Department of Biotechnology (2011 - Present)
chemical engineering
, Amirkabir University of Technology,
Chemical Engineering - Biotechnology
, Amirkabir University of Technology,
Chemical Engineering - Process Design
, Iran University of Science and Technology,
Dr. S.M. Zamir holds BSc in Oil Process Design from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2005, and MSc and PhD in Bioprocess Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic) in 2007 and 2011, respectively. Then, he joined Bioprocess Engineering Department at Faculty of Chemical Engineering at Tarbiat Modares University as the assistant professor. His research group is currently working on the different fields of Environmental Biotechnology, such as: multiphase bioreactors for waste-gas treatment, biodegradation and co-metabolic degradation of hazardous compounds, wastewater treatment in the presence of metal oxide nano-particles, mathematical and artificial neural network modeling of bioprocesses.
Simultaneous biodegradation of n-hexane (H) and methanol (M) was studied in batch culture in the concentration range of 5−10 g m−3 and 1−5 g m−3, respectively, in the absence and presence of 5−10 % v/v silicone oil. The addition of oil likely increased the mass transfer of H and ended up to H removal efficiency (REH) improvement from 72 –86 % to 92–94 %. In contrast, M removal efficiency (REM) decreased from 15-–34 % to 6–24 %, due to an increase in the M partition coefficient from 0.00018 to 0.003. Based on statistical analysis, REH and REM of 90 % and 24 % were obtained at optimum condition of 5 g m−3, 1 g m−3, and 5 % v/v for H, M, and oil fraction, respectively. Kinetic study based on Michaelis- Menten for H biodeg
Addition of plant residues is an effective strategy for increasing soil nutrients, improving their use efficiency, providing better conditions for root growth and sustainable crop production. A field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of incorporation of varying rates of crop residue on the soil organic carbon and nutrients status at 0-10, and 10-20 cm soil depth, in a wheat-corn rotation under conventional tillage system. The field experiment was performed as a factorial and in the form of completely randomized block design with four replications in the farm of agricultural and natural resources college of University of Tehran for two growing years. The treatments included incorporation of five levels of crop residues (100, 75,
Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) with acceptable biocompatibility and size dependent magnetic properties can be used as efficient contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Herein, we have investigated the impact of particle size and surface coating on the proton relaxivity of IONPs, as well as engineering of small IONPs' surface coating as a strategy for achieving gadolinium free contrast agents. Accordingly, polymer coating using poly(isobutylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PMA) with overcoating of the original ligands was applied for providing colloidal stability to originally oleic acid capped IONPs in aqueous solution. In case of replacement of the original ligand shell the polymer had been modified with dopamine. Furthermore, the
A new biosorbent Ca-crosslinked pectin/lignocellulose nanofibers/chitin nanofibers (PLCN) was synthesized for cholesterol and bile salts adsorption from simulated intestinal fluid during gastric-intestinal passage. The physico-chemical properties of PLCN were studied using SEM, FTIR, XRD, DSC and BET. Before gastrointestinal passage, PLCN had an amorphous single-phase, compact structure formed via hydrogen and van der Waals bonds that revealed an irregular shape with the shriveled surface but watery condition and enzymatic digestion led to create a porous structure without destruction because of the water-insoluble nanofibers, therefore increasing the adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity reached 37.9 and 5578.4 mg/g for chol
This study was aimed to design a novel amphiphilic carrier based on schizophyllan (SPG) exopolysacharide for drug delivery. Stearic acid (SA) was used for the esterification of SPG with two degrees of substitutions (SA-SPG0.5 and SA-SPG1). The H NMR and FTIR spectroscopies verified the succesfull esterification of SPG. The polymeric micelles easily self-assembled into nanomicelles by ultrasound method. Fluorescence spectroscopy showed that the critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) of SA-SPG0.5 and SA-SPG1 micelles were 0.068 mg/mL and 0.027 mg/mL, respectively. DLS analyses showed that nanomicelles were ranged from 156 to 175 nm. SEM and TEM images showed that nanomicelles were mostly spherical. Paclitaxel (PTX) as a drug model was s
The aim of this study was the investigation of non-destructive lipid extraction from Chlorella vulgaris grown under stress conditions of nutrient limitation and salinity. To select a suitable solvent for extraction, the performances of decane, dodecane and hexadecane were tested based on their effect on lipid extraction and cell viability. The results showed that dodecane was the most suitable solvent for the extraction process. The concentration of extracted lipids from stressed cells was 2762.52???11.38?mg L−1, i.e. a value 1.75 times higher than that obtained from unstressed cells. Long-term extraction was also evaluated with continuous dodecane recirculation during five-stage extraction and a recovery time of 24?h between the extracti
The periodate modified gum arabic was used as a natural-based, non-toxic cross-linker to synthesize hybrid bovine serum albumin-gum arabic aldehyde (BSA-GAA) nanogels by Schiff base reaction through the inverse miniemulsion method for the first time. The synthesis process was performed in the absence of toxic organic solvents using fractionated coconut oil as the continuous phase. The particle size of the nanogels was managed by tweaking the concentration of the surfactants (Span 80/Tween 80) and the total volume of the aqueous phase. Based on the bicinchoninic acid method, the cross-linking efficiency of BSA and GAA was estimated at 98%. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was selected as the sample drug. The 5-FU-loaded hybrid nanogels showed a spheric
Schizophyllum commune is a wood-rotting filamentous fungus that secrets a homopolysaccharide called as schizophyllan. Schizophyllan has several applications such as enhanced oil recovery, pharmaceutical materials and an anti-cancer drug carrier. Biomass growth and schizophyllan production increase the viscosity of the cultivation medium, thus resulting in mass transfer limitation for the substrate. In this study, adding talc and aluminium oxide microparticles into the cultivation medium was studied to improve the fungal growth and morphology. The response surface methodology and one factor at a time were applied to find the effects of microparticles with different sizes and concentrations on the schizophyllan production. The optimum concent
IIn this research, the cotton fabric was modified with nanosized zinc oxide (ZnO)?by a simple and novel approach. The nanosized zinc oxide was prepared and deposited onto cotton fabrics by in situ method using zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(OAc)2.H2O) as precursors and sodium hydroxide, with and without starch as a capping agent. The size and morphology of nanosized zinc oxide?on cotton fabric in the presence and absence of starch were investigated. The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform InfraRed (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), and contact angle. The antibacterial activity of modified cotton was evalu
The performance of biotrickling filters (BTFs) has been significantly affected during the co-treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with different hydrophilicities. Removal of toluene vapor as a hydrophobic compound in the absence and presence of methanol as a hydrophilic pollutant was studied in a BTF. The inlet loading ranges were 18−36 g.m−3.h−1 for toluene and 0−225 g.m−3.h−1 for methanol at constant empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 60 s. The removal efficiency of toluene (RET) varied from 30 to 80 %, while RE of methanol (REM) remained almost constant at > 90 % within different phases of experiments due to the unlimited solubility in water. A comprehensive dynamic mathematical model consisting of mass transfer thr
The performance of biotrickling filters (BTFs) has been significantly affected during the co-treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with different hydrophilicities. Removal of toluene vapor as a hydrophobic compound in the absence and presence of methanol as a hydrophilic pollutant was studied in a BTF. The inlet loading ranges were 18-36 g.m-3. h-1 for toluene and 0-225 g.m-3. h-1 for methanol at constant empty bed residence time (EBRT) of 60 s. The removal efficiency of toluene (RET) varied from 30 to 80 %, while RE of methanol (REM) remained almost constant at > 90 % within different phases of experiments due to the unlimited solubility in water. A comprehensive dynamic mathematical model consisting of mass transfer thr
Schizophyllum commune is a wood-rotting filamentous fungus that secrets a homopolysaccharide called as schizophyllan. Schizophyllan has several applications such as enhanced oil recovery, pharmaceutical materials and an anti-cancer drug carrier. Biomass growth and schizophyllan production increase the viscosity of the cultivation medium, thus resulting in mass transfer limitation for the substrate. In this study, adding talc and aluminium oxide microparticles into the cultivation medium was studied to improve the fungal growth and morphology. The response surface methodology and one factor at a time were applied to find the effects of microparticles with different sizes and concentrations on the schizophyllan production. The optimum concent
Addition of plant residue is an effective strategy for increasing soil nutrient status, improve their use efficiency, providing better conditions for root growth, and sustainable crop production. A field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of incorporation of varying rates of crop residue on the soil organic carbon and nutrients status at 0-10, and 10-20 cm soil depth, in a wheat-corn rotation under conventional tillage system. The treatments included incorporation of five levels of crop residue (100, 75, 50, 25 and 0%), added following wheat and corn in the rotation. The results showed that more added residue resulted in stronger effects on the measured properties. In most cases, the maximum residue level (100%) resulted in grea
Escherichia coli is one of the most suitable hosts for production of antibodies and antibody fragments. Antibody fragment secretion to the culture medium improves product purity in cell culture and diminishes downstream costs. In this study, E. coli strain BL21 (DE3) harboring gene encoding bispecific anti‐MUC1 nanobody was selected, and the autoinduction methodology for expression of bispecific anti‐MUC1 nanobody was investigated. Due to the replacement of IPTG by lactose as inducer, less impurity and toxicity in the final product were observed. To increase both intracellular and extracellular nanobody production, initially, the experiments were performed for the key factors including temperature and duration of protein expression. Th
Mussel-inspired chemistry has been embodied as a method for acquiring multifunctional nanostructures. In this research, a novel mussel-inspired magnetic nanoflower was prepared through a mussel-inspired approach. Herein, magnetic PDA–Cu nanoflowers (NFs) were assembled via incorporating magnetic Fe3O4@SiO2–NH2 core/shell nanoparticles (NPs) into mussel-inspired polydopamine (PDA) and copper phosphate as the organic and inorganic portions, respectively. Accordingly, the flower-like morphology of MNPs PDA–Cu NFs was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the crystalline structure of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and copper phosphate. Vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) data
Clostridium acetobutylicum is widely used for the microbial production of butanol in a process known as acetone–butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation. However, this process suffers from several disadvantages including high oxygen sensitivity of the bacterium which makes the process complicated and necessitate oxygen elimination in the culture medium. Nesterenkonia sp. strain F has attracted interests as the only known non‐Clostridia microorganism with inherent capability of butanol production even in the presence of oxygen. This bacterium is not delimited by oxygen sensitivity, a challenge in butanol biosynthesis, but the butanol titer was far below Clostridia. In this study, Nesterenkonia sp. strain F was cocultivated with C. acetobuty
In this study, following encapsulation of ellagic acid (EA), an anti-cancer agent, loaded in schizophyllan (EA/SPG-NP) and chitin (EA/Ch-NP) nanoparticles, its release in 95% ethanol, and different mediums of digestive systems with pH ranging 1.5 to 7.4, were examined before investigating for treatment of breast cancer MCF-7cells. Following synthesis, the EA was characterized by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, DLS and zeta potential analysis. Loading capacity of schizophyllan and chitin were 30.08 and 79.52%, respectively, while SEM images indicated respective size distributions of 217.8 and 39.82?nm, with the corresponding zeta potentials being +27 and −9.14?mV. As EA was loaded in nanoparticles, antioxidant activity, examined by DPPH method, of the fr
The pharmaceutical and hygienic productivity of wastewater containing pollutants, especially heavy metals such as nickel, andmercury are brought into the nature. Recently, bio-removal of heavy metals has attracted significant attention as an eco-friendly approach for the research departments of the pharmaceutical companies. In the current study, removal of heavy metals including mercury and nickel was assessed using isolatediron-oxidizing bacteria from different sources. To this end, bacterial populations were isolated from a variety of aquatic ecosystems; including Mahallat Pond, mountainous rivers, iron industry wastewater, and treated industrial wastewater. The bacteria were cultured and purified in iron-oxidizing media after which the r
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