Research News

A scientific research paper has been published by Dr Lakhveer Singh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP.

“The Role of Conductive Nanoparticles in Anaerobic Digestion: Mechanism, Current Status, and Future Perspectives”, published in the Chemosphere Journal, discusses in detail the application of conductive nanoparticles to enhance the AD process efficiency and the interaction between microbes in anaerobic conditions for electron transfer with the help of CNPs. Application of a variety of conductive nanomaterials as an additive is discussed with their potential biogas production and treatment enhancement in the anaerobic digestion process. The Impact factor of the journal is 5.77.

Dr Singh is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery – Springer (I.F. 2.60) and a Guest Editor for Bioresource Technology Reports- Elsevier. His future research targets to reduce the component costs and test the proposed design using real waste streams, as well as continue to increase the reactor volume.

Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130601

“Compact Inertial Electrostatic Confinement D-D Fusion Neutron Generator” is an imbuing research paper co-authored and published by Dr Somesh Vinayak Tewari, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), SRM University – AP, in the scientific journal, Annals of Nuclear Energy.

This paper is part of an interdisciplinary work leveraging the areas of both electrical engineering and physics. Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) Systems are simple, compact and operate on high voltage discharge in Deuterium- Deuterium (D-D)/ Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) gases between concentric grids for neutron generation. Such systems find considerable applications in the detection of explosives and illicit materials, radiography, tomography, and neutron well logging. The IEC system cathode temperature is measured with a Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) during the measurement of neutrons from the system. FBG is optical fibre sensors that can be used for sensing temperature by recording the Bragg wavelength shift. The advantage of such measurements is that they can be used in environments such as electric arcs and plasmas, chemical and nuclear zones unaffected by electromagnetic fields such that the signals can be monitored remotely.

The production of neutron fluxes for the above-mentioned applications is through radioisotopes, accelerators, or nuclear reactors with the inherent nature of their complexity, hazards, and problem of residual radioactivity. Additionally, such systems require a considerable amount of shielding and Dr Tewari puts forth such factors that prompt further research in the area of the development of much simpler compact IEC systems.

The said research project has been carried out under the scheme of “Mentoring of Engineering Teacher by an INAE Fellow”, financially supported by the Indian National Academy of Engineering. The work goes forward in close collaboration with Pulsed Power & Electromagnetic Division, Beam Technology Development Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)-Vishakhapatnam.

The future projects of Dr Tewari involve working on simulations related to the compact IEC for study, analysis, optimization of different parameters of an IEC system and related experimentation in collaboration with BARC.

Dr Lakhveer Singh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science, SRM University-AP, sets forth advanced avenues of scientific research on maintaining high current densities which is a key challenge in scaling-up microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) reactors.

“Scaling-up Up-flow Microbial Electrolysis Cells with a Compact Electrode Configuration for Continuous Hydrogen Production”, published in the Bioresource Technology journal is about a novel 10 L microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) reactor with a total electrode surface area greater than 1 m2 was designed and evaluated for hydrogen production. Performances of the reactor suggest that the longitudinal structure with the parallel vertical orientation of the electrodes encouraged high fluid mixing and the sheet metal electrode frames provided distributed electrical connection. A high volumetric H2 production rate of 5.9 L/L/d was achieved at a volumetric current density of 970 A/m3 (34 A/m2). The Impact factor of the journal is 7.53.

Dr Singh encapsulates that the technology and the model to be developed can be used to formulate new designs and processing parameters for producing H2 from other types of feedstocks and/or using engineered microbes developed by other researchers, which could solve the fuel problem for modern society. This work has been done in collaboration with Prof. Hong Liu from Oregon State University (OSU), USA.

Dr Singh is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery – Springer (I.F. 2.60) and a Guest Editor for Bioresource Technology Reports- Elsevier. His future research targets to reduce the component costs and test the proposed design using real waste streams, as well as continue to increase the reactor volume.

Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125030

When the Covid-19 outbreak crippled the world, P Mohan Aditya, a 3rd-year Mechanical Engineering student from SRM University-AP, made an initiative of developing the highly useful face shield made from bio-degradable substances. He named it “Facial Shield 2.0”, as it was an improved version of the ordinary face shields. The innovative features added to it helped him to earn the copyright to his credit. On May 16, 2020, Aditya filed an application on the face shield design under the IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) with Indian Patent Office, located in Kolkata, India. In 2021, a copyright was granted for the” Face Shield for Humans” with a Design Application Number of 329364 – 001.

The face shield 2.0 serves as the outer defence to the mucous membranes (nose, eyes, and mouth) and comes with a transparent visor made of a thin layer of 175-micron reusable plastic and a highly durable headband made of 3-ply corrugated cardboard. The cardboard’s bursting strength is 16kg/sq.cm, which is quite durable yet lightweight. Due to the use of biodegradable materials, the price of a face shield is at an affordable cost of INR 15. The face shield 2.0, made with firm elastic, is adjustable and suitable for all head sizes for comfortable wear without hurting the head.

Shri Adimulapu Suresh, Hon’ble Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh and Sri Nandigama Suresh, Hon’ble MP, appreciated the student’s efforts in the Secretariat’s premises. Aditya received high accolades from the guests present on his first successful invention. They also distributed face shields among state police officers, paramedics and other frontline workers deployed in the containment areas.

In a conversation with P Mohan Aditya, he says, “With an increasing environmental degradation, we should move to the eco-friendly alternatives to develop products/services. Therefore, I thought to develop face shields from reusable plastic and cardboard, which are easily degradable. After discovering a shortage in the supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) globally, the idea struck my mind. Immediately I started researching on developing a piece of standard equipment to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. I am thankful to Mr Ravi, the attorney at SRM-AP, who supported me throughout the tough times by answering all doubts amidst challenging circumstances.”

Aditya’s invention turned out to be a successful project both for the University and the public. The leadership team of SRM University-AP – Dr P Sathyanarayanan, President, Prof V S Rao, Vice-Chancellor, and Prof D Narayana Rao, Pro-Vice-Chancellor expressed their happiness on Aditya’s success by congratulating him on developing the face shield and making use of eco-friendly technology.

Using the CAD software, Aditya designed the transparent visor of the face shield and fabricated the remaining headband with the CNC machine. The CAD model was used as the input to the CNC machine, Following the design, the CNC machine analysed and cut the cardboard and transparent sheet accordingly.

P Mohan Aditya’s another innovative design on “building block for bed” was applied for a copyright on 09-08-2020. The building block for bed is again an innovative work of making beds using reusable materials for COVID 19 patients. He and his team also successfully created an electric bicycle using a 24V 250Watt DC motor powered by a 12V and 12Ah battery as a team assignment. Aditya desires to be a successful engineer and creator of such inventions for the betterment of society.

Dr Satya Pramod Jammy, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, has received a total outlay of Rs. 38,61, 264/- from Department of Science and Technology (DST) Science and Engineering Research Board, Government of India, to work on the project titled “Wall effects in Shock wave boundary layer interactions”. Using the grant, state-of-the-art HPC computational facilities based on the exciting General Purpose Graphic Processing Units (GPGPU’s) will be set up to perform missiles and space vehicle research at SRM University AP. Understanding the fundamental physics of how these vehicles behave in challenging atmospheres will contribute a lot to the design of current and future space vehicles re-entering from space into earth and mars atmospheres. The project aims to develop methods that can capture high-resolution images (like a DSLR camera) of these flows using minimal computational resources.

Dr Jammy is an expert in multi-scale modelling of turbulent flows at high Mach numbers. He is also the lead developer of OpenSBLI, a free and open-source software (FOSS) distributed to the community for free. Dr Jammy and his group will focus on unravelling the concepts like engine unstart in SCRAMJETS, design of better aerodynamic control surfaces for re-entry.

Professor Ranjit Thapa, Head of the Department of Physics, has recently published a paper “Unveiling the Genesis of the High Catalytic Activity in Nickel Phthalocyanine for Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis” in the renowned Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Royal Society of Chemistry (Impact Factor: 11.301). The work has been done in collaboration with the Department of Industrial Chemistry & Applied Chemistry, Swami Vivekananda Research Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math, Howrah; Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; and Atomic & Molecular Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India.

The slow kinetics of N2 adsorption, splitting of the strong N≡N bond are the challenges for the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) process. In the electrocatalytic NRR process, the fast reaction kinetics of hydrogen evolution reaction is the greatest obstacle. To solve these challenges, the search for various types of catalysts is on a roll. Also, identifying active sites responsible for the origin of catalytic activity in transition metal phthalocyanine is difficult due to its complex structure. Herein, density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to identify the probable active sites of nickel phthalocyanine (NiPc) in NRR as well as the origin of catalytic activity, which is associated with d band centre and density of states (DOS) of Ni in NiPc. Accordingly, the NiPc nanorods (NRs) were synthesised by the solvothermal method on a large scale and the chemically prepared NiPc NRs exhibit the NH3 yield rate of about 85 μg h-1mgcat-1.

In 2019, the global production capacity of ammonia was 235 million metric tons which will increase to 290 million metric tons by 2030. This emphasis on ammonia is due to its application in broad and diverse fields, such as fertilisers, textiles, pharmaceutical, and carbon-free energy carriers. The Haber-Bosch process is used to synthesise ammonia (NH3) from N2 and H2 using Fe based catalyst. However, the process emits carbon dioxide (CO2) (1.5 tons of CO2/tons of NH3 production) and requires high pressure and temperature and consumes around 2% of the global energy supply. Electrocatalytic N2 fixation (N2 + 6H+ + 6e− → 2NH3) showed great potential due to the possible use of atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen derived from water through electrolysis and in mild conditions.

In their future endeavours, Prof Thapa and his research group will design different types of such single-atom catalyst (SAC) considering different metal atoms and their surrounding non-metals. Dr Thapa’s team necessitates addressing the above problem to fill the gap, which could be the energy equation, energy parameter and electronic descriptor, to help them predict the best SAC catalyst in the large catalyst space for eNRR over HER. The solution is much needed through density functional theory to understand the origin and design principle and lower the time for trials by experimentalists in the laboratory. Prof Thapa is working on energy equations that can predict the best catalyst for eNRR over HER. They defined four regions to find the SAC catalyst for eNRR over HER (1) catalyst for NRR with almost nil HER probability (ii) catalyst for NRR with low HER probability (iii) HER over NRR and (iv) NRR is possible but with H poisoning. Overall, the energy parameter and descriptor to find NRR over HER is a fundamental problem, and the database is a platform to be used by experimentalists and is the key idea.

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1TA00766A.

SRM University-AP inked an MOU with Titan Company Ltd (TATA group,) Bangalore, for the project “Developing novel gold alloys for contemporary Jewellery application”. Titan has sanctioned Rs. 29.6 lakhs for the execution of the project to Dr G S Vinod Kumar, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Principal Investigator of the project. Dr Vinod is well known for his research in precious metals such as gold and silver for making lightweight and high strength alloys that can be used in jewellery making.

The jewellery division of Titan Company Ltd (TANISHQ) will jointly work on this project by supplying Gold for lab-scale experiments. The Industrial scaling up trials of the technology will be carried out at Titan’s jewellery manufacturing plant at Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

This is the fourth project sanctioned by Titan Company Ltd to Dr G S Vinod Kumar and the second project in Gold. The first project “Hardening of 22Karat and 24Karat gold for lightweight and high strength jewellery application” was successfully completed in 2018 by Dr Vinod and his team. A joint patent between SRM and Titan Company Ltd has been filed and the jewellery produced from hard 22Karat gold is currently available in Titan showrooms under the brand-TANISHQ.

In the current pandemic situation, a pertinent question is an estimate of the time by which virus spread could be contained and normalcy would return. In this context,Prof.Narayana Rao, Pro Vice Chancellor, SRM University – AP initiated the study. Dr. Soumyajyoti Biswas of SRM University AP, along with 4 B.Tech Students have carried out an interesting study to predict the end time of COVID-19 spread in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The study employed Susceptible – Infected – Recovered (SIR) Model, making use of the information on the COVID-19 affected people and the recovered number of people, which the Government of AP makes it available through the control command center. SRM Team made use of this data, employed SIR Model and applied the methods of Machine Learning. Study reveals that by July 15th 2021, the rate of infection in AP will be below 100 per day.

With the assumption that the decay rate of infection is same as the growth rate, the model predicts that the number of infected people could be 10,000 (May 21), 15,000 (May 30), 1000 (June 14), 500 (June 23) and 100 (July 15)

The above report has been submitted to the Special Chief Secretary to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

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Prediction of End-Time of COVID-19 Spread in AP

Pavan Krishna and S Fahad Kamraan, guided by Dr Priyanka, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, successfully published a research paper titled “Stock market prediction using sentimental analysis” in the Scopus indexed “International Journal of Advanced Research Engineering and Technology (IJARET)” on March 2021. Being the students of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, both researchers have apt knowledge on the sentimental analysis commonly known as opinion mining or emotion AI led to the successful execution of the research project.

Sentimental analysis is used to help find patterns in textual data, to understand people’s emotions and sentiments in a much deeper and holistic way. It is used to find the polarity of the information and to classify it under different emotion/ sentiment radar all the way from sad to happy or too excited.

The key title takes a dig into a study involving a new method of predicting stocks by performing sentimental analysis on the financial data. A sentiment is analysed on the subjectivity and polarity index by classifying it into positive and negative news. Here, to predict the real-time stock price, sentiment analysis measures the polarity or subjectivity score, respectively.

“While pursuing my minor in Business Management, I gained Financial Literacy and eventually found an interest in the Stock Market & its behaviour. At the same time, we noticed how social media plays a crucial role in deciding stock prices. Fahad and I were so intrigued that we decided to take up a Project on Predicting Stock Market Prices based on Sentimental Analysis of statement – News & Tweets”, informed Pavan.

Fahad further acknowledged that the project was a big step for undergraduate students, and it could not have been possible without the guidance and motivation of Dr Priyanka, their mentor. “Dr Priyanka was the constant support and path-bearer for us as she showed immense faith until the goal is achieved”, said Fahad.

The duo was excited after receiving high praises and acclaims for their research project. They look forward to coming up with more research ideas that can benefit society.

Observing the ninth edition of University Distinguished Lecture Series, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, invited Prof Lakshmi Kantam Mannepalli, the Dr B P Godrej Distinguished Professor of Green Chemistry, Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, to address a captivating speech on “Design and Development of Homogeneous/Heterogeneous Catalysts for Sustainable Chemical Industry”. Prof D Narayana Rao, Pro Vice-chancellor, inaugurated the talk with a welcome speech. The ceremony was attended by Prof VS Rao, Vice-Chancellor SRMAP and Dr S Mannathan, Department of Chemistry. Prof D Narayana Rao expressed that “Industrial collaboration is very much necessary in the context of self-reliant India (Atma Nirbhar Bharat)”.

Advancing with Prof Lakshmi Kanam’s presentation, she added, “Global and Indian chemical industry estimate 5.1 trillion and 108.4 billion USD in 2021. Catalysis is a highly demanded technology for a sustainable society and drives innovation in many other fields. Achieving the high catalytic selectivity is the aim of catalysis science in 21 st century”.

She also stated in her presentation, “The catalysis of organic reactions by homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts remains a diversified field of scientific inquiry. It attracts a large group of scientists with specialities spanning synthetic organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, surface science, material science, reaction engineering and computational modelling”.

Noted personality in the field of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Prof Lakshmi Kantam holds esteemed titles of FNA, FTWAS, FNASc, FRSC. Her fields of expertise are Catalysis, Materials and Process Chemistry. Prof Lakshmi Kantam served as the Director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad. Prof. Lakshmi Kantam is Non-Executive Independent Director of Godavari Bio Refineries Ltd, Indo Amines Ltd, Vinati Organics Ltd and several others.