Ejaz Ahmed

• Professor at University of the Punjab

This study aims to explore the potential of citrus waste for valuable products. A special pyrolysis chamber was used to produce bio-oil through thermo-catalytic pyrolysis of sweet lemon (Citrus limetta) waste with a zeolite β, ammonium catalyst. The kinetic parameters were derived from thermogravimetric data using the Kissinger equation. The activa...

Abstract. Withania coagulans Dunal is a significant medicinal plant as its fruit is used to treat numerous ailments. In this study, volatile oil of fruit of Withania coagulans was extracted by microwave associated hydro-distillation and analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry that resulted in the successful identification of 40 constituent...

In the field of materials science, dynamic molecular crystals have attracted significant attention as a novel class of energy-transducing materials. However, their development into becoming fully functional actuators remains somewhat limited. This study focuses on one family of dynamic crystalline materials and delves into exploring the efficiency...

In this study, a facile methodology was designed to encapsulate Bamboosa vulgaris culms derived activated biochar (BVC) in a variable mass ratio, into a three-dimensional hierarchical porous and permeable and amino-thiocarbamated alginate (TSC) to prepare hybrid biosorbents (BVC-MSA). These ultralight and lyophilized phosphate rich macroporous sorb...

Numerous harmful phenolic contaminants are discharged into water that pose a serious threat to environment where two of the most important purification methodologies for the mitigation of phenolic contaminants are adsorption and photocatalysis. Besides cost, each process has drawbacks in terms of productivity, environmental impact, sludge creation,...

Terminalia arjuna is an evergreen medicinal plant that belongs to the Combretaceae family of flowering plants. The bark of the plant exhibits antiviral, anticancer, hypocholesterolemic, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. In this study, composition antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of bark oil of Terminalia Arjuna...

A simplified synthetic approach involving sulfonylation followed by amino group alkylation produced new 2-aminothiazole derivatives. UV/Vis, infrared, and NMR spectroscopies confirmed their structures. Compounds 36, 22, 34, and 35 showed strong inhibition against Jack bean and Bacillus Pasteurii urease, with IC50 values from 14.06 to 20.21 μM/mL. C...

The current study involves the preparation of surface-active and templated biocarbon from Pluronic F-127 doped sucrose (DSC) through furnace-based pyrolysis at 550 °C while its tungsten oxide-based composites (DSC/WO3) were prepared via hydrothermal reactions. These novel DSC/WO3 materials were tested for their potential applications in competitive...

Lignocellulosic biomass is a complex natural polymer that mainly consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and other additional chemical components. The cellulose in the lignocellulosic biomass can depolymerize into a nano-dimension biomaterial called nanocellulose, which possesses unique features with potential application in various fields. N...

The use of green nanomaterials in chromatographic techniques is currently gaining a lot of momentum in this era owing to their remarkable physiochemical and optical properties. Nanomaterials provides a great deal of promise for creating innovative ma- terials that perform exceptionally well in chromatography. The use of green nanoma- terials is of...

Strategies for sensing toxic gases have garnered significant attention for environmental monitoring and air pollution control. In this study, we investigated the adsorption behavior of hazardous gases (H2S, SO2, SO3,...

The growing freshwater scarcity has caused increased use of membrane desalination of seawater as a relatively sustainable technology that promises to provide long-term solution for the increasingly water-stressed world. However, the currently used membranes for desalination on an industrial scale are inevitably prone to fouling that results in decr...

Albizia kalkora (Roxburgh) Prain is a promising source of bioactive phytochemicals. In the present study, two new triterpenoidal glycosides were isolated from A. kalkora and their fungicidal effect was assessed against a highly problematic plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici (FOL) causing wilt in tomato crop. The new trite...

Ni (II) Cu (II) Sorption

In this study, an innovative approach is followed to synthesize graft copolymerized chitosan with acetylacetone (AA-g-CS) through free-radical induced grafting. Afterwards, AA-g-CS and rutile have been intercalated uniformly into amino carbamate alginate matrix to prepare its biocomposite hydrogel beads of improved mechanical strength having differ...

Synthesis of a biocomposite based on N-maleated chitosan immobilized in amino-carbamated alginate matrix (NMC-PSC) was carried out. Facile chemical modifications of sodium alginate and chitosan were executed using maleic anhydride and 4-phenylsemicarbazide as chemical modifiers, respectively. NMC-PSC hydrogel beads were employed for Cu(II) biosorpt...

Medicinal plants have been used from centuries for human’s benefit. Due to immense importance of medicinal plants in human’s life this research project was designed to investigate the antibacterial activity of aqueous extracts from roots of eleven plants selected from flora of Pakistan. Experimental evidence showed that water extracts of all the ro...

Following a well-established practice of publishing commentaries to articles of other authors who work on materials that were earlier studied by them (n.b. six published comments[1-6]), Marek Szafra\'nski(MS) and Andrzej Katrusiak (AK) have filed on the preprint server arXiv a manuscript entitled "On the giant deformation and ferroelectricity of gu...

This research project was designed to explore the biologically active constituents from Nerium oleander. A new steroid was isolated and purified from chloroform soluble fraction of N. oleander. It was characterized using state of the art spectroscopic techniques including 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry. The isolated compound 1 was identified a...

One of the typical haptic elements are natural hairy structures that animals and plants rely on for feedback. Although these hair sensors are an admirable inspiration, the development of active flow sensing components having low elastic moduli and high aspect ratios remains a challenge. Here, we report a new sensing approach based on a flexible, th...

Hypericum oblongifolium is a potent source of bioactive constituents. A series of pharmacological properties, ranging from wound healing and antiseptic to antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, ethanol intake inhibition, and apoptosis-inducing activities have been associated with this plant. The current research project was designed to investiga...

One of the typical haptic elements are natural hairy structures that animals and plants rely on for feedback. Although these hair sensors are an admirable inspiration, the development of active flow sensing components having low elastic moduli and high aspect ratios remains a challenge. Here, we report a new sensing approach based on a flexible thi...

Medicinal herbs are promising source of biologically active phytochemicals, many of which possess antifungal activities against phytopathogens. This research presents in vitro antifungal activity and analysis of a medicinally important herb Centaurium erythraea Rafn extracts against a highly problematic pathogen of tomato namely Fusarium oxysporum...

In the present study, an azo dye 4-hydroxyazobenzene was synthesized and its antifungal activity against a notorious soil-borne plant pathogen Macrophomina phaseolina was evaluated. The 4-hydroxyazobenzene was synthesized by azo coupling reaction between aniline diazonium salt and activated phenol. The azo coupling preferably occurred at para posit...

Datura metel is a weed of family Solanaceae. In the present study, dried and powdered fruits of this medicinal plant species were extracted in methanol for two weeks. After evaporating the solvent, the remaining gummy extract was mixed in water and fractionated using n-hexane to separate the non-polar fraction. The remaining aqueous phase was parti...

This work describes the use of copper-cobalt doped molecular sieve (Co-Cu/MS) for decomposition of polypropylene via thermogravimetry and an indigenously made pyrolysis setup. Various kinetic models i.e., Ozawa Flynn Wall (OFW), Coats-Redfern (CR) and Tang Wanjun (TW) were employed for calculating kinetics parameters of the decomposition process. T...

Dynamic organic crystals are rapidly gaining traction as a new class of smart materials for energy conversion, however, they are only capable of very small strokes (<12%) and most of them operate through energetically cost-prohibitive processes at high temperatures. We report on the exceptional performance of an organic actuating material with exce...

To address the growing demand for competent photovoltaic materials, the electronic structure, and optoelectronic properties of eight molecules X1 (thieno[3,2‐b]thiophene), X2 (5,5′‐bithiazole), X3 (2,2′‐bithiophene), X4 (furan), X5 (1H‐pyrrole), X6 (furo[3,2‐b]furan), X7 (5‐(1H‐imidazol‐5‐yl)oxazole), X8 (3H,3′H‐4,4′‐biimidazole) designed via π‐spa...

The present study is based on the synthesis of a novel hybrid biosorbent using 1,2-cyclohexylenedinitrilotetraacetic acid modified crosslinked chitosan and amino-thiocarbamate moiety functionalized sodium alginate (CDTA-CS/TSC-CA). The fabricated sorbent was employed to investigate the efficient recovery of Cu(II) from aqueous media. CDTA-CS/TSC-CA...

Martensitic transformations are well documented in metals and alloys where the atoms connected via metallic bonds rearrange concertedly and rapidly; however, due to the metal atoms, these materials are inherently very dense and add significant weight and bulkiness to actuating devices. Here, remarkably rapid lattice switching of molecular martensit...

In this study, chemical modification of chitosan has been carried out using epichlorohydrin as crosslinking agent and ethyl acetoacetate as a modifier to graft acetoacetyl moiety. The said organo-functionalization on chitosan and sodium alginate not only offered a novel support for TiO2 immobilization but also enhanced sorption performance for Ni(I...

The gas sensing applications of nanocages find intense attention in environmental monitoring. In this research, the adsorption of nitrogen and sulfur-containing gaseous molecules i.e., N2O, NO2, NO, H2S, SO2, and SO3 on inorganic oxide nanocages are analyzed through DFT simulations. The adsorption of gaseous molecules with Be12O12, Mg12O12, and Ca1...

Organic crystals, although widely studied, have not been considered nascent candidate materials in engineering design. Here we summarize the mechanical properties of organic crystals that have been reported over the past three decades, and we establish a global mechanical property profile that can be used to predict and identify mechanically robust...

The toxic gas sensing applications find immense attention in environmental monitoring. In this research, the adsorption of nitrogen and sulfur-containing gaseous molecules i.e., N2O, NO2, H2S, SO2 and SO3 on organic aza-macrocyclic hexaazabipyH2 (HA) is analyzed through DFT simulations. The interactions of toxin analytes with HA are expressed throu...

This study is based on the synthesis of 4-phenylazo-1-naphthol (C16H12N2O) as an azo coupled dye through a coupling reaction of phenyl diazonium salt and α-naphthol in ice-cold chilled water. Azo coupling involved an electrophilic substitution reaction of phenyl diazonium cation with α-naphtholate ion, the coupling partner. The 4-phenylazo-1-naphth...

Many azo compounds are known for their antifungal property. In the present study, synthesis of 1-phenylazo-2-naphthol (C16H12N2O) was carried out as an azo coupled dye through coupling reaction of phenyl diazonium salt and β-naphthol in ice-cold chilled water. The azo coupling preferably occurs at ortho position of the same ring since the charge de...

Organic crystals, although widely studied, have not been considered nascent candidate materials in the engineering design. Here we summarize the reported mechanical properties of organic crystals reported over the past three decades, and we establish a global mechanical property profile that can be used to predict and identify mechanically robust o...

We report the first organic semiconductor crystal with a unique combination of properties that can be used as a multifunctional optoelectronic device. Mechanically flexible single crystals of 9,10‐bis(phenylethynyl)anthracene (BPEA) can function as a phototransistor, photoswitch, and an optical waveguide. The material can exist as two structurally...

In this study, organo-funtionalization of sodium-alginate has been carried out using phenylsemicarbazide as modifier to graft N, O-donor atoms containing functional groups (amino-carbamate moieties) to offer novel support for TiO2 immobilization. Hybrid composite made of aminocarbamated alginate, carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) and titanium oxide TiO2...

While organic polymers are available as low-weight, affordable, flexible and available semiconductors, organic crystals remain relatively unexplored for the same purpose. Here, we report the first organic semiconductor crystal with a unique combination of properties and can be used as a multifunctional optoelectronic device. We demonstrate that mec...

Vegetables are significant edible crops, and human beings are dependent upon them as a diet for their survival, and uptake of metals through vegetable roots can be piled up at higher levels in their comestible parts which can cause harmful effects upon human health. The present study aimed to determine the composition of essential (Mn, Fe, Cu, and...

Acrylamide and N-isopropylacrylamide were copolymerized in the presence of a N,N-methylenebisacrylamide crosslinker to obtain poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) [P(NA)] polymer colloidal particles. Pd nano crystals with diameter of 4–8 nm were loaded into the [P(NA)] microgels by reduction of [PdCl4]⁻² within dispersion of polymer microgels....

Organic crystals are emerging as mechanically compliant, light-weight and chemically versatile alternatives to the commonly used silica and polymer waveguides. However, the previously reported organic crystals were shown to be able to transmit visible light, whereas actual implementation in telecommunication devices requires transparency in the nea...

Significance Over recent years, the increased reporting on mechanically responsive molecular crystals has accumulated an extensive library of organic crystalline materials with diverse nature-like energy-transduction mechanisms. While the chemistry behind the underlying molecular transformations is elaborate, these single crystals' work-producing c...

A series of novel 1,2-benzothiazine based quaternary ammonium salts were successfully prepared through different organic transformations. Products of all transformations and final salts were separated out and purified. The product yields were good to excellent for all transformations. Resultant 1,2-benzothiazine based cationic amphiphilic systems w...

The anticipated shift in focal point of interest of solid-state chemists, crystal engineers and crystallographers from structure to properties to function of organic solids parallels the need to apply our accumulated understanding of the intricacies of crystal structure to explaining the related properties, with the ultimate goal of harnessing that...

Flexible organic single crystals are evolving as new materials for optical waveguides that can be used for transfer of information in organic optoelectronic microcircuits. Integration in microelectronics of such crystalline waveguides requires downsizing and precise spatial control over their shape and size at the microscale, however that currently...

Melting of any pure crystalline material at constant pressure is one of its most fundamental properties, and it has been used to identify organic compounds or to verify their chemical or phase purity since the early times of chemistry. Here, we report that a mechanical deformation of plastic organic single crystals such as bending results in a smal...

Conversion of nitroaniline (NA), a highly toxic pollutant that has been released into aquatic systems due to unmanaged industrial development in recent years, into the less harmful or a useful counterpart is the need of the hour. Various methods for its conversion and removal have been explored. Owing to its nominal features of advanced effectivene...

Flexible organic single crystals are evolving as new materials for optical waveguides that can be used for transfer of information in organic optoelectronic microcircuits. Integration in microelectronics of such crystalline waveguides requires downsizing and precise spatial control over their shape and size at the microscale, however that currently...

In the current study, cellulose was extracted from the plant dunchi fiber by using an ecofriendly method followed by preparation of nanocellulose. The procedure involved an alkali treatment and chlorine-free bleaching for removal of lignin and hemicelluloses from material. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy provided the evidence about r...

In the present study, a novel biosorbent clay composite, based on carboxymethyl-chitosan/sodium alginate grafted with amino-carbamate moiety/bentonite clay (CA-CMC/Bt) was prepared. The produced sorbent was conditioned in the form of hydrogel beads by ionotropic gelation with Ca(II) ions, and thoroughly characterized using FTIR, XRF, XRD, SEM and z...

The present work is focused on pyrolysis of polystyrene waste for production of combustible hydrocarbons. The experiments were performed in an indigenously made furnace in the presence of a laboratory synthesised copper oxide. The pyrolysis products were collected and characterised. The Fourier transform infrared spectra showed that the liquid frac...

A novel hybrid biocomposite based on amino-thiocarbamate derivative of alginate, carboxymethyl chitosan and TiO2 (TiO2/TSC-CMC) was fabricated and characterized using Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The TiO2/TSC-CMC mass ratio (5.0–30.0%) was optimize...

This study focuses on the synthesis of iron molybdate [Fe 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 ] nanoparticles (NPs) using simple co-precipitation process. The catalyst synthesized was characterized by advanced instrumental techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDX, TGA and FTIR, which confirmed the successful synthesis of NPs. Organic compound Rhodamine B (Rh. B) dye was selected...

In present study, pure and amino-carbamate moiety grafted calcium alginate hydrogel beads (CA, PSC-CA) were prepared for their biosorption performance in the recovery of silver ions. The produced sorbents were characterized using FTIR, SEM, EDX and TGA. FTIR and SEM-EDX confirmed the successful modification and loading of silver ions into hydrogel...

Benzocaine has been well-known for its role as anesthetic agent and largely used in oral ulcers, ear pain and dental complications. Along with lidocaine and other local anesthetics, benzocaine has marked its part as an anesthetic in surgical procedures and as Na+ channels blocker, as well. Analogues of benzocaine have been found to possess biologic...

The versatility in mechanical properties and the capability of optical waveguiding of molecular crystals has attracted research on the potential application of these materials in optomechanical transduction. Here, we demonstrate spatial photocontrol over the optical output from slender single crystals of an azo compound, 3′,4′-dimethyl-4-(dimethyla...

Trioxacarcins are intricate and polyoxygenated natural products with exceptional anti-malarial and antineoplastic flair. Trioxacarcins are extracted disclosing six of their types, namely, trioxacarcin A, B, C, D, E and F. Much valuable work has been executed in the line of synthesis of trioxacarcins and their derivatives keeping brevity of steps an...

Molecular crystals can be bent elastically by expansion or plastically by delamination into slabs that glide along slip planes. Here we report that upon bending, terephthalic acid crystals can undergo a mechanically induced phase transition without delamination and their overall crystal integrity is retained. Such plastically bent crystals act as b...

The quinolinyl chalcones series (A1–A14) were screened for antimalarial activity. According to in vitro antimalarial studies, many quinolinyl chalcones are potentially active against CQ-sensitive and resistance P. falciparum strains with no toxicity against Vero cell lines. The most active quinolinyl chalcones A4 (with IC50 0.031 μM) made a stable...

Acrylamide based microgels have gained a lot of attention in the last three decades due to their potential applications in various fields based on their responsive behavior and chemical stability. In this article, the synthesis, properties, and applications of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) [P(NIPAM-Am)] microgels and P(NIPAM-Am) microge...

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylamide) (PNA-BIS-2) microgels were synthesized by free radical precipitation polymerization in aqueous medium. Spherical Ag nanoparticles with diameter of 10-20 nm were fabricated inside the PNA-BIS-2 microgels by in-situ reduction of silver nitrate using sodium borohydride as reducing agent. The Ag nanoparticles-...

Chemiluminescence, a process of transduction of energy stored within chemical bonds of ground-state reactants into light via high-energy excited intermediates, is known in solution, but has remained undetected in macroscopic crystalline solids. By detecting thermally induced chemiluminescence from centimeter-size crystals of an organic peroxide her...

Water contamination is a worldwide critical issue for the present society to avoid competition and maintain an environmentally friendly scenario. Removal of various pollutants including inorganic and organic compounds from water is a big challenge nowadays. Worldwide attention to promote polluted water and technologies related to its treatment has...

Salvadoramide (1) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the whole plant of Salvadora oleoides. The structure, (2R)-2-hydroxy-N-[(2S, 3S, 4R, 5E, 7E)-1, 3, 4-trihydroxy-5, 7-tetra decdiene-2-yl] tetradecanamide), was established by the use of sophisticated modern spectroscopic techniques (1D and 2D-NMR, EIMS, HREIMS, UV and I...

Two new monocyclic naphthene derivatives (1and 2) along with seven known compounds for the first time from the chloroform soluble fraction of the Tamarix indica. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of modern sophisticated, EIMS, HREIMS, 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques. The known compounds were recognized as...

Salvadoramide (1) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the whole plant of Salvadora oleoides. The structure, (2R)-2-hydroxy-N-[(2S, 3S, 4R, 5E, 7E)-1, 3, 4-trihydroxy-5, 7-tetra decdiene-2-yl] tetradecanamide), was established by the use of sophisticated modern spectroscopic techniques (1D and 2D-NMR, EIMS, HREIMS, UV and I...