Profile
Keywords: biopolymers, biosorbents, biomaterials, biomass conversion, water remediation
Aman Ullah is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural Food and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Alberta. He obtained his PhD (with distinction) in Chemical Sciences and Technologies from the University of Genoa, Italy working together at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, USA. He has worked in different institutes including Politecnico di Torino Sede di Alessandria (Italy) and the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Science (Karachi) before moving to the University of Alberta. Current research in Aman’s lab is mainly focused on the synthesis of bioproducts/biomaterials from renewable resources for various industrial applications. Aman’s Future Energy Systems research focusses on development of a sorption technology which uses modified / engineered keratin biopolymers from poultry feathers to remove metals and naphthenic acids from oil sands process water. This research lead to the 23rd the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Award.
Aman has over 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings and 9 patents / applications (5 patents granted). He has received 21 awards in his career, including the Canadian Rising Star, awarded by Grand Challenges Canada, and the Faculty of Agricultural Life and Environmental Sciences (ALES) Research and Innovation Award and ASTech award.
FES Funded Projects Outputs Show only Author
Title
Category
Date
Authors
Projects
Removal Of Divalent Cations And Oxyanions By Keratin-Dervied Sorbents: Influence Of Process Parameters And Mechanistic Studies T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Publication 2023-06-09 T10-P04, T10-P04C Green Nanoengineered Keratin Derived Bio‐Adsorbent for Heavy Metals Removal from Aqueous Media Exploiting poultry chicken feathers, a keratin-rich by-product offers a sustainable raw material for bio-adsorbents in water remediation. This study developed a bio-adsorbent from chicken feathers keratin (CFK), functionalized with surface-modified graphene oxide (SMGO). The bio-adsorbent was tested for adsorbing metal cations (Pb, Cd, Ni, Zn, Co) and oxyanions (As, Se, Cr) from water contaminated with 600 µg/L of each metal at pH 5.5, 7.5, and 10.5. Results showed optimal removal efficiencies at pH 7.5, with anions achieving ≥91.10% for As (III), ≥89.55% for Cr (VI), and ≥74.33% for Se (IV). Cations removal reached 96.34% for Co (II), 97.36% for Ni (II), 99.03% for Cd (II), 99.21% for Pb (II), and 59.06% for Zn (II). Kinetic studies indicated rapid initial uptake within the first 6 hours, reaching equilibrium at 24 hours. The bio-adsorbent maintained high adsorption capacities over four regeneration cycles with minimal efficiency loss, showing strong stability and reusability. Removal efficiency followed the order: Pb (II) 〉 Cd (II) 〉 Ni (II) 〉 Co (II) 〉 Zn (II), correlating with their ionic radii. Ni2+ adsorbed more effectively than Co2+ due to a smaller ionic radius and stronger electrostatic attraction. These findings highlight CFK-SMGO's efficacy in wastewater treatment, promoting bio-based sustainable adsorbents.T10-A02 University of Alberta Publication 2024-04-08 T10-A02 Recoverable Solvent-Treated Poultry Feathers For Multi-Metal Biosorption of Oxyanions And Cations: Experimental And Modeling Insights T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Publication 2026-01-31 T10-P04, T10-P04C Resilient Reclaimed Land And Water Systems Workshop Organized and participated in a FES Resilient Reclaimed Land and Water Systems Theme Workshop to develop the theme's research goals and direction for the entire FES program. T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H University of Alberta Activity 2017-09-25 Naeth, M. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Jennings, D. , Pamela Chelme-Ayala,
Wilkinson, S. ,
Chang, S. ,
Siddique, T. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. , Lianne Michelle Lefsrud,
Ullah, A. T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H Resilient Reclaimed Land And Water Systems Workshop Organized and participated in FES Resilient Reclaimed Land and Water Systems Theme Workshop to share research results achieved to date, to obtain input from others on research projects, to discuss within and between theme collaborations and to plan for future research.T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H, T10-P04A University of Alberta Activity 2018-01-22 Naeth, M. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Jennings, D. , Pamela Chelme-Ayala,
Wilkinson, S. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Chang, S. , Lianne Michelle Lefsrud,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. , Rongfu Huang, Muhammad Arshad, Mingyu Li, Youngbin Joo, Selamawit Messele, Jin-Hyeob Kwak, Md Shahinoor Islam, Siyuan Wang, Abdallatif Abdalrhman, Stephanie Chute-Ibsen, Abimbola Ojekanmi, Rui Qin, Lei Zhang, Irum Zahara
T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H, T10-P04A Reclaimed Resilient Land And Water Systems – Water Poster presented at the Future Energy Systems (FES) Research Open House and Poster Session, October 12, 2017, University of Alberta.T10-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2017-10-12 Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Naeth, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. , Lianne Michelle Lefsrud,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. T10-P04 Reclaimed Resilient Land And Water Systems – Land Poster presented at the Future Energy Systems (FES) Research Open House and Poster Session, October 12, 2017, University of Alberta. T10-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2017-10-12 Naeth, M. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. , Lianne Michelle Lefsrud,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. T10-P04 Reclaimed Resilient Land And Water Systems – Success Indicators Poster presented at the Future Energy Systems (FES) Research Open House and Poster Session, October 12, 2017, University of Alberta.
T10-P04, T10-P04H University of Alberta Activity 2017-10-12 Jennings, D. ,
Naeth, M. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. , Lianne Michelle Lefsrud,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. T10-P04, T10-P04H Materials Synthesis and Development For Utilization In Land And Water Reclamation T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H University of Alberta Activity 2018-10-03 Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Naeth, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. ,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H Resilient Reclaimed Land And Water Systems T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H University of Alberta Activity 2018-10-03 Naeth, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. ,
Siddique, T. ,
Ullah, A. T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H Research And Innovation Award For Outstanding Research Contributions T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Award 2018-09-01 T10-P04, T10-P04C Resilient Reclaimed Land And Water Systems Workshop Annual theme workshop held to share research results to date and discuss theme's future directions. This year we had a number of guests from Alberta Environment and Parks attend. T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H University of Alberta Activity 2018-12-11 Naeth, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. , Pamela Chelme-Ayala,
Wilkinson, S. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Chang, S. ,
Ullah, A. , Zhanji Zhang, Mingyu Li, Irum Zahara, Stephanie Chute-Ibsen, Laura Bony,
Zhao, Y. ,
Dhar, A. , Selamawit Messele, Rongfu Huang, Abdallatif Abdalrhman, Lei Zhang, Siyuan Wang, Maggie Cascadden, Kylie Heales, Rui Qin, Lingjun Meng, Zhijun Luo, Chelsea Benally, Rosheen Tetzlaff,
Yang, L. ,
" Gary Byrtus
" ,
" Chi Chen
" ,
" Kyle Jones
" ,
" Premee Mohamed
" ,
" Natasha Page
" ,
" Shane Patterson
" , Kenneth Tam
T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H Bio-sorbents From Keratin Biopolymers For The Treatment Of Wastewater PresentationT10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Activity 2018-12-11 T10-P04, T10-P04C Additive manufacturing ferromagnetic polymers using stereolithography – Materials and process development Magnetic field responsive polymer composites find applications in many electrical and electronic devices. In this study, composites with magnetic fillers were manufactured using a stereolithography based AM process. Magnetic suspensions developed with an objective of controlling particle settling were characterized for rheological properties. A stereolithography based commercial 3D printer was utilized to fabricate components using the developed magnetic suspensions. Resulting magnetic composite structures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, a coordinate measuring machine and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Through this research an enhanced understanding of filler modified polymers development, material behaviour and the process for manufacturing magnetic field responsive composites using stereolithography is obtained.T06-P03 University of Alberta Publication 2019-08-01 T06-P03 Future Energy Systems (FES) Resilient Reclaimed Land and Water Systems Workshop Future Energy Systems (FES) Resilient Reclaimed Land and Water Systems Workshop, University of Alberta, January 07, 2020. 7-395 Donadeo Innovation Centre for Engineering (ICE). 22 research presentations; 35 participants.T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H, T10-P04I University of Alberta Activity 2020-01-07 Naeth, M. ,
Gamal El-Din, M. ,
Jennings, D. ,
Chang, S. ,
Boluk, Y. ,
Siddique, T. ,
Adamowicz, V. ,
Ullah, A. ,
Serpe, M. ,
Wilkinson, S. , Pamela Chelme-Ayala, Grant K Hauer,
Yang, L. , Christopher Nzediegwu, Soliu Ganiyu, Shailesh Sable, Zuo Tong How, Muhammad Arslan, Vartuhi Tonoyan,
Zhao, Y. , Irum Zahara, Stephanie Chute-Ibsen, Maggie Cascadden, Kylie Heales, Qiuyun Lu, Lingjun Meng, Monsuru Suara, Deborah Crominski da Silva Medeiros, Akeem Olawale Bello, Zhexuan An, Yue Ju, Zhanji Zhang, Huile Gu, Kenneth Tam, Catherine Tays
T10-P04, T10-P04B, T10-P04E, T10-P04F, T10-P04H, T10-P04I Low Cost Bio-Sorbents From Keratin Biopolymers For The Treatment Of Wastewater Produced During Energy Generation Poster and oral presentation.T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Activity 2019-06-06 T10-P04, T10-P04C Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) Award Finalists 2019 One of three selected as finalists for the Outstanding Achievement in Energy & Environmental Innovation award as part of ASTech Awards.T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Award 2019-09-01 T10-P04, T10-P04C Fuel, Thermal And Surface Properties Of Microwave-Pyrolyzed Biochars Depend On Feedstock Type And Pyrolysis Temperature T10-P04, T10-P04A University of Alberta Publication 2020-10-19 T10-P04, T10-P04A Feather Keratin Derived Sorbents For The Treatment Of Wastewater Produced During Energy Generation Processes T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Publication 2020-10-19 T10-P04, T10-P04C Novel Materials From Renewable Resources For Water Remediation T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Activity 2021-03-11 T10-P04, T10-P04C Feather Keratin Derived Sorbents For The Treatment Of Wastewater Produced During Energy Generation Processes T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Activity 2020-12-08 T10-P04, T10-P04C Alberta Science and Technology (ASTech) Award For Outstanding Achievement In Energy And Environment 2022 T10-P04, T10-P04C University of Alberta Award 2022-10-01 T10-P04, T10-P04C Current progress in lipid-based biofuels: Feedstocks and production technologies Juli Wang, Stacy D. Singer, Bernardo A. Souto, Justice Asomaning, Aman Ullah, David C. Bressler, Guanqun Chen, Current progress in lipid-based biofuels: Feedstocks and production technologies,
Bioresource Technology, Volume 351, 2022, 127020, ISSN 0960-8524, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127020.T01-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2022-03-17 " Juli Wang
" , Stacy D Singer, Bernardo Araujo Souto, Justice Asomaning,
Ullah, A. , David C. Bressler,
" Guanqun Chen
" T01-P06 Utilizing Surface Modified Poultry Feathers For Senary Multi-Metal Water Purification: Kinetic And Thermodynamic Behavior Of Heavy Metal-Laden Biosorbent T10-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2025-07-17 T10-P04 pH-Fractionated lignin enables high-selectivity, chlorine-tolerant polyester thin-film composite nanofiltration membranes olyamide thin-film composite (TFC) membranes provide high permeability and strong ion rejection in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis, but oxidants like chlorine can impair their long-term performance. To overcome this, alternative chemistries are needed to improve durability while maintaining separation efficiency. Lignin-based polyester TFC membranes are promising, offering better antifouling and chlorine resistance. However, their lower salt rejection hampers wider adoption. Here, we used distinct molecular-weight fractions of lignin to fabricate polyester TFC membranes and assessed how fraction-specific physicochemical properties govern membrane structure and performance. Lignin was separated into five fractions (B1–B5) via pH fractionation. Among the resulting membranes, the B4-derived TFC (M-B4) achieved the best overall performance, delivering 98% rejection of Na2SO4 and 41% rejection of NaCl with a water flux of 45 LMH. The B4 fraction isolated at pH 3.1, with a smaller particle size and a high phenolic hydroxyl content (2.1 mmol g−1), yielded a highly crosslinked polyester with increased hydrophilicity and surface roughness. M-B4 also exhibited excellent antifouling performance, with a flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 99% after three cycles, and strong operational stability, with only a 2% reduction in Na2SO4 rejection and a 5.5% decrease in water flux after 12 h of extended filtration. Additionally, after four days of chlorine exposure, Na2SO4 rejection decreased by just 2%, while water flux increased by 9%. Finally, we performed a cost analysis for large-scale manufacturing and benchmarked the estimated production cost against reported prices for conventional polyamide TFC membranes. This innovative yet simple strategy positions lignin-based polyester membranes as sustainable and efficient alternatives to polyamide membranes.T10-A02 University of Alberta Publication 2026-04-15 T10-A02 Lignin Depolymerization: A Sustainable Strategy to Enhance the Separation Performance of Biopolymeric Polyester Membranes Membrane technology remains essential for water treatment and desalination. While polyamide thin-film composite (TFC) membranes dominate the industry, their susceptibility to fouling reduces efficiency and shortens operational lifespan. Advanced chemical modification strategies have been developed to overcome this challenge, aiming to improve membrane performance and durability. Polyester-based TFC membranes offer a promising alternative, providing a negatively charged surface. However, their lower salt rejection than polyamide membranes remains a key limitation. In this study, we investigated the application of depolymerized lignin, a naturally abundant biopolymer, as a phenolic monomer for fabricating polyester TFC membranes. The native lignin has a much larger molecular size compared to conventional monomers, which limits its diffusion and reactivity during membrane formation. We utilized a microwave-assisted depolymerization technique to fractionate lignin into smaller moieties, resulting in oligomeric/monomeric lignin with a lower molecular mass and higher reactive sites. This approach enabled faster membrane fabrication and significantly improved membrane performance. The membranes fabricated by depolymerized lignin exhibited substantially improved salt rejection, achieving up to 98.8 % for sodium sulfate and 54 % for sodium chloride removal. The developed membranes exhibited excellent antifouling properties, as demonstrated by sodium alginate fouling tests, with a flux recovery ratio of over 85 %. This research presents an innovative approach to enhancing non-polyamide TFC membranes, opening up new possibilities for eco-friendly and efficient membrane technologies in practical desalination applications.
T10-A02 University of Alberta Publication 2025-10-15 T10-A02 Innovative hybrid approach for enhanced PFAS degradation and removal: Integrating membrane distillation, cathodic electro-Fenton, and anodic oxidation Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent environmental contaminants that pose significant toxicity risks to humans and ecosystems. Traditional advanced oxidation processes using boron-doped diamond (BDD) anodes degrade PFAS in wastewater effectively but suffer from slow kinetics and high energy costs, limiting commercial application. This study introduces a hybrid process combining cathodic electro-Fenton (EF), anodic oxidation via a BDD anode, and membrane distillation (MD) to improve perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) degradation efficiency and reduce energy use. Increasing the current density from 50 to 500 A/m2 significantly raised the concentration of produced H2O2 from 0.25 mM to 2.3 mM, accelerating PFOA degradation and mineralization. At 50 A/m2, no mineralization of PFOA occurred in the EF/BDD process, while the EF/BDD-MD process achieved 45% mineralization due to increased PFOA concentration in the electrolytic cell. At 500 A/m2, the EF/BDD-MD process achieved 95% PFOA mineralization. Findings reveal that while EF-generated •OH radicals assist degradation, the BDD(•OH) anode was the primary driver, driving 80% of the reaction. This degradation was initiated by direct electron transfer at the BDD surface, followed by homogeneous and heterogeneous •OH radicals enhancing the degradation and mineralization process. The hybrid process also lowered energy consumption, making the treatment feasible for large scales.
T10-A02 University of Alberta Publication 2025-04-15 T10-A02
