“The inaugural lecture ceremony marks the rite of passage into the ranks of a professorship. It is also an occasion that celebrates one’s academic career achievements,” said Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele, North-West University (NWU) deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation, during the inaugural lecture of Prof Indra Bahadur.
Prof Bahadur from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences presented his inaugural address – titled “From toxic to greener world” – on 14 September 2022.
His lecture focused on the possibility of replacing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – which are currently used in various industries – with green materials such as Ionic Liquids (ILs) and Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs).
According to Prof Bahadur, ILs and DESs can be explored as alternative green solvents to minimise environmental pollution caused by separation industries using toxic materials.
“They have gained significant interest as a class of green solvents due to their unique physical and chemical properties.
“It is envisaged that these materials and their solutions can lead to the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly solvents for industrial separation with close boiling point mixtures,” added Prof Bahadur.
He explained this is possible by measuring thermophysical properties using highly accurate instruments for the calculation of thermodynamic properties, which are required for chemical process design such as separation.
“These investigations involve the use of ILs and DESs, a potential green solvent, and the application of these green solvents can be extended to different industries to minimise environmental pollution. For example, it can be used as corrosion inhibitors for mild steel, and in the dissolution of cellulose or polymer.”
He added that the use of ILs and DESs in bio-refinery industries to produce bioethanol and biodiesel will also be investigated.
About Prof Indra Bahadur
Prof Bahadur is a National Research Foundation-rated researcher and a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
He completed his BSc degree at the Banaras Hindu University in 2004, followed by an MSc in physical chemistry in 2007 from University of Delhi, India. He completed his PhD in physical chemistry in 2010 at the Durban University of Technology.
He spent more than four years as a postdoctoral researcher at different reputed institutions and received a top national postdoctoral NRF/DST Innovation award for his studies.
He was appointed as senior lecturer in the NWU’s subject group Chemistry in October 2015, and was promoted to associate professor in December 2016 and to professor in December 2019.
Since the completion of his PhD studies, Prof Bahadur has been an editor/associate editor for several reputed journals and a member of various scientific societies.
He has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles in reputable chemistry journals, as well as five book chapters and 38 conference papers.
He appeared on the list of academics who have improved their h-Index in the last five years as per the AD Scientific Index, and is in the global top 2% of scientists published by Elsevier 2021.
In 2013, he was awarded the top publisher award from Durban University of Technology, as well as a top publisher award from the NWU’s Material Science Innovation and Modelling research focus area in 2019.
To date he has been cited more than 7 100 times, with an h-index of 49 and an i10 index of 115, which offered him international recognition in the area of green chemistry and the physical chemistry of solvents.
NWU deputy vice-chancellor for research and innovation Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele hands over Prof Indra Bahadur’s inauguration certificate.
