthesized nano-sorbents using different analytical techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Thermogravimetric Analysis (DTA), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) Spectroscopy.

v. Study of the reuse and recycling performance of the synthesized nano-sorbents.

vi. Adsorption of RB 59 and RO 14 dyes was also studied as model pollutants using the synthesized nano-sorbents.

Project Directors:

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Md. Tamzid Hossain Molla 

Associate Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh 

Project Title: “Carbon quantum dot complexes for heavy metal coagulation and synergistic bactericidal action.

Project Ref. No. :এ-২৩০/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০২৩-২০২৪) 

Project Directors:

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Md. Tamzid Hossain Molla 

Associate Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh 

Project Title: Synthesis of CMC-based hydrogel and its application on drug delivery system.

Project Ref. No. :এ-৩০/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০২২-২০২৩) 

Project Directors:

Md. Tamzid Hossain Molla 

Associate Professor

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh 

Project Title: Synthesis of a carbon quantum dot-based photocatalyst for the production of hydrogen

Project Ref. No. :এ-৩০/৫/৫২/রা.বি./প্রক ৌ-0৪/২০২২-২০২৩) 

Project Directors:

Dr. Md. Abu Hanif 

Professor

Dr. Md. Shameem Ahsan 

Professor

Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 

University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi- 6205, Bangladesh