Science and Technology of Silkworm Sericin

Sabu Thomas is the chairman at the Trivandrum Engineering Science and Technology Research Park (TrEST Research Park) and the former vice chancellor at the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He is also the director at the School of Energy Materials, the School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, and the International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. Prof. Thomas is also the former director at the School of Chemical Sciences and the founder of the School of Polymer Science and Technology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He received his Ph. D. in 1987 in Polymer Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. He has been ranked no.1 in India about the number of publications (most productive scientists). Prof. Thomas’s research group specialized areas of polymers which includes Polymer blends, Fiber filled polymer composites, Particulate-filled polymer composites and their morphological characterization, Ageing and degradation, Pervaporation phenomena, sorption and diffusion, Interpenetrating polymer systems, Recyclability and reuse of waste plastics and rubbers, Elastomer cross-linking, Dual porous nanocomposite scaffolds for tissue engineering, etc. Prof. Thomas’s research group has extensive exchange programs with different industries, research, and academic institutions all over the world and is performing world-class collaborative research in various fields. Professors Centre is equipped with various sophisticated instruments and has established state-of-the-art experimental facilities which cater to the needs of researchers within the country and abroad. His H Index- 133, Google Citations- 86424, Number of Publications- 1300, and Books-160. Dr. Rangam Rajkhowa received his bachelor’s degree in Textile Technology from Anna University, India; a master’s degree in Fibre Science and Technology from Indian Institute of Technology, India and a PhD in Engineering from Deakin University. Australia. He leads the silk and natural fibre particle stream of research at the Institute for Frontier Materials. His research interests are silk based biomaterials, value addition and new applications from natural fibres and fibre wastes, sustainable fibre and textile processing, and circular economy. He set up the fibre powder research facility at Deakin University and his group investigate sustainable production and advanced applications of particles from silk and other natural fibres. The group works on fundamental understanding of fibre and particle structures and properties but also has strong focus on interdisciplinary research applications using fibres. Sneha Sabu Mathew is a research scholar at Mahatma Gandhi University, India. She received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Pure Chemistry from Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Her current research activities include the development of novel biobased biodegradable polymer composites for edible coating and packaging applications. Projects undertaken at the Mahatma Gandhi University, India, include: assisted extraction of nanocellulose from pineapple fibres and its characterization; assisted preparation of nanocellulose based edible coating using natural extracts; assisted preparation of TiO2 nanoparticle and doping for enhanced properties; assisted electrospun TiO2 nanocomposites for dye degradation, synthesis and characterisation of prepared nanofibers. Hanna J. Maria is a Senior Researcher at the School of Energy Materials and the International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Her research focusses on natural rubber composites and their blends, thermoplastic composites, lignin, nanocellulose, bionanocomposites, nanocellulose, rubber-based composites and nanocomposites.