Umamah Amir

PhD Student

Address	Contact
Department of Chemical Engineering, EEBE – UPC C. Eduard Maristany, 10–14, Building I, I5.5 08019 Barcelona, Spain	✉️ umamah.amir@upc.edu

Research Line

Development of functional hybrid hydrogels for sustainable water desalination, with a particular focus on solar-driven desalination (SDD) and capacitive deionization (CDI). The research focuses on positively charged hydrogels containing carbon black, investigating their photothermal and electrochemical properties for applications in both SDD and CDI. Overall, the research aims to develop reusable and multifunctional hydrogel-based materials for energy-efficient and sustainable water purification and desalination technologies.

Group, Project, and Research Lines within IMEM

The research is carried out within the Innovation in Materials and Molecular Engineering (IMEM) Group as part of the Hydro4F project. The work focuses on the development of functional hydrogel-based materials for sustainable water desalination, particularly through solar-driven desalination and capacitive deionization, exploring their potential as reusable and multifunctional materials for energy-efficient water purification technologies.

Publications

1.Title of the publication: Poly(acrylamide)-based hydrogels positively charged for sustainable solar desalination and capacitive deionization. (pre print)

DOI:10.2139/ssrn.7365623

2. Title of the publication: Unveiling the Challenge of Evaporator Design in Clean Water Production Promoted by Superabsorbent Hydrogels and Sunlight.

DOI:10.1021/acsami.5c20819

3.Title of the publication: Optimized agarose-based conductive hydrogel electrodes for capacitive deionization.

DOI:10.1016/j.seppur.2026.137632

Future Profile