Research News

Research at the Department of Physics has effectively produced and characterised BP nanosheets on a large scale by a simple solvothermal approach, and the formation mechanisms are discussed. The paper, 2D-Black Phosphorus/Polyaniline Hybrids for Efficient Supercapacitor and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Applications Check for updates, has been published by Prof Ranjit Thapa, Associate Dean of Sciences, as a corresponding author, and his PhD student, Mr Samadhan Kapse in Sustainable Energy & Fuels having an Impact Factor of 6.367.

Abstract

Black phosphorous (BP) is an emerging 2D material with exciting physicochemical properties with broad applicability in electronics. Stability in the ambient environment, large-scale synthesis, and volume expansion during the charge/discharge process hinder its application in energy storage. Here, we report a facile gram-scale synthesis of BP in a mild reaction condition by a simple and cost-effective wet chemical method. To overcome its degradation and sluggish electrochemical performance, an organic hybrid with polyaniline is also prepared. Further, we fabricated a flexible supercapacitor device which results in an exceptional specific capacitance of 969 mFcm-2 at a current density of 0.4 Acm-2, which displayed a high energy density of 21.5 mWhkg-1 at a power density of 231 mWkg-1 with good cycling stability of 91% after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. Similarly, the cyclic voltammetry studies of the flexible devices at various bending angles display a similar CV profile for all the bending angles, which confirms the device’s reliability for flexible applications.

Explanation of the research

BP-PANI hybrid materials were prepared by the in-situ chemical oxidation method. By this approach, the researchers got highly stable BP by an inorganic-organic linkage, and its energy storage performance was also investigated. The fabricated symmetric flexible supercapacitor device based on BP/PANI heterostructure exhibited an extraordinary specific capacitance of 969 mFcm-2 at a current density of 0.4 Acm-2. Moreover, the fabricated device showed a high energy density of 21.5 mWhkg-1 and a power density of 231 mWkg-1 with impressive cycle stability of 91% after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. This study paves the way for future research into gram-scale BP synthesis, stability via an inorganic-organic coupling, and its potential application in electrochemical energy storage devices.

Social implications of the research

With the rapid growth of portable/flexible electronics and the high demand for clean energy, supercapacitors have sparked interest due to their advantages of fast charge/discharge rates, long cycle life, and high-power density compared to conventional energy-storage devices such as dielectric capacitors and Li-ion batteries. Likewise, developing new functional materials with outstanding properties could shed light on many issues, including pollution, energy, synthesis, and cost. In recent years few graphene analogues materials have been explored, and because of their tuneable physicochemical properties, they were used in energy storage applications. Generally, black phosphorus was synthesised from polymorphs of phosphorus under vigorous reaction conditions. However, these high temperature/pressure conditions suffer from safety, toxicity, controllability, and gram-scale production.

Quantum capacitance is an efficient tool for rapidly screening materials for supercapacitor applications and therefore is the future of this research. The researchers have collaborated with Mr Namsheer K, Mr Mridula Manoj, Mr Aditya Sharma, and Dr Chandra Sekhar Rout from the Functional Materials & Devices Laboratory, Centre for Nano Material Sciences, Jain University, Bangalore, India, in this work.

The Department of Physics is glad to announce that Dr Ranjit Thapa and his PhD scholar Mr Samadhan Kapse have published their research paper “Descriptors and graphical construction for in silico design of efficient and selective single-atom catalysts for eNRR” in the journal Chemical Science, having an Impact Factor of 9.969. The paper was published in collaboration with Prof Shobhana Narasimhan, Theoretical Sciences Unit and School of Advanced Materials, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. Chemical Science is a highly prestigious nature Index journal, which accepts only breakthrough research contributions for publication.

The Haber-Bosch process for ammonia synthesis has been described as possibly the most important scientific discovery of the twentieth century. However, it requires high temperatures and pressures and results in large energy consumption and emission of greenhouse gases. That is where electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) comes into the picture. It synthesizes ammonia from nitrogen and water under mild conditions (N2 + 6H+ + 6e- → 2NH3). However, currently available eNRR catalysts need improvement in three respects: (i) the efficiency of nitrogen fixation needs to be increased, (ii) the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) needs to be suppressed, and (iii) hydrogen poisoning of active sites must be avoided. Transition metals are popular eNRR catalysts; however, they tend to favour hydrogen adsorption due to the formation of strong metal d – hydrogen σ bonds, and tend to have a low affinity for N2 adsorption. Their research mitigates these problems by appropriately tuning the electronic structure by altering the environment surrounding metal atoms at the active site of single-atom catalysts (SACs). Moreover, in previous works, typically, only one criterion (usually competing HER) was used to optimize catalyst function, whereas they simultaneously optimised the catalyst function with respect to multiple criteria.

They have screened 66 different transition metal-based SACs for possible use in eNRR. To determine the best possible catalyst, they considered three factors: N2 adsorption, hydrogen poisoning and the overpotential of eNRR. Here, the valence electron occupancy (Oval) is identified as a new electronic descriptor that can predict the overpotential value. They emphasised that having a low η_NRR alone does not suffice to indicate a suitable eNRR catalyst, since if the adsorption free energy is higher for H than N2, active sites will be poisoned, hindering eNRR. Thus, they present a simple graphical procedure for identifying the most promising catalysts. To carry out this procedure, one must compute only 〖ΔG〗_(H^* ) and 〖ΔG〗_(NNH^* ), the changes in the free energies of H and NNH adsorption, respectively (note that η_NRR can be deduced if 〖ΔG〗_(NNH^* ) is known). The most promising candidate is identified as Sc-Pc, which they predict will have no H poisoning and will be highly selective for eNRR over HER. Moreover, they predict that Mn-Pc, Cr-N4, Fe-N2C2 should also be highly efficient, with low overpotential (η_NRR < 1 V) toward eNRR, and no H poisoning. In future they aim to find the selective materials for catalytic reactions by studying the origin of activity, reaction mechanism, etc.

Abstract of the Research

The electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (eNRR) offers the possibility of ammonia synthesis under mild conditions; however, it suffers from low yields, a competing hydrogen evolution reaction pathway, and hydrogen poisoning. We present a systematic approach toward screening single atom catalysts (SACs) for eNRR, by focusing on key parameters computed from density functional theory, and relationships between them. We illustrate this by application to 66 model catalysts of the types, TM-Pc, TM-NXCY, and TM-N3, where TM is a 3d transition metal or molybdenum. We identified the best SACs as Sc-Pc, Cr-N4, Mn-Pc, and Fe-N2C2; these show eNRR selectivity over HER and no hydrogen poisoning. The catalysts are identified through multi-parameter optimization which includes the condition of hydrogen poisoning. We propose a new electronic descriptor Oval, the valence electron occupancy of the metal center, that exhibits a volcano-type relationship with eNRR overpotential. Our multi-parameter optimization approach can be mapped onto a simple graphical construction to find the best catalyst for eNRR over HER and hydrogen poisoning.

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SRM University-AP formed a cluster with Acharya Nagarjuna University, KL University, Vignan University, and AIIMS Mangalagiri for the DST-SATHI initiative of the Ministry of Science and Technology. Sophisticated Analytical & Technical Help Institute (SATHI) aims to provide professionally managed services with efficiency, accessibility and transparency of the highest order under one roof to service the demands of industry, start-ups and academia. Dr P Siddaiah – Dean, Acharya Nagarjuna University; Dr Mukesh Tripathi, Director-AIIMS Mangalagiri; Dr G Pardha Saradhi Varma – Vice Chancellor, KL University; and Dr P Nagabhushan – Vice Chancellor, Vignan University; attended the meeting held at SRM University-AP campus on Monday.

SRM AP Vice-Chancellor Prof V S Rao invited the Vice-Chancellors of the respective universities to come forward for the formation of a cluster for the ‘SATHI’ programme. Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof D Narayana Rao did an elaborate presentation on DST projects. “The host institute, which is the lead partner in the cluster, will have to provide a functional space of 20,000 square yards, and SRM University-AP is suitable for this in every way”, Prof D Narayana Rao said. “The equipment worth Rs 75 crore to be provided through the SATHI programme will help in carrying out extensive research in all the five universities,” he added. The Vice-Chancellors and Directors of these 5 institutions have agreed to form the cluster and submit the proposal to the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Professors of SRM AP and representatives of respective universities also attended the meeting.

The Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering is delighted to announce that Assistant Professor Dr Anirban Ghosh and Research Scholar Mr Naga Srinivasarao Chilamkurthy have published their article titled “Low-Power Wide-Area Networks: A Broad Overview of its different aspects” in IEEE Access, a Q1 Journal, having an Impact Factor of 3.476. The work was published in collaboration with Dr Om Jee Pandey from the Indian Institute of Technology BHU, Dr Cenkeramaddi Linga Reddy from the University of Agder, and Dr Hong-Ning Dai from Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.

This is a survey article on Low-power Wide-area networks which provides a detailed description of LPWAN technologies in the context of IoT applications. In this survey article, they review and provide an overarching description of LPWAN in terms of design goals, techniques to improve design objectives, and system architecture. They have also evaluated several existing and non-standardized LPWAN technologies and the market opportunities of LPWAN. With the help of this article, the researchers can choose the best LPWAN technology for their specific applications.

The practical implementation of the article can be found in various social and commercial applications such as smart healthcare, intelligent transportation, climate-smart agriculture, rescue operations, logistics, smart cities, industries, utilities, smart buildings, consumer electronics, security, asset tracking, smart waste management systems, cognitive manufacturing, and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. Their future research plans include working on Wireless Sensor Networks, Low-Power Wide-Area Networks, Small-World Networks, and applying machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques in the context of wireless networks for cyber-physical systems and IoT applications.

Abstract of the Research

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) are gaining popularity in the research community due to their low power consumption, low cost, and wide geographical coverage. LPWAN technologies complement and outperform short-range and traditional cellular wireless technologies in a variety of applications, including smart city development, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, healthcare, intelligent transportation, industrial applications, climate-smart agriculture, and asset tracking. This review paper discusses the design objectives and the methodologies used by LPWAN to provide extensive coverage for low-power devices. We also explore how the presented LPWAN architecture employs various topologies such as star and mesh. We examine many current and emerging LPWAN technologies, as well as their system architectures and standards, and evaluate their ability to meet each design objective. In addition, the possible coexistence of LPWAN with other technologies, combining the best attributes to provide an optimum solution is also explored and reported in the current overview. Following that, a comparison of various LPWAN technologies is performed, and their market opportunities are also investigated. Furthermore, an analysis of various LPWAN use cases is performed, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks. This aids in the selection of the best LPWAN technology for various applications. Before concluding the work, the open research issues, and challenges in designing LPWAN are presented.

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Yet another moment of pride and honour for SRM University-AP as Dr Uma Maheswar Arepalli, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering in collaboration with Dr Ali Shirazi, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Maine, USA received a research project award from the Maine Department of Transportation, Maine, USA. The project titled “Comprehensive review of flexible pavement design approaches suitable to Maine conditions” received a total project outlay of $26,396 (Rs. 21.12 Lakhs).

This is the first of its kind project in India that receives funding directly from the foreign (United States) entity unlike the typical Department of Science & Technology (DST) International Bilateral Joint Project Schemes. This 8-month-long project will review the various existing flexible pavement design approaches in the USA and will provide recommendations to the Department of Transportation on a suitable design approach conducive to the conditions of Maine.

The outcome of the project will help the Department of Transportation to decide on a suitable pavement design approach that enhances the performance of pavements in Maine. The project engenders an opportunity for two under-graduate students of SRM University-AP to work as paid interns and receive international exposure in their prospective research areas. It also involves the scope for industry translatory research.

A theoretical investigation is highly important to investigate the properties of materials, the origin of selectivity, and the effect of various parameters in designing promising electrode materials for supercapacitor applications. The latest research paper by Mr Samadhan Kapse, PhD Student in the Department of Physics, and Prof Ranjit Thapa, Associate Dean of SEAMS (Sciences), envisions this and developed a novel VS2-BP hybrid electrode material. Their article titled All-solid-state Supercapacitor Based on Advanced 2D Vanadium disulfide/Black Phosphorus Hybrids for Wearable Electronics has been published in the journal ACS Applied Energy Materials with an impact factor of 6.959.

Abstract

Vanadium disulfide-Black Phosphorus (VS2-BP) hybrids were synthesised by a one-pot hydrothermal assisted method to achieve enhanced electrochemical activity for supercapacitor applications. The concentration of BP was optimised to prevent the restacking nature of VS2 and to enrich the active edges for electrolytic ion intercalation. The charge storage kinetics of the best-performing VS2-BP as an active electrode has demonstrated the dominance of the pseudocapacitive nature of the material. Further, by sandwiching with PVA/K2SO4 gel electrolyte, an all-solid-state (ASS) Vanadium disulfide/Black Phosphorus-50 mg (VS2-BP-50) symmetric device was developed on highly conductive carbon paper. The ASS VS2-BP-50 symmetric device displays the highest specific areal capacitance of 203.25 mF/cm2. It exhibits the maximum areal energy density of 28.22 µW h cm-2 at an areal power density of 596.09 mW cm-2, outperforming previous literature. We used density functional theory to understand the origin of high quantum capacitance. We found that the charge accumulation region between VS2 and BP monolayers and the charge transfer is the origin of the improved density of states in the VS2-BP hybrid. Also, we observed the higher mobility of K+ ion and a higher diffusion rate using the Density functional theory (DFT) method.

Explanation of the research

A novel VS2-BP hybrid electrode material was prepared using a simple hydrothermal approach. Due to a synergistic effect, it was discovered that adding BP to metallic VS2 enhances the number of electrochemically active sites, resulting in increased surface activity. It also accelerates reaction kinetics with electrolyte ions by improving the electrical behaviour of active electrode material. As a result, the hybrid technique overcomes the weaknesses of individual components during electrochemical processes, resulting in increased performance that has been limited by individuals. The BP nanosheets behaved as a pore region for electron transport and prevented the VS2 layers from re-stacking. Systematic experiments are conducted by selecting the ideal precursor ratios to generate a high-quality VS2-BP hybrid with enhanced electronic conductivity. Furthermore, in the overall collective charge storage of the VS2-BP-50 hybrid material, the present results demonstrated that capacitive contributions outnumber diffusive contributions. The ASS VS2-BP-50 symmetric supercapacitor device was also designed to have a high areal capacitance of 203.25 mF/cm2 with a maximum areal power density of 596.09 mW cm-2. The extraordinary performance of the ASS VS2-BP-50 symmetric device illustrates its versatility in terms of designing a high-power density ASS supercapacitor for flexible and wearable device applications. The work functions of BP, VS2, and VS2-BP are 0.73 eV, 5.37 eV, and 4.99 eV, respectively, which help in the charge transfer mechanism and increase the density of state at the Fermi level, and subsequently, the quantum capacitance of the heterostructure.

Collaborations

1. Mr Aditya Sharma, Centre for Nano and Material Sciences, Jain Global Campus, Jakkasandra, Ramanagaram, Bangalore – 562112, Karnataka, India

2. Mr Ankur, Centre for Nano and Material Sciences, Jain Global Campus, Jakkasandra, Ramanagaram, Bangalore – 562112, Karnataka, India

3. Mr Sagar Bisoyi, Department of Physics, School of Applied Sciences, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751024, Odisha, India.

4. Dr Gopal K. Pradhan, Department of Physics, School of Applied Sciences, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar-751024, Odisha, India.

5. Dr Chandra Sekhar Rout, Centre for Nano and Material Sciences, Jain Global Campus, Jakkasandra, Ramanagaram, Bangalore – 562112, Karnataka, India

Social implications of the research

With the exponential development of portable/flexible electronics and the high demand for renewable energy, conventional energy-storage devices, such as supercapacitors, have attracted attention due to their benefits of fast charge/discharge rates, long cycle life, and high-power density. Similarly, developing novel functional materials with exceptional qualities could shed light on a plethora of challenges, including environmental pollution, energy crisis, etc. Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials, such as metallic 1T MoS2 single layers, SnSe2, MXenes, and black phosphorous (BP), have been intensively studied for supercapacitor applications. These materials benefit from efficient ion intercalation and electrosorption. The two-dimensional (2D) layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have recently piqued the scientific community’s curiosity.

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Publishing papers in Q1 journals is a remarkable accomplishment for research enthusiasts. Assistant Professor Dr Priyanka of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering published her latest research paper in the IEEE Access journal. The paper titled PRMS: Design and Development of Patients’ E-Healthcare Records Management System for Privacy Preservation in Third Party Cloud Platforms has an impact factor of 3.476. Kirtirajsinh Zala, Hiren Kumar Thakkar, Rajendrasinh Jadeja, Priyanka Singh, Ketan Kotecha, and Madhu Shukla co-authored the work with Dr Priyanka.

Abstract

In the digital era, personal data storage on public platforms is a significant cause of concern with severe security and privacy ramifications. This is true especially in e-health data management since patients’ health data must be managed following a slew of established standards. The Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) primarily provide computing and storage resources. However, data security in the cloud is still a major concern. To overcome e-healthcare records privacy issues in a third-party cloud, we designed a Patient’s E Healthcare Records Management System (PRMS) that focuses on latency and throughput. Moreover, the proposed PRMS system is compared with Blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger Fabric v0.6 and Etherium 1.5.8 against latency and throughput by adjusting the workload for each platform up to 10,000 transactions per second. The proposed PRMS is compared to the Secure and Robust Healthcare Based Blockchain (SRHB) approach using Yahoo Cloud Serving Benchmark (YCSB) and small bank datasets. The experimental results indicate that deploying PRMS on Amazon Web Services decreases System Execution Time (SET) and the Average Delay (AD) time by 2.4%, 8.33%, and 25.15%, 15.26%, respectively. Deploying PRMS on the Google Cloud Platform decreases System Execution Time (SET) and Average Delay (AD) by 2.27%, 2.4%, and 2.72%, 4.73% AD, respectively.

Assistant Professor Dr Ravi Kant Kumar of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering aspires to investigate and design the most effective face recognition system appropriate enough to recognise faces in various unconstraint environments. Recently, his patent application titled A Face Recognition System (Application number: 202241030009) got published. He collaborated with his BTech student Thota Venkata Saai Praneeth, for this project. Facial recognition systems have abundant applications in Face Identification, Automobile Security, Access Control, Immigration, Education, Retail, Healthcare, Image database investigations, Surveillance, and many more.

Abstract

A facial recognition system is used for matching a human face captured in an image or a video frame with a database of faces. The system generally authenticates users by measuring facial features from the stored images. The present disclosure relates to face recognition systems. The envisaged system comprises a repository comprising a set of facial images of a plurality of subjects, a set of threshold values, and a plurality of rules. The system further comprises an image capturing unit for capturing a plurality of images of a subject’s face. A segmentation unit divides each image into a plurality of frames. The system further comprises a classifier that receives the frames and classifies frames containing faces from frames containing non-faces from the other frames. The facial features of each frame are extracted by an extractor. An analyser receives the extracted facial features and computes eigenvector values of the facial features of the frame. A comparator compares the computed eigenvector values with threshold values using the comparison rules to identify the subject.

Explanation of the research

Conventional facial recognition systems are configured to identify the contours of a person’s image captured by a camera or in real-time and compare it with the stored image to identify the person. However, external factors such as position, light conditions, camera calibration, and unconstraint conditions, among others, affect the identification of the face of the subject. Hence, comparing the faces with the help of the contours is not reliable. The present disclosure envisages a face recognition system. The system comprises a repository, an image capturing unit, a segmentation unit, a classifier, an extractor, an analyser, and a comparator. The repository consists of a set of facial images of a plurality of subjects, wherein the images define the subject’s facial features in different facial poses. Each image is tagged with an identity, a threshold integral value, and threshold eigenvector values corresponding to the facial features. The repository further comprises a first set of deep learning rules for classifying frames of a captured image into frames containing faces and frames containing non-faces, a set of extraction rules for extracting facial features from the frames 20 containing faces, the second set of deep learning rules for extracting eigenvector values of facial features of the frames containing faces. The repository additionally comprises a set of comparison rules for comparing eigenvector values of the captured facial features with the stored threshold eigenvector values to identify a subject’s face in the captured image.

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The Department of Civil Engineering is delighted to announce that Dr Siddhant Dash has published a paper titled “Systematic bibliographic research on eutrophication-based ecological modelling of aquatic ecosystems through the lens of science mapping” in the journal “Ecological Modelling” having an Impact Factor of 3.512. This research was conducted in collaboration with Prof Ajay S Kalamdhad from IIT Guwahati.

This research is a systematic approach on reviewing the published literature on eutrophic-ecological models developed worldwide and the methods associated with them. This provides critical insights into the status of the research domain, thereby providing a direction for the practising and future researchers to undertake a research career in this domain. It offers a more comprehensive and holistic approach to the critical review of the published literature, providing a deeper understanding to the researchers regarding the existing practices of developing eutrophication-based ecological models and the prospects lying ahead. His future research plans include understanding carbon and nutrient dynamics within an aquatic ecosystem.

Abstract of the Research

When water bodies receive surplus nutrients, especially nitrates and phosphates, these nutrients stimulate excessive plant growth (eutrophication), including harmful algal blooms, leading to oxygen depletion, decreased biodiversity, changes in species composition and dominance, and degradation of water quality. Although there are natural causes, much of the eutrophication today results from inadequately treated wastewater and agricultural runoffs. Population pressure, urbanization and industrialization contribute a considerable amount of waste, which alters the physio-chemical quality of water that eventually upsets the biotic components of the aquatic system. It is important to note that though pollution has been a significant factor in degrading the quality of aquatic ecosystems, the lack of management and global awareness regarding the protection and conservation of water bodies worldwide cannot be neglected. Hence, there lies an inherent sense of responsibility to restore the aquatic ecosystems to their natural state. Numerous techniques/treatment options are available for varying conditions, such as climatic factors, socio-economic factors, and so on. However, before ascertaining a treatment alternative to curb eutrophication levels, understanding the dynamics of any independent aquatic ecosystem is of prime importance. This necessitates a reliable model, which can provide information regarding the physical processes and dynamic occurrences in the eutrophic water bodies. Ecological modelling refers to the formation of dynamic and complex relationships between the organisms found in the ecosystem and the surrounding. It attempts to unravel the effects of certain relationships in the ecosystem that are not so apparent at first glance. The present study provides a scientific investigation of a detailed review of the published works in the domain of eutrophication-based ecological modelling till the year 2020. The first step was the scientometric studies, which were followed by a qualitative assessment wherein the current trends in research were discussed. This was followed by identifying the critical gaps in research to provide future direction.

Fig. 1. Ecological modelling process

Fig. 2. Description of the three-step literature review process employed in this research

The different dimensions of sustainable waste management have always been explored by researchers all over the world. Assistant Professor Dr Pankaj Pathak, Department of Environmental Science, has been actively involved in this research area for a while. Her paper titled Dual role of grass clippings as buffering agent and biomass during anaerobic co digestion with food waste is published in the journal Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy with an impact factor 4.7. Dr Pankaj Pathak co-authored the paper with Debkumar Chakraborty, Sankar Ganesh Palani, M M Ghangrekar, and N Anand.

Abstract

There is a dire need to replace the chemical buffers that regulate the redox environment in single-stage anaerobic digestion of food waste. Hence, the applicability of grass clippings as an eco-friendly buffering agent and biomass during the anaerobic co-digestion of food waste was explored. A focus was primarily given on the effects of grass clippings on the redox environment and acidogenesis. Concomitantly the production of volatile fatty acids, hydrogen, and methane in mesophilic conditions was monitored. Organic load and substrate-to-inoculum ratio were kept constant in all the experiments, and no chemical buffer was used. The results revealed that the redox environment was regulated with 10% grass clippings by inhibiting rapid pH drop in the digester. The addition of 2, 4, and 6% grass clippings promoted acidogenesis with increased production of acetic and butyric acids, whereas 8 and 10% grass clippings promoted solventogenesis with ethyl alcohol production. Hydrogen generation from the experiments with grass clippings was in the range of 27–30% of the total biogas, which was marginally higher than the control (25%). Methane concentration was negligible in the biogas generated from all experiments. The acidification rate, VFA production/consumption rate, specific hydrogen yield, hydrogen conversion efficiency, and volatile solids removal were maximum and minimum in the reactors with 6 and 10% grass clippings, respectively. From the above results, it can be concluded that adding grass clippings to food waste would regulate the sudden pH changes and enhance the production of value-added biochemicals, making the process cost-effective.