Professor Sabu Thomas is currently an Emeritus Professor of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was the former Vice Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. He is a Senior Professor of Christ University, Bangalore, India. He is also a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, and an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Polymer and Process Engineering, IIT Roorkee, India. He is the Chairman of the TrEST Research Park, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The H index of Professor Thomas is 163 and he has more than 133,000 citationsDr. 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.
