Dr. Muhammad Irfan

Dr. Muhammad Irfan works as an Assistant Professor at Pak-Austria Fachhochschule: Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology. He received his Doctorate degree from the University of Science and Technology of China under the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Scholarship. Dr. Irfan secured two international research projects including the 67^th Batch of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities as a principal investigator and supervised some M.Sc. and PhD projects. Several prizes have been awarded to him (i.e. outstanding international foreign student 2018 award from USTC, and gold medal award from UET Peshawar, etc.).

Dr. Irfan is a multi-disciplinary professional having expertise in Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, and Material Sciences. He has published fourteen research articles and one chapter book as a first author, two research articles as a corresponding author while overall thirty-five publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and conference papers/proceedings with a cumulative impact factor of 180, and presented his work at various national and international conferences. Dr. Irfan worked for about three years in various industrial organizations including fertilizer, chemicals, and cement where he practically observed and supervised most of the chemical engineering processes along with the operation of various types of equipments for producing optimum quality and quantity of products. He remained as a lecturer for five years in the Department of Chemical Engineering UET Peshawar and has taught various subjects and labs, as well as supervised BS projects. Dr. Irfan has more than fourteen years of national and international experience in teaching, research, and industrial organizations. 

1. M. Irfan, Y. Zhang, Z. Yang, J. Su, W. Zhang, Novel conducting solid polymer electrolytes with zwitterion structure boosting ionic conductivity and retarding lithium dendrite formation, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2021) (IF: 12.732, Q1). https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/TA/D1TA05396E 
2. M. Irfan, M. Atif, Z. Yang, W. Zhang, Recent advances in high performance conducting solid poymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries (Review Article), Journal of Power Sources, 486 (2021) 229378 (IF: 9.127, Q1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2020.229378
3. M. Irfan, Y. Wang, T. Xu, Novel electrodialysis membranes with hydrophobic alkyl spacers and zwitterion structure enable monovalent/divalent cation selectivity, Chemical Engineering Journal, 383 (2020) 123171 (IF: 13.273, Q1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2019.123171
4. M. Irfan, X. Tingting, G. Liang, Y. Wang, T. Xu, Zwitterionic structure membrane provides high monovalent/divalent cation electrodialysis selectivity: Investigating the effect of functional groups and operating parameters, Journal of Membrane Science, 588 (2019) 117211 (IF: 8.742, Q1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2019.117211
5. M. Irfan, G. Liang, Y. Wang, Z. Yang, T. Xu, Hydrophobic side chains impart anion exchange membranes with high monovalent-divalent anion selectivity in electrodialysis, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7 (2019) 4429−4442 (IF: 8.198, Q1). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b06426

1. Secured 67th Batch of China Postdoctoral Science Foundation as Principal Investigator (PI) for the experimental and theoretical studies to design and develop the novel single lithium-ion conducting solid polymer electrolytes for the high performance in lithium-ion batteries, 2020, Grant No: 2020M671844 (80,000 RMB=2,400,000 PKR).
2. Awarded Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities as Principal Investigator (PI) for the development of novel anode and cathode materials for the high performance of lithium-ion batteries, 2020, Grant No: JZ2020HGQB0225, (50,000 RMB=1,500,000 PKR).

• Secured Outstanding Research and Best Student Award (30,000 RMB=900,000 PKR) and Certificate of the Academic Year 2018 from Chinese Scholarship Council, and USTC during PhD study, 2018
• Awarded Gold Medal Certificate for First Position in BS Chemical Engineering from UET Peshawar, 2008

• Secured Maximum CGPA (3.86 CGPA) in the History of Chemical Engineering Department for BS Chemical Engineering at UET Peshawar (2004-2008)

• CAS-TWAS Presidential Fellowship Scholarship Award for PhD study at the University of Science and Technology of China, 2015
• Best Paper Selection from USTC in the National Forum for International Doctoral Candidates Studying in China, Shandong, 2018
• Cash Prize and Appreciation Certificate for the Best Oral Presentation at the International 4^th Graduate Symposium on Chemistry and Materials Science, Hefei, 2018

• 1^st Cash Prizes and Merit Certificates for the First position in the First, Second, Seventh, and Eighth Semesters of BS Chemical Engineering, UET Peshawar (2004-2008)
• 2^nd Cash Prizes and Merit Certificates for the Second Position in Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Semesters of BS Chemical Engineering, UET Peshawar (2004-2008)

1. Lithium-Ion Batteries Preparation and Characterization
2. Synthesis of Polymeric Materials
3. Conducting Solid Polymer Electrolytes
4. Synthesis and Characterization of Advanced Functional Materials
5. Ion Exchange Membranes Preparation and Characterization
6. Membrane Science and Technology
7. Preparation and Characterization of Novel Polymeric Functional Membranes
8. Diffusion Dialysis, Electrodialysis, and Fuel Cell
9. Sustainability, Wastewater Treatment, and Resources Recovery
10. Process Simulation and Optimization
11. Mathematical and Statistical Analysis
12. Solar Desalination and Reverse Osmosis