FACULTY
Dr. Neelkanth Nirmalkar
Associate Professor
Biography
Dr. Neelkanth Nirmalkar is an Associate Professor of
Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of
Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar), India, where he leads
research on sustainable technologies for energy and
environmental applications. He earned his Ph.D. in
Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) and was a
Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham,
UK.
His work combines chemical engineering fundamentals
with scalable nanobubble processes for water, energy,
and environmental applications. It spans three
streams: (1) energy and climate change, (2)
bioengineering, and (3) membrane technologies.
A major focus of Dr. Nirmalkar’s research is nanobubble technology, including
generation, characterization, interfacial and mass-transfer behavior, existence,
stability,
colloidal interactions, nucleation, and dynamics. His group develops applications in
water and wastewater treatment, advanced oxidation, disinfection, pollutant
degradation, particle flotation, crystallization, CO₂ utilization, fuel combustion,
and industrial processes. Recent studies explore ozone and electrochemically
reactive nanobubbles, nanobubble-assisted crystallization, enhanced CO₂ conversion
and absorption, and effects on fuel combustion.
Dr. Nirmalkar has published extensively in leading international journals and built a
strong program linking fundamental nanobubble phenomena with technology
development and industrial applications. His broader interests include hydrogen
production and water electrolysis, electrochemical CO₂ reduction, fuel additives
and combustion, critical mineral extraction, environmental biotechnology, water
and wastewater treatment, and advanced membrane technologies. He has also
invented several technologies, including a patented nanobubble-generation device
transferred to Nanokriti Pvt. Limited, reflecting his commitment to commercialization.
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK
- Ph. D in Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
- B. Tech in Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Raipur
Awards
- DST INSPIRE faculty fellowship
- Visiting faculty at West Pomeranian University of Technology, Poland
Patent
- K. Agarwal and N. Nirmalkar, Device for nanobubble generation, Indian Patent, filed, Application No. 202111005491.
Selected Publications
- Agarwal, K., Trivedi, M., & Nirmalkar, N. Does Salting-Out Effect Nucleate Nanobubbles in Water: Spontaneous Nucleation? Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, 2022, 82, 105860. (IF: 7.491)
- Dutta, N.; Kopparthi, P.; Mukherjee, A. K.; Nirmalkar, N.; Boczkaj, G. Novel strategies to enhance hydrodynamic cavitation in a circular venturi using RANS numerical simulations. Water Research 2021, 204, 117559. (IF: 11.24)
- Nirmalkar, N.; Pacek, A.; Barigou, M. Bulk nanobubbles from acoustically cavitated aqueous organic solvent mixtures. Langmuir 2019, 35 (6), 2188-2195. (IF: 3.882)
- Nirmalkar, N.; Pacek, A.; Barigou, M. Interpreting the interfacial and colloidal stability of bulk nanobubbles. Soft Matter 2018, 14 (47), 9643-9656. (IF: 3.679)
- Nirmalkar, N.; Pacek, A.; Barigou, M. On the existence and stability of bulk nanobubbles. Langmuir 2018, 34 (37), 10964-10973. (IF: 3.882)
- H. Sharma & N. Nirmalkar (2021) Enhanced Gas-Liquid Mass transfer Coefficient by Bulk Nanobubbles in water, Materials today proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.01.029. (IS = 1.24).
- K Agarwal; M. Trivedi & N. Nirmalkar (2021) Bulk nanobubbles in aqueous salt solution, Materials today proceedings,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.12.477 . (IS = 1.24).
- N. Dutta & N. Nirmalkar (2021) Effect of wall roughness on the hydrodynamic cavitation phenomena in a circular venturi using RANS numerical simulations, Materials today proceedings, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.12.354 . (IS = 1.24).
Projects
- DST-NMCPS.[Ongoing]
- Design of nanobubble generator.[Ongoing]
- A novel approach of generation of bulk nanobubbles in water for cleaning of contaminated surfaces and disinfection using ozone nanobubbles.[Ongoing]