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Nidal Abu Zahra

Nidal Abu-Zahra

  • Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
  • Department Chair, Materials Science & Engineering

Dr. Abu-Zahra's water treatment research focuses on developing water filtration media, polymer foams and membranes for removing heavy metals from drinking water using antibiofouling properties. He is also working on developing perovskite systems capable of mining valuable metals, such as lithium, from seawater and brines (an abundant byproduct of desalination plants). His research approaches are both experimental and computational (using molecular dynamics and density functional theory). His research lab includes several key instruments used in polymer synthesis and characterization, as well as computational software packages and workstations.

Education

  • PhD, Industrial Engineering, Cleveland State University (Ohio), 1996
  • MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Manchester (UK), 1994
  • BS, Mechanical Engineering, University of Jordan (Jordan), 1992

Research Interests

  • Water filtration (heavy metal removal)
  • Biofouling in water filtration systems
  • Lithium extraction from seawater
  • Polymer functionalization and performance characterization
  • MD (Molecular Dynamics) and DFT (Density Functional Theory) applications

Recent Publications

Google Scholar link

  1. “Enhancing Zn (II) Recovery Efficiency: Bi-Divalent Nickel-Cobalt Ferrite Spinel as a Game-Changing Adsorbent—an Experimental and Computational Study”. Seyed Faridedin Rafie, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Roozbeh Sabetvand. Chemosphere, Vol. 362, (2024).
  2. “Exploring the Mechanisms of Diazinon Adsorption onto Alpha and Beta Cyclodextrins through Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Insights into Environmentally Friendly Pesticide Remediation”, Maryam Farajpour Mojdehi, Seyed Faridedin Rafie, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Omid Saghatchian, Zahra Shams Ghamsari, Fatemeh Mahmoudi, Hani Sayahi, Seyed Majid Hashemianzadeh. Results in Engineering, Vol 21, (2024).
  3. “Design and Machine Learning Prediction of In Situ-Grown PDA-Stabilized MOF (UiO-66-NH2) Membrane for Low-Pressure Separation of Emulsified Oily Wastewater”, Jamilu Usman, S. I. Abba, Nadeem Baig, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Shadi W. Hasan, Isam H. Aljundi. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 16 (13), 16271-16289 (2024).
  4. “Optimization of hydrophobic nonresponsive sol-ketal acrylate gel film to hydrophilic thermo-responsive gel by graft-polymerization”, Momen Abdelaty and Nidal Abu-Zahra, Polymer Bulletin, vol. 81, pp. 3169-3190 (2024).
  5. “A Polymeric-Ceramic Hybrid Membrane with a Self-Cleaning and Super-Wettable Surface Decorated with Polypyrrole-G-C3N4 Photocatalyst for Oily Wastewater Treatment”, Umair Baig, Abdul Waheed, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Isam H. Aljundi. Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 339 (2024).
  6. “Surface-engineered polyethersulfone membranes using thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) with antibiofouling properties for water treatment applications”, Homa Ghasemi, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Umair Baig, Abdul Waheed, Isam H. Aljundi. Journal of Polymers and the Environment (2023).
  7. “Hydrothermal synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticles at different pHs and its effect on discoloration of methylene blue; Evaluation of alternatives by TOPSIS method”. Seyed Faridedin Rafie, Fatemeh Mahmoudi, Hani Sayahi, Hadi Abdollahi, Nidal Abu-Zahra. Materials Today Communications, vol. 37 (2023).
  8. “Thermo-pH-Salt Environmental Terpolymers Influenced by 2-((dimethylamino)methyl)-4-methylphenyl acrylate: A Comparative Study for Tuning the LCST”, Momen S.A. Abdelaty and Nidal Abu-Zahra, ACS OMEGA (2023).
  9. “Optimizing the Synthesis Process for Lithium-Ion Sieve Adsorbents: Effect of Calcination Temperature and Heating Rate on Reaction Efficiency and Performance”, Calvin Nyarangi, Phani Ravi Teja Nunna, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Nadeem Baig, Ismail Abdulazeez, Isam H. Aljundi, Journal of Materials & Design: Vol 235, (2023).
  10. “Highly permeable sulfonated polydopamine integrated MXene membranes for efficient surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water separation”, Nadeem Baig, Niaz Ali Khan, Billel Salhi, Ismail Abdulazeez, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Sohaib Abdelazem, Isam H. Aljundi. Langmuir (2023).
  11. “Enhancing Fouling Resistance and Separation Performance of Polyethersulfone Membrane through Surface Grafting with Copolymerized Thermo-responsive Polymer and Copper Oxide Nanoparticles”, Homa Ghasemi, Nidal Abu-Zahra,Umair Baig, Abdul Waheed, Isam H. Aljundi. Chemical Engineering Journal Advances, vol 16 (15), (2023).
  12. “Synergistic Integration of Copper-Functionalization and Smart Release Mechanisms for Enhanced Bacterial Inactivation on Polyethersulfone Membranes”, Homa Ghasemi, Nidal Abu-Zahra,Umair Baig, Abdul Waheed, Isam H. Aljundi, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, vol 11 (5),(2023).
  13. “Rational Design of a 3D Crown-Based Material for the Selective Recovery of Silver Ions from Seawater and e-Waste”, Ismail Abdulazeez, Othman Charles S. Al-Hamouz, Billel Salhi, Nadeem Baig, Isam Aljundi, and Nidal Abu-Zahra. Mater. Interfaces (2023).
  14. “The influence of amphoteric terpolymerization of poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) in the optimization of the phase separation temperatures", Momen Abdelaty and Nidal Abu-Zahra, of Polymers and the Environment, (2023).
  15. “Effect of reaction parameters on Arsenic removal capacity from aqueous solutions using modified magnetic PU foam nanocomposite”, ST Moghaddam, H Ghasemi, FB Hussein, N Abu-Zahra, Results in Materials, (2023).
  16. “Mechanical Properties and Buckling of Kagome Graphene under Tension: A Molecular Dynamics Study”, T Wavrunek, Q Peng, N Abu-Zahra, Crystals, (2022).
  17. “A Molecular Dynamics Study of the Binding Effectiveness between Undoped Conjugated Polymer Binders and Tetra-sulfides in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries”, Yihan Xu, Dong Zheng, Weixiao Ji, Nidal Abu- Zahra, Deyang Qu. Composites Part B: Engineering, Vol 203, (2021).
  18. “Decolorization of wastewater by heterogeneous Fenton reaction using MnO2-Fe3O4/CuO hybrid catalysts”, Homa Ghasemi; Saeed Mozaffari; Seyed Hesam Mousavi; Behzad Aghabarari; Nidal Abu- Zahra, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. Vol 9-2, (2021).
  19. “A novel aggregation method for generating Pythagorean fuzzy numbers in multiple criteria group decision making: An application to materials selection”, AF Momena, N Abu-Zahra - Cogent Engineering, (2021).
  20. “Surface wetting of silver-doped sol-gel ZnO films”, Reed Heintzkill, Karl Cecil Flanagan-Morris, and Nidal H. Abu-Zahra. J. Surface Engineering, 36(6): 607-613 (2020).
  21. “Enhanced morphological and optoelectronic properties of organic solar cells incorporating CuO, ZnO and Au nanoparticles”, Aruna Wanninayake and Nidal Abu-Zahra, Journal of Materials and Environmental Science, 11(11), (2020).
  22. “High efficiency decolorization of wastewater by Fenton catalyst: Magnetic iron-copper hybrid oxides”, Homa Ghasemi, Behzad Aghabarari, Mehdi Alizadeh, Ali Khanlarkhani, Nidal Abu-Zahra. Water Process Engineering, 37-101540 (2020).
  23. “Synthesis and Characterization of Highly Crystalline Na-X Zeolite from Class F Fly Ash”, Saeed Golbad, Parisa Khoshnoud, Garrett Keleney, Nidal Abu-Zahra, Water and Environment Journal, vol 34, issue 3, (2020).
  24. “Towards developing a low-cost gravity-driven arsenic filtration system using iron oxide nanoparticle-loaded PU foam”, Arundhati Pillai, Amin F. Zarandi, Faten B. Hussein, Krishna M. Pillai, Nidal H. Abu-Zahra. Water Quality Research J, 55(3): (2020).