Projects

Biomass offers considerable advantages in the form of bioenergy over conventional fossil fuels. It may be attributed to its renewability and carbon neutrality that makes it a source of cleaner fuel and high-value chemicals. However, it is worth noticing that majority of high-efficiency processes reported for value added chemicals from bio-renewable resources have utilized biomass-derived molecules instead of direct utilization of lignocellulosic biomass due presence of binding material lignin. Therefore, lignin removal and its subsequent conversion in high-value chemicals are recommended prior to conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose. In general, conversion of lignin into useful products usually requires the presence of a metal catalyst for hydrogenation/hydrodeoxygenation reaction whereas conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose a combination of Lewis and Brønsted acid sites. However, lignin conversion is a challenging task owing to its complex and not well-known structure which makes screening and selection of catalysts difficult. Thus, an integrated approach to screen basic units in present in lignin followed by novel strategy for catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass including lignin in platform chemicals such as HMF, Sorbitol, FDCA and lignin derived aromatics in the presence of metal-containing a multifunctional catalyst. In this regard, lignocellulosic biomass and lignin characterization methods will be developed under supervision of Prof. Robert Henry at QAAFI, QU, Australia. Subsequently, multifunctional catalysts will be developed under supervision of Prof. K.K. Pant for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass and lignin into aromatics and platform chemicals such as 5 HMF, Sorbitol, FDCA. Since, India and Australia both are under top 10 sugarcane producing countries, thus development of sustainable technologies for lignocellulosic biomass sugarcane bagasse conversion will lead to development of futuristic biorefineries with zero waste approach. It is expected that successful completion and implementation of this project will affect 55 million Indian population positively who are directly or indirectly associated with sugar industries. As later part of this project, production of lignin rich sugarcane bagasse under supervision of Prof. Robert henry will be undertaken if required.

India is the largest producer of milk in the world with milk and milk products being an integral part of Indian diet and culture. About 50-55% of milk produced in India is converted into a variety of milk products through processes such as heat-desiccation, heat-acid coagulation and fermentation. Heat desiccated milk-based semi-solids are very popular starting material for many Indian confections, which have characteristic sweet taste, caramelized flavour and soft-grainy texture. They are produced in various forms and sizes. This semi-solids would form an ideal building material for extrusion based 3D food printing. 3D food printing is an emerging technology providing engineering solution for personalised food design by combining and merging knowledge of mechatronics, 3D industrial printing and specialized food knowledge in the areas of ingredients, formulae, texture and structure. The layer-by-layer incorporation of functional ingredients into the final 3D printed sweetmeat. This will allow consumers to indulge in their favourite sweetmeat with lower risk to diseases associated with high sugar and fat such as obesity, type-2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. This study proposes to investigate the material characteristics of the heat desiccated milk-based semisolids such as flow behaviour, melting and crystallisation characteristics of fat and sugar and other functional ingredients like vitamins, fibres, antioxidants that can be incorporated to the building material and design healthy 3D printed sweetmeats with unique structure and texture. Both single and dual nozzle 3D printers will be used in the design of sweetmeats. Further, this study will investigate the sensory perception and shelf-stability of the 3D printed sweetmeats. The developed technology and formulations have potential for commercialisation in hospitality and dairy manufacturing sectors. The protection of joint IP will be discussed when the student will commence the project.

Rationale Recent education policy in India (2013) has focussed on increasing education participation by students from rural and disadvantaged areas. Misbehaviour affects learning, and unclear prevalence of misbehaviours brings concerns about training rural teachers to manage these misbehaviours. Epidemiological studies across India suggest that the prevalence of behavioural concerns amongst children to be between 11.48 - 45.6% and utilise various reporting methods (Bansal & Barman, 2011; Cholakottil, Kazhungil, & Koyamu, 2017; Sarda et al., 2013). This calls for studies using standardised measures on a specified age group. Recently, a pilot online Classroom Behaviour Management program, consisting of lecture and tutorials observed a reduction in high school student negative behaviours (Teoh et al., 2018). Whilst negative behaviour decreased, prosocial behaviours did not increase. Teachers reported a greater use of applying behavioural management skills, but students did not perceive broad changes in teachers’ behaviours. Results obtained propose a 2 stage project with the following aims: 1. Further investigate the prevalence of behaviour problems amongst school-aged children using standardised measures 2. Evaluate an online behaviour management program be able to reduce student’s negative behaviours and increase student prosocial behaviours. Methodology Stage 1 (Prevalence) • Subjects: 300 boys and 300 girls from 6 schools. • Design: Multi-group design. IV = group; DV = student behaviour. Stage 2 (Online Intervention) • Subjects: From Phase 1 • Design: Multi-group, multi-factorial design. IV = group. DV = students’ behaviours, teachers’ classroom management skills. • Online Program: 7 hours of education delivered using eLearning methods focussing on predictors of problem behaviours, behavioural techniques for increasing positive and reducing negative behaviours, social skills and learning disorders. Measurement Instruments • Childhood Psychopathology Measurement schedule • Student School Offences. • Teacher Interpersonal Self-Efficacy Scale • Teaching Behavior Questionnaire Time-Frame Data collection would involve 24 months (i.e., Stage 1 = 12 months; Stage 2 = 12 months), with 12 months required for data analysis and write-up.

Power system security is adversely affected by intermittent wind and the variability of solar PV based generation. High penetration of wind and solar can affect three types of stabilities, which need to be comprehensively studied to ensure a secure and highly reliable power system. The figure below shows the steps needed to conduct the research. Project aims: To derive the flexibility index of the non-conventional grid in terms of its stability margin. The indexing has to be performed in terms of Small Signal Stability, Transient Stability and Voltage Stability Model. To develop remedial techniques or methods to improve the grid flexibility, both system-wide and bus-wise.This can be done by developing controllers to enhance the damping of the system. Optimization of the parameters as well as the location of these controllers becomes very crucial in order to have maximum impact without compromising the operational and economic objectives. To integrate Renewable Energy (RE) Technologies like Solar PV (both rooftop and large-scale) and Wind Turbines to the existing non-conventional grid model to analyze their impact in the system stability and hence, the flexibility of the grid. To analyze and observe the effect of variations of the penetration levels of RE along with the location of the RE. This will help to establish the relationship between these variations of RE with the change of grid flexibility. This could be instrumental to develop accurate scheduling of the generators and implementing controllers of the renewable integrated grid.

Polymer Nanocomposites are a new class of materials with much superior properties such as mechanical, thermal, flame ratardancy, gas barrier etc. They are mixtures of a polymer matrix and reinforcing filler that have at least one dimension in nanometer range. The uniform dispersion of 2D- layered nanofillers such as layered organosilicates, graphene etc results in a very large surface area and a network of platelets able to produce a tortuous path which works as a barrier structure to retard the permeation of gases , water vapour etc. A high tortuosity leads to higher barrier properties and lowered permeability in polymer nanocomposites. The barrier properties of polymers are generally poor when compared to metals and glass because of low density and open structure through which small molecules such as gases can easily pass through, thus presenting a limitation in many applications. The enhancement of barrier properties of polymers is therefore very important in areas such as packaging, protective coatings, inflatable products and in construction materials. Various polymeric films, like TPU, PP, PE, PET etc including many others are being used for packaging and protective coating applications where the enhancement of gas barrier properties remains one of the most important parameters. In this research project the aim is to develop advanced polymer nanocomposite based films and coatings with improved gas barrier property to gases such as helium, nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour etc ; apart from having desired mechanical strength, flexibility at a range of service temperatures, weather resistance, thermal stability etc. for advanced applications such as inflatable products and packaging. The nanofillers such as clays, graphene, graphene oxide, nanocellulose (CNC and CNF) and other layered metal salts will be explored. Thermoplastic polyurethane would be the matrix for inflatable product applications and biodegradable polymers like PLA would be the choice for packaging materials. The emphasis would be on advancing fundamental insight in order to achieve competitive improvements in nanocomposite barrier, weather resistance and mechanical performance. The challenges like nanomaterial pre-treatment and scalable processing to get immaculate nanofiller distribution and dispersion resulting in a fully-exfoliated morphology of layered nanofillers will be extensively investigated. The outcome of this project will significantly impact the new high performance material development having applications in the areas like inflatable on one hand and eco-friendly packaging on the other.

Globally, the morphological structure of the river networks is undergoing significant changes in the recent past. The disturbance in the morphology has made significantly negative impact on the ecosystem dependent on it.