Professor
Texas A&M University System Regents Professor and Department Head,
Department of Chemistry and Physics
Phone: (936) 261-3107 Email: asamarasekara@pvamu.edu
Office: 230AH Elmer E. O’Banion Science Building,
Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View TX 77446 USA
Education
Ph.D. – The City University of New York, NY, USA, 1985,
B.Sc. – University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1979
Biography
Ananda Amarasekara received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the City University of New York in 1985. After his Ph.D., he worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Bar-Ilan University, Israel from 1985-1987. He joined Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX in 2003 and, presently he is the Texas A&M University System Regents Professor in Chemistry and Department Head, Department of Chemistry and Physics. For his current research projects, he has received funding from numerous funding agencies including; NSF, USDA, DoE, DoD, ACS-PRF and Welch Foundation. He has supervised 32 graduate students and published more than 160 research publications in peer – reviewed journals. He serves in the editorial boards of Bioenergy Research, Fuels and Current Catalysis Journals. He is the author of the book “Handbook of Cellulosic Ethanol” published by John Wiley, New York, 2014.
Work History
- 8/2021 – Present – Head, Department of Chemistry and Physics9/2013 – Present – Professor,
Department of Chemistry, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas - 8/2009 – 8/2013 – Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry
Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Texas - 8/2003 – 7/2009 – Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Prairie View A&M
University, Prairie View, Texas - 8/2000 – 7/2003 – Research Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry,
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas - 10/1997 – 7/2000 – Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry,
University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka - 1/1988 – 10/1997 – Senior Lecturer, Department of Chemistry,
University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Awards and Honors
- Texas A&M System Regents Professor – 2024
-
Feature article – Houston Style Magazine, March 1st, 2024
- Marvin D. and June Samuel Brailsford College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award for the 2011-12 Academic year
- Visiting Scientist Fellowship Award, Center for Molecular Architecture, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, Australia (1995-1997)
Teaching Interests
Instrumental Analysis CHEM 5332
Identification of Organic Compounds CHEM 5441
RESEARCH
Research Interests
Renewable electrical energy storage technologies and sustainable biofuels
Research Projects
(1). Li-Ion Battery Recycling
With the wide use of Li-ion batteries for energy storage in electric vehicles and other applications disposal or recycling of used batteries is becoming a critical research challenge. The electrode coating of common Li-ion batteries black material is composed of valuable Li, Ni, Mn, and Co critical metal containing compounds mixed with graphite carbon. This project involves the development of an inexpensive organic acid based as well as sugar and oxygen-based hydrothermal extraction method for the recovery of Li, Ni, Mn, Co and re-synthesis of active electrode material LiNMC, which is then used in reassembly of the battery. Technology developed can reduce the cost of Li-ion batteries, electric vehicles, and promote the storage of solar and wind-generated electrical energy.
(2). Catalytic Conversion of Polysaccharide Fraction in Lignocellulosic Biomass to Sustainable Aviation Fuel
This project involves development of catalytic methods for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to a hydrocarbon mixture to be used as a sustainable aviation fuel as shown below. In the first step, polysaccharide fraction in lignocellulosic biomass is hydrolyzed to a mixture of water soluble oligosaccharides of less than five sugar units and monosaccharides. A cellulase enzyme mimicking acidic ionic liquid based catalyst is used in depolymerization hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose in biomass. A large variety of high cellulose biomass forms such as corn stover, poplar and switchgrass can be used as feedstock in the first reactor. The lignin separated as a byproduct will be further processed to produce chemicals and sustainable polymer feedstocks. Next, the oligosaccharide and monosaccharide mixture is processed in a second reactor using a mixed metal oxide heterogeneous catalyst to give C5-C20 range hydrocarbon bio-crude oil. In the second reactor, sugar derived C5-C6 polyols and carbonyls are coupled through C-C bond formation reactions and these intermediates are deoxygenated to produce linear and branched alkanes comparable to light petroleum crude, which can be processed in conventional petroleum refineries to aviation fuels. The deoxygenation of polyol intermediates to corresponding alkanes is a major challenge in the complex process and in most cases this can be achieved through dehydration of alcohols to alkenes followed by the catalytic reductions using heterogeneous catalysts with proper combination of alternative Lewis/Brönsted acid sites and metal/metal oxide hydrogenation sites on the same catalytic surface.
Selected Recent Publications (Total > 160 Publications)
h index 40, i10 index 87, > 5800 citations
[1]. The Sustainable and Green Management of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries Through Hydroxy Acid Recycling and Direct Regeneration of Active Positive Electrode Material: A Review. Ambar B. Shrestha, Ananda S. Amarasekara. Batteries. 2025, 11, 68. DOI:10.3390/ batteries11020068
[2]. MS-Based Characterization of Biomass-Derived Materials: Activated Carbons and Solvent Liquefaction Products. Cristian D. Gutierrez Reyes, Sherifdeen Onigbinde, Ananda S. Amarasekara, Moyinoluwa Adeniyi, Joy Solomon, Herson A. Gonzalez Ponce and Yehia Mechref. Polymers. 2025, 17(3), 258. DOI:10.3390/polym17030258
[3]. A Comprehensive Review of Thermophysical Properties of Energetic Ionic Liquids. Aishorjo Bablee, Ananda S. Amarasekara, Jorge Gabitto, Ariful Bhuiyan, Nabila Shamim. Energies. 2025, 18(2), 267. DOI:10.3390/en18020267
[4]. Comparative Performance of Fe-MOx/SiO2 (M = V, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu and Mo) type Bimetallic Oxide Catalysts with FeOx/SiO2 in Reductive Liquefaction of Switchgrass in Ethanol. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Gabriel Murillo Morales, Raghava R. Kommalapati. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. 2024. DOI: 10.1002/bbb.2720
[5]. Chemical Modifications of Kombucha SCOBY Bacterial Cellulose Films by Citrate and Carbamate Cross-Linking. Ananda S. Amarasekara, , Ambar B Shrestha, Deping Wang. Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications. 2024, 8, 1000595. DOI: 10.1016/j.carpta.2024.100595
[6]. Vanillin based polymers: VI. Poly(hydrovanilloin – furfural) and poly(hydrovanilloin – 5-hydroxymethylfurfural). Ananda S. Amarasekara, Gabriel Murillo Morales, Raghava R. Kommalapati. Journal of Renewable Materials. 2024, 12(9), 1495-1506. DOI: org/10.32604/jrm.2024.052373
[7]. Oxidative coupling of furfural with alcohols to 2-alkyl-3-(2-furyl) acroleins using Li-ion battery waste based LiNiaMnbCocOd /graphite catalyst. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Ambar B. Shrestha, Deping Wang. Tetrahedron Green Chem. 2024, 3, 100046. DOI: 10.1016/j.tgchem.2024.100046
[8]. Efficient leaching of Li, Ni, Mn and Co from spent Li-ion lap-top battery combined electrode coatings using lactic, glycolic acid mixtures and regeneration of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide through pyrolysis of chelate sol-gel. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Deping Wang, Ambar B. Shrestha. Batteries. 2024, 10(6), 170. DOI:10.3390/batteries10060170
[9]. Two step Synthesis of poly(Lactic-co-Glycolic acid) from Glycerol by Spent Li-Ion Battery Electrode LiNixCoyMnzO2/C Catalyzed Oxidation to Lactic, Glycolic Acid Mixture and p-TsOH – SnCl2 Catalyzed Polymerization. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Hashini N. K. Herath, Deping Wang. Chemical Papers. 2024, 78, 5019-5029. DOI:10.1007/s11696-024-03449-8
[10]. Microwave Assisted Extraction of Lithium from Hectorite Clay. Ananda S. Amarasekara,
Lauren J. Leday, Deping Wang. Geo System Engineering. 2024, 27(3), 108-117. DOI:10.1080/12269328.2024.2338087
[11]. Facile Recovery of Lithium as Li2CO3 or Li2O from a-Hydroxy-Carboxylic Acid Chelates through Pyrolysis and the Decomposition Mechanism. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Ambar B. Shrestha. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 2024, 179, 106471. DOI:10.1016/j.jaap.2024.106471
[12]. Hydroxy Sulfonic acid Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Cellulose. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Victor C. Nwankwo and Harshica Fernando. Biofuels. 2024, 15(2), 147-153. DOI:10.1080/17597269.2023.2221969
[13]. A Comparison of Dilute Aqueous Isethionic acid and Sulfuric acid in Hydrolysis of Three Different Untreated Lignocellulosic Biomass Varieties. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Victor C. Nwankwo. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. 2023, 62, 20037-20043. DOI:10.1021/acs.iecr.3c02314
[14]. Decarboxylative-Dimerization of levulinic acid using spent Li-ion battery electrode material with Li- Nickel Cobalt Manganese Oxide as a Catalyst. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Deping Wang. Fuel Processing Technology. 2023, 250,107913. DOI:10.1016/j.fuproc.2023. 107913
[15]. Synthesis and Characterization of a New Cellulose Ether Derivative: Sodium Levulinate Cellulose. Ananda S. Amarasekara, Lauren J. Leday, Deping Wang, Cristian D. Gutierrez. Reyes. Macromolecular Research. 2023, 31(10), 941-948. DOI: 10.1007/s13233-023-00179-w
Book
Handbook of Cellulosic Ethanol, Author: Ananda S. Amarasekara
John-Wiley & Sons, New York, 2014, ISBN: 978-1118233009, 608 pages, 89 illustrations
