Role
Muhammad Zaheer is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry
Career overview
Dr Muhammad Zaheer is Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry at Nottingham Trent University and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). His research focuses on developing advanced catalytic materials for sustainable chemical manufacturing, with particular interests in heterogeneous catalysis, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), biomass valorisation, carbon dioxide utilisation, and green hydrogen technologies. His work integrates catalyst design, advanced materials characterisation, electrochemistry, and analytical chemistry to address global challenges in clean energy, resource efficiency, and the circular economy.
Before joining NTU, Muhammad held academic positions at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), where he established an internationally recognised research programme in sustainable catalysis and supervised numerous postgraduate researchers. He was awarded a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis (LIKAT), Germany, working with Professor Matthias Beller on advanced catalytic materials.
Muhammad has published more than 50 peer-reviewed research articles in leading international journals, secured competitive research funding as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator, and actively collaborates with academic and industrial partners in the UK, Europe and Asia. His current research aims to develop next-generation catalytic systems that accelerate the transition towards net-zero chemical manufacturing and a sustainable circular economy.
Research areas
Muhammad Zaheer's research focuses on the design of advanced catalytic materials and analytical technologies to enable sustainable chemical manufacturing, renewable energy, and the circular economy. His research integrates heterogeneous catalysis, functional materials, electrochemistry, and analytical chemistry to address global challenges in energy transition, resource efficiency, and environmental sustainability. Current research themes include:
- Catalyst Discovery and Design: Rational design of heterogeneous catalysts and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) through molecular and structural engineering to improve catalytic activity, selectivity, and long-term stability.
- Circular Carbon and Resource Utilisation: Development of catalytic processes for converting biomass, waste plastics, carbon dioxide, and other industrial waste streams into sustainable fuels, chemicals, and value-added materials.
- Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy: Design of next-generation catalysts and functional materials for green hydrogen production, electrochemical energy conversion, and hydrogen storage technologies, including liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs).
- Environmental Materials and Separation Technologies: Development of advanced porous materials, membranes, and catalytic systems for air and water purification, pollutant removal, and industrial environmental remediation.
- Environmental and Analytical Chemistry: Development of analytical methods and sensing technologies for environmental monitoring, including particulate matter characterisation, trace contaminant analysis, and advanced spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.
Publications
Sustainable Catalysis and Circular Chemistry
- Zaheer, M.; Kempe, R. Catalytic Hydrogenolysis of Aryl Ethers: A Key Step in Lignin Valorization to Valuable Chemicals. ACS Catalysis 2015, 5, 1675–1684.
- Forberg, D.; Schwob, T.; Zaheer, M.; Friedrich, M.; Miyajima, N.; Kempe, R. Single-catalyst High-Weight% Hydrogen Storage in an N-Heterocycle Synthesized from Lignin Hydrogenolysis Products and Ammonia. Nature Communications 2016, 7, 13201.
- Huda, N. U.; Ul-Hamid, A.; Zaheer, M. A Silica-Supported Palladium Oxide Catalyst Selectively Cleaves Ether Linkages in Lignin Model Compounds and Alkali Lignin via Intramolecular Hydrogen Transfer. RSC Advances 2025, 15, 5989–5999.
- Ul Huda, N.; Ul-Hamid, A.; Zaheer, M. Mesoporous Silica (MCM-41) Containing Dispersed Palladium Nanoparticles as Catalyst for Dehydrogenation, Methanolysis and Reduction Reactions. ChemPlusChem 2023, 88, e202300338.
Advanced Functional Materials and Metal–Organic Frameworks
- Ullah, I.; Zulfiqar, F.; Zaheer, M. Unveiling the Role of Molybdenum Doping in Bimetallic Metal–Organic Frameworks for Advanced Oxygen Evolution Reaction Performance. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2026, 18, 1565–1575.
- Iqbal, B.; Saleem, M.; Arshad, S. N.; Rashid, J.; Hussain, N.; Zaheer, M. One-Pot Synthesis of Heterobimetallic Metal–Organic Frameworks for Multifunctional Catalysis. Chemistry – A European Journal 2019, 25, 10490–10498.
- Zaheer, M.; Schmalz, T.; Motz, G.; Kempe, R. Polymer Derived Non-Oxide Ceramics Modified with Late Transition Metals. Chemical Society Reviews 2012, 41, 5102–5116.
Hydrogen and Sustainable Energy
- Ullah, I.; Zaheer, M. Enhancing Activity and Stability of Bimetallic Metal–Organic Frameworks for Overall Electrochemical Water Splitting through Nanocomposite Formation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2025, 105, 179–188.
- Akbar, A.; Ullah, I.; Arshad, S. N.; Zaheer, M. Enhancing Oxygen Evolution Reaction Activity through Linker Functionalization in Manganese-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks. ChemElectroChem 2025, 12, e202400704.
- Iqbal, B.; Laybourn, A.; O'Shea, J. N.; Argent, S. P.; Zaheer, M. Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution over Micro- and Mesoporous Cobalt Metal–Organic Frameworks. Molecular Catalysis 2022, 531, 112711.
- Rashid, J.; Parveen, N.; Haq, T. U.; Iqbal, A.; Talib, S. H.; Awan, S. U.; Hussain, N.; Zaheer, M. g-C₃N₄/CeO₂/Fe₃O₄ Ternary Composite as an Efficient Bifunctional Catalyst for Overall Water Splitting. ChemCatChem 2018, 10, 5587-5592.
- Ahmad, F.; Khawar; Faisal, M.; Yousuf, M.; Zaheer, M.; Çitoğlu, S.; Duran, H.; Arshad, S. N. Sequential MOF-Derived Strategy for Uniformly Dispersed ZnO/Co₃O₄ Nanocrystals in Porous Carbon Nanofibers for Supercapacitors. ACS Applied Engineering Materials 2026.
Carbon Capture and Environmental Technologies
- Ahmad, H.; Hou, R.; Pan, Y.; Zaheer, M.; Abdala, A.; Chen, T.-H.; Akhtar, F. H. Flexible Bimetallic MIL-88B MOFs for Tunable Transport in Pebax Mixed Matrix Membranes for CO₂/CH₄ Separation. ACS Applied Engineering Materials 2026.
- Gul, I.; Khan, Z. U.; Galani, S.; Huda, S.; Khan, L. U.; Juwhari, H. K.; Hyder, A.; Brito, H. F.; Zaheer, M.; Khan, M. A. Gd³⁺ and Sm³⁺ Ions Modulated Visible-Light-Emitting ZnSe:Mn²⁺ Nanocrystals for Detection of Pb²⁺ and Hg²⁺. ACS Applied Optical Materials 2025, 3, 2067–2077.
Muhammad 's research addresses the following SDGs: 6-Clean Water and Sanitation; 7-Affordable and Clean Energy; 9-Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 12-Responsible Consumption and Production.
