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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuning water transport channels in sulfonated copolymer membranes for highly effective removal of arsenic and selenium from industrial wastewater | Desalination | Zaidi S.Q.A., Wadgama M.H., Jahan Z., Niazi M.B.K., Akhtar F.H., | 2025 |
| Polyelectrolyte Multilayer-Based Nanofiltration Membranes with Tunable Performance for Target Pollutants | ACS Applied Polymer Materials | Bashir J., Ilyas S., Asif A., de Vos W.M., Khan A.L., Akhtar F.H., | 2025 |
| Synergistic CO2 capture using PANI-polymerized UiO-66 embedded in PEBAX mixed matrix membranes | Carbon Capture Science and Technology | Ishaq T., Tamime R., Bano S., Akhtar F.H., Khan A.L., | 2024 |
| Enhancing butanol separation efficiency in pervaporation with ZIF-8 porous liquid infused mixed matrix membranes | Chemical Engineering Research and Design | Komal A., Kasuri A., Yasin M., Khan A.L., Razzaq A., Alhmohamadi H., Akhtar F.H., Raja A.A., Nawaz R., Abdulmalek E., Gilani M.A., | 2024 |
| Enhancing Water Purification by Integrating Titanium Dioxide Nanotubes into Polyethersulfone Membranes for Improved Hydrophilicity and Anti-Fouling Performance | Membranes | Bilal A., Yasin M., Akhtar F.H., Gilani M.A., Almohamadi H., Younas M., Mushtaq A., Aslam M., Hassan M., Nawaz R., Aqsha A., Sunarso J., Bilad M.R., Khan A.L., | 2024 |
| 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 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| NEXARTM-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 CO2 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 CO2- 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 |