UPM Ashik M.Phil., Ph.D.

Aiming to have a CO2 controlled greener era

U.P.M. Ashik is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Hayashi Laboratory, Kyushu University, Japan. He holds a doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering from  University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has received a Master of Philosophy degree in Nanoscience and nanotechnology from International and Inter University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India. He also hold another master degree in Physical Chemistry from School of Chemical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India. 

His current research interests is the development of stable and activenanocatalysts for dry reforming of methane to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide. He has 7 years of research experience in the fields such as, catalysis, nanomaterial synthesis, hydrogen production, nanocarbon synthesis, development of polymer nanocomposite for Li-ion battery application, and theoretical chemistry.

Doctoral Research Summary

Nanoparticle formation from their respective precursors through bottom-up method is a very fascinating practice in nanotechnology. The research focuses two promising bottom-up methods:

i) controlled precipitation of Ni, Fe, and Co nanoparticles and reinforcement with silicate through modified Stöber method and

ii) chemical vapor deposition of nanocarbon from methane.

The experimental results reveal that metal oxide particles were formed as single-crystal nanoparticles after silicate addition and exhibited catalytic activity enhancing features, such as low particle size and high surface area and porosity. 

Nanocatalysts produced by co-precipitation cum modified Stöber method was used to generate nanocarbon and hydrogen from methane through chemical vapor deposition, which is another bottom-up approach for nanoconstruction. A significant number of studies focused on methane decomposition in the last few decades because nanocarbon and hydrogen are two important products in the field of environmentally benign energy and nanotechnology.