Dr. Faheem Hassan Akhtar is equipped with a BSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of the Punjab. He received his Ph.D. degree (2019) in Chemical Engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). During his stay at the Advanced Membranes and Porous Materials Center, KAUST, he developed membranes for energy-efficient separation of gases and vapors. Dr. Faheem’s work particularly caught international attention, and various companies invited him to present his findings in the US. He worked closely with the industrial partners, including Membrane Technology and Research, Inc. (MTR) CA, USA, Daimler AG, BMW, and Kraton at Houston. Dr. Faheem joined Water Desalination and Reuse Center (2019) as a Post-Doctorate Fellow.

Dr. Faheem’s research interests evolve around membrane technology and engineering. He is particularly interested in the applications of ultra-thin membranes and in the physics of penetrant induced transport of gases and vapors of polymer layers. He has pioneered membranes for water vapor removal and atmospheric water harvesting.

Before joining LUMS in 2021, Dr. Faheem has served in industry and as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at King Abdulaziz University. Dr. Faheem is the recipient of the KAUST Ph.D. fellowship Award and was nominated for the Patrick Maeres Award in the field of Membrane Science at Euromembrane Conference in Denmark, 2021.

Dr. Faheem leads the Laboratory of Advanced Membranes and Separations (LAMS) at LUMS. His group is engaged in developing high-performance membranes and adsorbents for applications in industrially important and energy-intensive separations, such as carbon capture, industrial wastewater treatment, nanofiltration, drinking water production, sensing applications, and atmospheric water harvesting. His research has been highlighted in Nature Middle East, Nature Reviews Chemistry, KAUST Discovery, and the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Quarterly magazines. Dr. Faheem’s research has been published in some top journals of the field, such as Advanced Energy Materials, Angewandte Chemie, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Journal of Membrane Science, Desalination, Water Research, and Macromolecules. He is also co-inventor of 6 patents that are provisionally granted. Dr. Faheem is on the editorial board of Journals including Membranes and is a fellow of the North American Membrane Society (NAMS), European Membrane Society (EMS), Membrane Society of Australia (MSA), and the Secretary of the Pakistan Membrane Society (PMS).

 

Title Publication Author Year
Innovative solid desiccant dehumidification using distributed microwaves Scientific Reports Ybyraiymkul D., Chen Q., Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., AlRowais R., Shahzad M.W., Ja M.K., Ng K.C., 2023
Task-specific polymeric membranes to achieve high gas-liquid mass transfer Chemosphere Khalid M.T., Anjum T., Khan A.L., Rehman F., Aslam M., Gilani M.A., Akhtar F.H., Lee M., Chang I.S., Yasin M., 2023
Upcycling Poly(ethylene terephthalate) by Fabricating Membranes for Desalination ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering Hussain S., Wadgama M.H., Khan A.L., Yasin M., Akhtar F.H., 2023
Corrigendum to ???A hybrid indirect evaporative cooling-mechanical vapor compression process for energy-efficient air conditioning??? [Energy Convers. Manage. 248 (2021) 114798] (Energy Conversion and Management (2021) 248, (S0196890421009742), (10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114798)) Energy Conversion and Management Chen Q., Ja M.K., Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Ng K.C., 2022
Adsorption Processes for Seawater Desalination Sustainable Separation Engineering: Materials, Techniques and Process Development Chen Q., Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., Ybyraiymkul D., Kumja M., Jamil M.A., Shahzad M.W., Ng K.C., 2022
A thermodynamic platform for evaluating the energy efficiency of combined power generation and desalination plants npj Clean Water Ng K.C., Burhan M., Chen Q., Ybyraiymkul D., Akhtar F.H., Kumja M., Field R.W., Shahzad M.W., 2021
A novel zero-liquid discharge desalination system based on the humidification-dehumidification process: A preliminary study Water Research Chen Q., Akhtar F.H., Burhan M., M K., Ng K.C., 2021
Author Correction: A thermodynamic platform for evaluating the energy efficiency of combined power generation and desalination plants (npj Clean Water, (2021), 4, 1, (25), 10.1038/s41545-021-00114-5) npj Clean Water Ng K.C., Burhan M., Chen Q., Ybyraiymkul D., Akhtar F.H., Kumja M., Field R.W., Shahzad M.W., 2021
A hybrid indirect evaporative cooling-mechanical vapor compression process for energy-efficient air conditioning Energy Conversion and Management Chen Q., Kum Ja M., Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Ng K.C., 2021
Defining sulfonation limits of poly(ether-ether-ketone) for energy-efficient dehumidification Journal of Materials Chemistry A Akhtar F.H., Abdulhamid M.A., Vovusha H., Ng K.C., Schwingenschlogl U., Szekely G., 2021
A decentralized water/electricity cogeneration system integrating concentrated photovoltaic/thermal collectors and vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation Energy Chen Q., Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., Ybyraiymkul D., Shahzad M.W., Li Y., Ng K.C., 2021
Innovative concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPV/T) system with combined hydrogen and MgO based storage International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Burhan M., Chen Q., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Akhtar F.H., Ng K.C., 2021
A zero liquid discharge system integrating multi-effect distillation and evaporative crystallization for desalination brine treatment Desalination Chen Q., Burhan M., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Akhtar F.H., Li Y., Ng K.C., 2021
A Universal Mathematical Methodology in Characterization of Materials for Tailored Design of Porous Surfaces Frontiers in Chemistry Burhan M., Akhtar F.H., Chen Q., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Ng K.C., 2021
Molecular engineering of high-performance nanofiltration membranes from intrinsically microporous poly(ether-ether-ketone) Journal of Materials Chemistry A Abdulhamid M.A., Park S.-H., Vovusha H., Akhtar F.H., Ng K.C., Schwingenschlogl U., Szekely G., 2020
NEXAR<sup>TM</sup>-coated hollow fibers for air dehumidification Journal of Membrane Science Upadhyaya L., Gebreyohannes A.Y., Akhtar F.H., Falca G., Musteata V., Mahalingam D.K., Almansoury R., Ng K.C., Nunes S.P., 2020
Simultaneous production of cooling and freshwater by an integrated indirect evaporative cooling and humidification-dehumidification desalination cycle Energy Conversion and Management Chen Q., Burhan M., Shahzad M.W., Ybyraiymkul D., Akhtar F.H., Ng K.C., 2020
Thermo-economic analysis and optimization of a vacuum multi-effect membrane distillation system Desalination Chen Q., Muhammad B., Akhtar F.H., Ybyraiymkul D., Muhammad W.S., Li Y., Ng K.C., 2020
Development of highly permeable and selective mixed matrix membranes based on Pebax??1657 and NOTT-300 for CO<inf>2</inf> capture Separation and Purification Technology Habib N., Shamair Z., Tara N., Nizami A.-S., Akhtar F.H., Ahmad N.M., Gilani M.A., Bilad M.R., Khan A.L., 2020
Scalable Synthesis of Amphiphilic Copolymers for CO<inf>2</inf>- And Water-Selective Membranes: Effect of Copolymer Composition and Chain Length Macromolecules Akhtar F.H., Kumar M., Vovusha H., Shevate R., Villalobos L.F., Schwingenschlogl U., Peinemann K.-V., 2019
Giant Humidity Effect on Hybrid Halide Perovskite Microstripes: Reversibility and Sensing Mechanism ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Haque M.A., Syed A., Akhtar F.H., Shevate R., Singh S., Peinemann K.-V., Baran D., Wu T., 2019
Highways for water molecules: Interplay between nanostructure and water vapor transport in block copolymer membranes Journal of Membrane Science Akhtar F.H., Vovushua H., Villalobos L.F., Shevate R., Kumar M., Nunes S.P., Schwingenschlogl U., Peinemann K.-V., 2019
Embedding 1D Conducting Channels into 3D Isoporous Polymer Films for High-Performance Humidity Sensing Angewandte Chemie - International Edition Shevate R., Haque M.A., Akhtar F.H., Villalobos L.F., Wu T., Peinemann K.-V., 2018
Fabrication of Polybenzimidazole/Palladium Nanoparticles Hollow Fiber Membranes for Hydrogen Purification Advanced Energy Materials Villalobos L.F., Hilke R., Akhtar F.H., Peinemann K.-V., 2018
High dehumidification performance of amorphous cellulose composite membranes prepared from trimethylsilyl cellulose Journal of Materials Chemistry A Puspasari T., Akhtar F.H., Ogieglo W., Alharbi O., Peinemann K.-V., 2018