Professor
B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. (Sharif), Ph.D. (Toronto)
Chair, Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
Room: WB221 | Tel.: 416-978-1516 | Email: ramin.farnood@utoronto.ca
New Projects Available
- Photocatalytic conversion of biomass to value added chemicals
Currently accepting graduate students? Yes
- PhD & MASc
Memberships
American Chemical Society (ACS);
American Institute of Chemical Engineering (AIChE);
Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering;
Chemical Institute of Canada;
Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO)
Research Interests
Water Treatment
Many parts of the world are experiencing significant water shortage to meet their household, agricultural, industrial, and environmental needs. Addressing this global challenge requires innovative sustainable technologies for water treatment and reuse. The focus of our research is to develop advanced high-rate processes, including membrane separation, ultraviolet disinfection, and advanced oxidation, to remove chemical and microbial pollutants from contaminated water for recycling and reuse applications as well as desalination processes.
Bio-products and Bioenergy
Valorization of biomass as a renewable, biodegradable, and recyclable raw material with a near-zero carbon footprint is the key towards a sustainable bio-economy. The focus of our research program is threefold: 1- advanced functional materials and value-added products from biomass, 2- energy from forest biomass as well as solid wastes, and 3- solar-to-chemical processes for biomass valorization.
Micro-structure Characterization
The focus of this research program is to develop experimental techniques and mathematical models to examine the structure of materials at microscale and investigate the relationship between structure and properties.
Recent Publications
Imbault, A., Farnood, R. Photocatalytic Production of Dihydroxyacetone from Glycerol on TiO2 in Acetonitrile. RSC Advances 2020, 10, 4956-4968
Moslehyani, A., Farnood, R., Tabe, S., Matsuura, T., Isamil, A.F. Novel Nanocomposite HNT-TiO2/PVDF Adsorptive Nanofiber Membranes for Arsenic (III) Removal. Journal of Membrane Science & Research. 2020, 6 (4), 416-423
Rangarajan, G., Yan, N., Farnood, R. High-performance photocatalysts for the selective oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering. 2020, 98, 2259–2293
Syed Ibrahim, G.P., Isloor. A.M., Inamuddin, Asiri, A.M., and Farnood, R. Tuning the surface properties of Fe3O4 by zwitterionic sulfobetaine: Application to antifouling and dye removal membrane, International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. 2020, 17(9), 4047-4060
Parsaee, S., Mirabedini, S.M., Farnood, R., Alizadegan, F. Development of self-healing coatings based on urea-formaldehyde/polyurethane microcapsules containing epoxy resin. Journal of Applied Polymer Science 2020, 137 (41), 49663.
Soberman, M., Table, S., Farnood, R., Functionalized Powdered Activated Carbon Electrospun Nanofiber Membranes for Adsorption of Micropollutant. Separation and Purification Technologies. 2020, 253 (15), 117461
Wang, S., Lyu, L., Farnood, R., Yan, N. Conversion of cotton cellulose to ZnO/Canodes for lithium ion batteries via a sustainable self-assembly process in a green solvent. Materials Today Sustainability. 2020, 9, 100038
Syed Ibrahim, G.P., Isloor, A.M., Ismail, A.F., Farnood R. One-step synthesis of zwitterionic graphene oxide nanohybrid: Application to polysulfone tight ultrafiltration hollow fiber membrane. Scientific Reports 2020, 10 (1), 6880
Imbault, A.L., Farnood, R. Selective Oxidation of Crude Glycerol to Dihydroxyacetone in a Biphasic Photoreactor. Catalysts 2020, 10 (4), 360, 1-12
Salehizadeh, H., Yan, N., Farnood, R., Recent advances in microbial CO2 fixation and conversion to value-added products. Chemical Engineering Journal 2020, 390, 124584
Kumar, M., Isloor, A.M., Rao, S.T., Ismail A.F., and Farnood, R. Effective removal of arsenic from aqueous body using Zirconium oxide containing polyphenylsulfone/ cellulose acetate based hollow fiber membranes. Chemical Engineering Journal 2020, 393, 124367
Amerian, T., Farnood, R., Sarathy, S., Santoro, D. Effects of TSS Concentration, Particle Size Fractions and Effluent Temperature on the Kinetics of Peracetic Acid Decomposition ion Municipal Wastewater. Water Science and Technology. 2020, 80, 2299-2309.
Mirabedini, S.M., Farnood, R.R., Esfandeh, M., Zareanshahraki, F., Rajabi, P. Nanocomposite coatings comprising APS-treated linseed oil-embedded polyurea-formaldehyde microcapsules and nanoclay, part 2: Self-healing and corrosion resistance properties. Progress in Organic Coatings 2020, 142, 105592
JSoberman, M.J., Farnood, R., Tabe, S. A Low Pressure SWCNT-ENM Sandwich Membrane System for the Removal of PPCPs from Water. Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering. Can J Chem Eng. 2020, 98, 1047–1058
JZhang, C.-W., Nair, S.S., Chen, H.-Y., Yan, N., Farnood, R., and Lia, F.-Y. Thermally stable, enhanced water barrier, high strength thermoplastic starch bio-composite reinforced with lignin containing cellulose nanofibrils. Carbohydrate Polymers 2020, 230, 115626