Dr. Yaqoob Khan

About

Career History
In November 2006, I joined the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering (DMME)), Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) as a Ph.D. scholar. PIEAS is the number one ranked institute of Pakistan in the engineering category. The Ph.D. program (MS leading to Ph.D.) in PIEAS consists of a combined master's (18-year education) and PhD by research. This was when I learned the fundamental and advanced concepts in different areas of materials engineering, from structure-property relationship to mechanical metallurgy, powder metallurgy, near net shape manufacturing, casting and solidification, nanomaterials engineering, composite materials and so on. I also took courses on the working principles and the theory behind various instrumental techniques such as diffraction, imaging, identification and processing of materials; these proved very useful later in my Ph.D. research. For the Ph.D. research, my project was on the synthesis and applications of transition metal oxide nanomaterials. I developed several protocols for synthesizing oxide nanomaterials and their surface modifications, including oxide nanoparticles, nanorods, nanosheets, nanowires, and sea urchin-shaped structures. Some of these oxides were used as contrast agents to image human carcinogenic cell lines, such as human cervical cells (HELLA) and hepato carcinoma cells (HEPG2). Others were tested for their energy storage applications in supercapacitors. I published four peer reviewed articles out of this work in materials science related journals. In PIEAS, I received training on, and was a user of, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Confocal Laser Microscope, UV-Vis absorption, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, and FTIR. I remained Captain of the Ph.D. cricket team at PIEAS and still hold the record of hitting maximum sixes in a match (13 sixes).
During my Ph.D. research, I won a scholarship to do part of my research at Linkoping University, Sweden. Here, I developed a method to directly grow the electrode materials on metallic substrates as ready-to-use electrodes for supercapacitors. This was an important step in eliminating not only the slurry casting step in electrode fabrication but also resulted in much-improved performance of the devices. I published two articles out of this work. I also got training and hands on experience of advanced level instruments for materials characterization such transmission electron microscopes, cathodoluminescence imaging, surface area and porosity meters and X-ray photoelectron spectrometers. I also attended safety trainings and learned about the materials safety data sheets (MSDS). For my Swedish Professor, I did a small project on the synthesis of 5 nm Gadolinium Oxide nanoparticles, the group used these nanoparticles as contrast agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
Toward the later part of my Ph.D., I showcased and presented my work in several national and international conferences. In total, I published eight articles in international peer-reviewed journals from my Ph.D. research.
2012 to 2013 Assistant Professor (NCP)
Upon completion of my Ph.D., I was offered an assistant professor position at the Nanosciences and Catalysis Division, National Centre for Physics (NCP). I joined this position in May 2012, initially it was on contract basis for one year but was later regularized as a permanent position.
At the time of my joining, the department had very few materials research and development facilities. I worked with a team and drafted a funding proposal to establish research infrastructure in the department; the Planning Commission of Pakistan accepted the proposal. Toward the end of my one year contract, the department received its first funding worth PKR 40 million. In the proposal, I worked on determining the specification of the instruments, worked with the procurement department in preparing necessary documents, and collected quotations from national and international vendors. Each year, NCP organizes its annual "International Scientific School (ISS)" for physics and allied disciplines, I was part of the organizing committee for the ISS 2013.
2013 to date, Senior Scientific Officer (NCP)
In June 2013, I got a permanent position at NCP and my designation was changed to senior scientific officer. The department was re-named as Nanosciences and Technology Department (NS&TD). I continued on the previous year's developments. I procured and commissioned an X-Ray diffractometer (Bruker D8 Advance, Germany), Parr catalytic reactors of 2 liters' capacity (PARR, USA), a light source with simulated one sun radiation (Keithlink, Taiwan) for solar cell research, a Temperature Programmed Reduction Oxidation setup (BELCAT, Japan) for catalysis research, and an FTIR instrument (Jasco, Japan). I prepared the installation sites, took on-site training from the company-designated engineers, and signed after-sales service and parts agreements. Later, through another departmental funding, I purchased an X-ray Photoelectron Spectrometer (XPS) from Omicron Nanotechnology GmbH, Germany. I also received the basic and advanced training on the instrument at Frankfurt, Germany. Along with a team, I customized the XPS specs and included a Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) chamber, E-beam evaporation Chamber, an SEM and EDX within the main XPS chamber, Auger Detector for Auger spectroscopy and, a heating stage till 1400 K. I prepared the installation site and participated in the installation with an engineer from Omicron, Germany. The procurement for all these instruments was done in my supervision, from tendering to fulfilling the import regulations and local rules. Until January 2021, I was responsible for the smooth running of XPS, XRD, and electrochemical workstations .
I also continued my research work during this period. I established my own "energy storage and conversion devices group" at NS&TD. In addition to energy storage devices, I also started working on photoelectrochemical cells for solar water splitting to produce hydrogen. The group today consists of two senior scientists, two junior electronics engineers, and two technicians. The group does R&D on the development of electrode materials for batteries and supercapacitors. I started supervising research students that come to NCP from various universities across the country. To date, I supervised and completed the research projects of one Ph.D. student, 15 MS/MPhil students, and co-supervised three Ph.D. students. My peer-reviewed international publications, as of today, increased to 82 with total citations over 2350 and an h-index of 30 (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1046146 ).
Innovative material synthesis techniques that I introduced in the department include aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition to deposit chalcogenide thin films from single source precursors, electrodeposition of metal and metal oxides on various substrates, electrochemical itching of Aluminum and Titanium metal strips to produce ordered porous substrates and scaled up nanomaterial synthesis in Parr catalytic reactors. My colleagues and students utilize these setups in their research projects.
NCP is a non-academic research organization established by Dr. Abdus Salam (Pakistani Nobel prize laureate in Physics, 1979) on the lines of The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy. NCP facilitates researchers and research organizations in nanosciences, high energy physics, theoretical physics, and vacuum sciences. It thus acts as a central research facility for the national universities and R&D organizations. In this regard, I provide free of cost sample analysis on XRD, XPS, electrochemical workstations and light source. I also comment on and guide researchers in analyzing the data collected through these systems. The analytical tools and software's that I learned and use for data analysis include TOPAS 4.3 and Match for XRD data analysis and fitting, CASAXPS-2.3.18, for XPS data fitting and quantification, Echem Analyst, for EIS, CV, CCD data analysis, Digital Micrograph for image analysis, and Origin-Pro. For each of these softwares, I developed my own data anlysis procedures.
Some key projects I completed in this tenure include i. the failure analysis of the Ti plates that adsorb the hydrogen in nuclear power plants, ii. core composition analysis of the optical fibers, iii. designed and built a large-scale CVD production facility for carbon nanotubes and, iv. batch production of silver nanoparticles for agricultural use.
I am a member of the NCP selection and hiring committee since 2015. For the XPS, XRD and electrochemistry labs, I hired two electronics engineers (Junior engineers), two junior scientists and two technicians. I contributed in, and am a member of the organizing committee, for the eleven international conferences held at NCP in this tenure. I also organized the first national workshop on XPS in NCP. I delivered lectures in several of these events. I organized the first nanostructure competition in the biannual "International Symposium on Advanced Materials-2015" held at NCP. I offer training on the instruments, conduct and brief the participants on NS&TD visits, prepare annual departmental and developmental budgets and arrange/order spares for the instruments.
As a visiting faculty, I teach three advanced-level courses to graduate students. The course content is designed such that it helps students prepare for their final research projects. I teach Catalysis (03 credit hours) at Quaid-e- Azam University (QAU), Introduction to Nanoscience and Technology (03 credit hours) at International Islamic University, and Materials Science-I (03 credit hours) at Riphah International University, Islamabad. I also serve on various technical and review committees. I am a member of the university curriculum review committee for MS in Energy systems, US-Pak Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, member board of studies, Hazara University Mansehra, and reviewer to Pakistan Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) and PSF-Chinese Academy of Sciences for funding proposals evaluation. I am also a thesis reviewer and external examiner to NUST, Islamabad, COMSATS, Islamabad, Hazara University Mansehra, University of Peshawar, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad and International Islamic University, Islamabad. I am also a reviewer to several scientific journals such as Material Letters, Nanotechnology and International Journal of hydrogen Energy. Recently, I along with some other colleagues established the first 'Materials Science Society of Pakistan' to gather materials scientists and Engineers on a single platform to promote this field in Pakistan ( https://pakmatersoc.org/ ).
NS&TD is being upgraded to the Centre of Excellence in Nanosciences, the proposal and funding is accepted and construction of the new building is in progress. I wrote the up-gradation proposal, presented and justified it in the Planning Commission of Pakistan, sketched the layout of the various facilities to be established, prepared the budget estimates, and determined the workforce to be inducted into the Centre. For my next higher role in the hierarchy, the department nominated me for a three-week management course at PIEAS (2019).
In 2020, I received funding worth PKR 50 Million from the Planning Commission of Pakistan to establish a dedicated facility for the research and fabrication of prototype supercapacitor devices. I wrote this proposal and am the project's principal investigator, accompanied by two senior scientists, two electronics engineers, two technicians, and a lab attendant. The end goal of the project is to build a supercapacitor bank that can hold at least 0.5 MJ of energy. The supercapacitor banks will be used in applications that require a burst of energy over a short period. I designed the capacitor bank, procured the production line assembly, submitted progress reports, and presented the project progress in meetings.
Effective from December 2021, I was promoted to the principal scientist position at NS&TD. The promotion will be effective after my joining the department in February 2023. In recognition of my contribution to materials research, Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) registered me as its lifetime member in materials engineering (Registration No: METAL/06267, verifiable at https://verification.pec.org.pk/v/eV/index.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 ).
2021-2023 MSCA-Co-Fund Fellow (METU)
Building on my previous R&D experience, I submitted a project proposal on the development of novel MXene materials for high energy density asymmetric supercapacitors to the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action (MSCA)-Co-Fund scheme of the European Commission under their Horizon 2020 program. The proposal was accepted for funding and was ranked as the second best proposal. I wrote the two-year project, pinpointed the work layout and planned the budget and resources required. The project is being executed at the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey, since February 2021. As per the contract document, I am the project manager, and Prof. Husnu Emrah Unalan is the project consultant.
MXene is a recently discovered (2010) family of layered 2D materials with fascinating properties. The layer structure in MXenes is such that it can be used to store charges and are considered as one of the ideal electrode material for energy storage devices. In the MSCA project, I am developing novel bimetallic ordered metal MXenes and their precursor MAX phases. So far, I have prepared two such compositions and etched them into the corresponding MXene. I established the setup for MXene production in my laband have trained two research assistants and two master students on the synthesis and processing of MXenes.. I have established a safety protocol for the MXene synthesis and placed health kits for emergencies and long-term storage of synthesized MXenes. Graduate students use these MXene in their research projects. I am in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering Department of METU where they are utilizing MXenes as catalysts for C-H bond activation of propylene (Industrial process). The Environmental Engineering Department is coating MXene onto fibers as air filtration membranes. A group at the Solar Energy Research Centre (GUNAM) is exploring MXenes as a replacement for metal contacts in solar cells.
I am supervising one master's student at the department and involved in the projects of three other master students.. I am responsible for the project's dissemination activities, submitting periodic progress reports, and have built a website (mxcaps.com) to share project outcomes with a broader audience. The project involves strong collaboration between TOGG, the Turkish Automobile Venture Group Inc., and Prof. Yuri Gogotsi (Who discovered MXenes in the year 2010) of the Materials Engineering Department, Drexel University USA. TOGG plans to launch its all-electric sedan car and a c-segment SUV in 2024 (https://www.togg.com.tr).
I have been invited to present my work at MRS fall meeting in November 2022 at Boston, USA, at the European MRS (e-MRS) in September 2022 at Warsaw, Poland in addition to several other invited talks delivered at National and International conferences.

Areas of Expertise