Green and Sustainable Approaches Using Wastes for the Production of Multifunctional Nanomaterials

Dr. Abhishek Kumar Bhardwaj is working as an Assistant Professor at Amity School of Life Sciences, Department of Environmental Science, Amity University, India. He obtained his PhD from the Central University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, India, in the field of environmental nanotechnology. He has also done Post-doctoral research at the Department of Environmental Science, VBS Purvanchal University, Jaunpur (India). Currently, He is actively involved in the teaching and guidance of undergraduate, MSc, and PhD students. Dr. Bhardwaj's research interests encompass a wide array of topics, including green synthesis of nanomaterials for water purification, bio-sensing, nano-based device fabrication, water treatment, diatom cultivation, mushroom cultivation, phytoremediation, and waste management. His contributions to the field are well-recognized, as he has published over 30 research papers in prestigious journals, including Elsevier, Springer, American Chemical Society, American Institute of Physics, MDPI, and Frontier, among others. Furthermore, Dr. Bhardwaj serves as a respected reviewer for esteemed journals such as Journals of Cleaner Production, Journals of Environmental Pollution, Bioresource Technology, Journals of Nanoparticle Research, Scientific Reports, and more. He has also edited two books in collaboration with Elsevier and Springer. His dedication to academia and research has made him a valuable asset to the scientific community and a significant influence in the field of environmental science and nanotechnology.

Mika Sillanpää is a professor at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His research centers on chemical treatment in environmental engineering, environmental monitoring, and resource recovery from waste streams.

Sillanpää received his M.Sc. (Eng.) and D.Sc. (Eng.) degrees from the Aalto University where he also completed an MBA degree in 2013. Since 2000, he has been a full professor/adjunct professor at the University of Oulu, the University of Eastern Finland, the LUT University, the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Johannesburg.

He has received numerous awards for research and innovation. He is the first Laureate of Scientific Committee on the Problems of the Environment (SCOPE)’s Young Investigator Award, which was delivered at the UNESCO Conference in Shanghai 2010 for his “significant contributions, outstanding achievements and research leadership in Environmental Technological Innovations to address present water pollution problems worldwide, especially with regard to wastewater treatment and reuse”. In 2011, he was invited to act as a Principal Scientific Reviewer in the GEO-5 report of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). In 2012, he received Tapani Järvinen Environmental Technology Award and Publication Award of the Lappeenranta University of Technology. In 2014, he received the Science Award of the Lappeenranta University of Technology and Pro Mikkeli Award. In 2018, he was invited as a Member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters and Technology Academy of Finland. He also received Literature award from the Water Association of Finland in 2018.

Dr. Arun Lal Srivastav is working as Professor and Associate Dean (Research), Tulas University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. He received PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi. He has also done post-doctoral research at National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. He is currently involved in the teaching of Environmental Science and Engineering, Disaster Management to the undergraduate engineering students. His research interests include water quality surveillance, climate change, water treatment, river ecosystem, soil health maintenance, engineering education, phytoremediation and waste management. Under his supervision, 3 PhD degrees have been awarded. He has published >150 research papers in various prestigious journals (Elsevier, Springer, IWA, Taylor & Francis etc.) including books, book chapters and conference publications. He has edited many books with Elsevier, Springer, NOVA, IGI global and Wiley. He worked on 04 Government sponsored projects (worth ~16 million INR) on phytoremediation, adsorption, capacity building, organic farming, leachate treatment, agro-waste management etc. He received the prestigious "Teachers Associateship for Research Excellence (TARE) Fellowship" followed by a research grant from the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Govt. of India in 2022. He has also filed 31 patents on multidisciplinary topics and 14 out of which have been granted by the Government of India. He has also been recognized among the top 2% worldwide scientists of Earth and Environmental Sciences jointly by Stanford University and Elsevier in the year 2023, 2024 and 2025. Recently, his name has been included in top 0.05% scholars of the year 2025 by ScholarGPS in Environmental Sciences.