Vijay Kumar Thakur

Vijay Kumar Thakur is an Indian-born British materials scientist, biobased materials engineer, polymer chemist, academic and author whose research covers polymer science, nanotechnology, biomaterials, green chemistry, biorefining, sustainable materials, cellulose, nanocellulose, hydrogels, environmental remediation and energy materials.

His research has focused particularly on the development of functional materials from renewable resources and waste-derived feedstocks, including bioplastics, biomaterials, composites, sustainable packaging, hydrogels, membranes and materials for environmental and energy applications.

Education and career

Vijay studied chemistry, physics and mathematics at undergraduate level and subsequently obtained a B.Ed. and an M.Sc. in organic chemistry from Himachal Pradesh University. He received his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry in 2009 and later undertook postdoctoral research in materials science and engineering at Iowa State University.

His research appointments have included positions at Lunghwa University of Science and Technology in Taiwan, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Iowa State University, Washington State University and Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

His subsequent work has included nanocellulose foams produced from wood and hemp biomass residues.

This work received coverage in Converter Magazine concerning the potential packaging value of wood- and hemp-derived nanocellulose.

His research has also included hemp-based bioplastics incorporating reversible thermal crosslinking.

Another strand of his research has examined agricultural, livestock and other biological wastes as sources of higher-value cellulosic materials. Research on extracting cellulosic materials from ruminant waste streams received coverage from Phys.org and the University of Bristol.

Research on regenerated cellulose/curcumin composite fibres and the conversion of crop waste into materials for sustainable textiles also received coverage from Phys.org.

Hydrogels and biomedical materials

Thakur has researched bio-based and polysaccharide-derived hydrogels and nanomaterials for biomedical applications.

He co-authored a review in Applied Materials Today examining plant-based green hydrogels for applications including tissue engineering, drug delivery and wound treatment.

The research was subsequently discussed by AZoM in an article on plant-based hydrogels and their biomedical applications.

His work has also included polysaccharide hydrogels for wound healing, and sustainable chitosan-based nanocomposites for wound-dressing applications.

The chitosan research was covered by Phys.org in 2023.

His biomedical-materials research has additionally included hyaluronic acid- and chitosan-based nanosystems for delivery of the anticancer drug doxorubicin.

Environmental and agricultural applications

Thakur's research has addressed sustainable materials for water and air purification, environmental remediation and agricultural applications.

The work was subsequently discussed by Phys.org in coverage of cellulose-based approaches to sustainable water treatment.

In sustainable agriculture, Thakur co-authored a review in the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation on nanoparticle- and nanofiber-based seed coatings for germination, crop protection and controlled delivery of agricultural inputs.

His work has also considered supramolecular biopolymers, hydrogels, natural-polymer encapsulation systems and other functional materials for sustainable agriculture.

Energy and functional materials

Thakur's research has included electrochemical energy storage, fuel cells, supercapacitors, photocatalysis and functional nanomaterials.

His work in this area has additionally included graphene-based battery materials, magnesium-ion batteries, supercapacitor electrodes, MXene-based functional materials and electrocatalysts.