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Continuous-mode SandX Rector Automation

Project

Project Details

Program
Environmental Science and Engineering
Field of Study
Engineering
Division
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Faculty Lab Link
https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/study/faculty/himanshu-mishra
Center Affiliation
Water Desalination and Reuse Center

Project Description

SandX is a nature-inspired super-water-repellent material comprised of common sand grains coated with paraffin wax in a 1:1000 mass ratio. When applied as a 1 cm-thick layer on the topsoil, SandX can dramatically reduce (~80%) the evaporative loss of water and increase biomass growth and crop yields by up to 70%. SandX’s efficacy to boost crop yields has been established via multi-year field trials on barley, wheat, tomato, green pepper, onions, and okra (Please refer to https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsagscitech.1c00148). After about 9 months of its application, SandX degrades into Sand and becomes a part of the soil. We have conducted soil microbiome analysis and found that it has no adverse impact on soil microbial diversity. Currently, we are automating our pilot-scale continuous reactor for manufacturing SandX, which we are seeking an intern for assistance. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in automation, reactor engineering, control systems, sensors, software, data logging, etc.

About the Researcher

Himanshu Mishra
Associate Professor, Environmental Science and Engineering
Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division

Affiliations

Education Profile

  • Elings Prize Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California Santa Barbara, 2013-2014
  • Ph.D., California Institute of Technology, 2013M.S., Purdue University, 2007
  • B.E., Punjab Engineering College, 2005

Research Interests

Biomimetics Chemistries and electrification at water-hydrophobe interfacesSurface forces (hydrophobic interactions, DLVO, structural forces) Superhydrophobic sand mulches and soil amendments for arid land agriculture

Selected Publications

  • Das, R., Ahmad, A., Nauruzbayeva, Mishra, H.*, ""Biomimetic Coating-free Superomniphobicity"" (accepted, Scientific Reports, #2e02d35e-86bd-44e6-b70c-34c82bc49123)
  • Mahadik, G. A., Hernandez Sanchez, J. F., Arunachalam, S., Gallo Jr., A., Farinha, A. S., Thoroddsen, S. T., Mishra, H.*, Duarte, C. M., ""Superhydrophobicity and Size Reduction Allowed Water Striders to Colonize the Ocean"" (accepted, Scientific Reports, SREP-19-11017)
  • Pillai, S., Santana, A., Das, R., Shrestha, B.R., Manalastas, E., Mishra, H*, ""A Molecular- to Macro-Scale Assessment of Direct Contact Membrane Distillation for Separating Organics from Water"" (accepted, Journal of Membrane Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2020.118140)
  • Gonzalez-Avila, S. R., Nguyen, D. M., Arunachalam, S., Domingues, E., Mishra, H.*, Ohl, C-D., ""Mitigating Cavitation Through a Biomimetic Gas-entrapping Microtextured Surfaces"", Science Advances, 2020, https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/13/eaax6192 (https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/13/eaax6192)
  • Shrestha, B. R., Pillai, S., Santana, A., Donaldson, Jr., S. H., Pascal, T. A., Mishra, H.*, ""Nuclear Quantum Effects in Hydrophobic Nanoconfinement"", Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2019, 10, 5530-5535 (Journal cover; Featured on Phys.org, Nanowerk.com, KAUST Discovery, etc.)
  • Gallo Jr., A., Farinha, A. S., Dinis, M., Emwas, A-H., Santana, A., Nielsen, S., Goddard III, W. A., Mishra, H.*, ""The Chemical Reactions in Electrosprays of Water Do Not Always Correspond to Those at the Pristine Air-Water Interface"", Chemical Science, 2019, 10, 2566-2577 (Journal Cover; featured on Phys.org, KAUST Discovery, etc.)
  • Domingues, E. M., Arunachalam, S., Nauruzbayeva, Mishra, H.*, ""Biomimetic Coating-free Surfaces for Long-term Entrapment of Air under Wetting Liquids"", Nature Communications, 2018, 9, Article Number: 3606. (Featured on Nature Chemistry Channel 'Behind the Paper', Phys.Org, and Eureka Alert)
  • Domingues, E. M., Arunachalam, S., Mishra, H.*, ""Doubly Reentrant Cavities Prevent Catastrophic Wetting Transitions on Intrinsically Wetting Surfaces"", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2017, 9, 21532-38 (Featured on Engineers Australia (https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/portal/news/micro-texture-inspired-nature-makes-surfaces-liquid-repellent) , EurekAlert! (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-07/kauo-npa073017.php) , Phys.org (https://phys.org/news/2017-07-nature-key-repelling-liquids.html) )

Desired Project Deliverables

1. assessment of off-the-shelf technologies 2. installation 3. testing, iteration, optimization 4. data collection and analysis 5. characterize SandX via contact angle goniometry 6. summarize findings in a report

Recommended Student Background

chemical engineering
reactor engineering
hardware
data logging and analysis
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