Dr. Khaled Sebakhy

Areas of Research Interest

Sustainable Polymers, Bio-based Polymers, Polymer Chemistry, Polysaccharides, Living/”controlled” radical polymerization, Hydrogels, Soft Matter, Green Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Heterogeneous Catalysis, Photocatalysis

RAFT Macromolecular Engineering of Green Bio-based Coatings from Butyrolactone Biorenewable Monomers Project

Current environmental constraints along with the depletion of fossil fuels necessitate the use of greener materials in society. Biobased monomers are the most sustainable, renewable, abundant and ubiquitous biomass available in nature, as they are present in plants. The reactivity of biobased monomers in free radical polymerizations will be assessed via pulsed laser polymerization in conjunction with size exclusion chromatography (PLP-SEC) which is a reliable technique that is recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). The RAFT polymerization method will then be applied to a variety of butyrolactone monomer droplets dispersed in a green continuous phase (i.e. water) to produce polymeric nanoparticles with well-defined molar mass distributions (MMDs), particle size distributions (PSDs) and architectures. This will be achieved via the use of a novel thermoresponsive polymeric surfactant that shall enable perfect tuning of particle sizes and molar masses, decoupling of particle sizes from molar masses, in addition to the production of stable polymer latexes. The final polymer latexes shall find applications as biobased coatings with high thermal stability and enhanced optical properties.

1. M Refaat, K Sebakhy, M Saad, M ElRakaiby, M Habib, M Ismail, Scientific Reports 2026, 16, 24139.
2. K Derkaoui, K Sebakhy, K Boukhouidem, A Brik, Y Mebdoua, M El Hariri El Nokab, A Abd El-Fattah, T Hadjersi, I Bencherifa, Ceramics International 2026, 11, 1058.
3. M Ul-Islam, F Habis, A Fatima, A Al Saidi, A Shehzad, F Koofan, F Almashli, A Ahmed, A Kashoob, M Ullah, S Khan, M El Hariri El Nokab, M Ali, K Sebakhy, Materials Advances 2026, 7, 4293-4306.
4. M El Hariri El Nokab, C Vojvodin, O Alghazwat, E Abu Zeitoun, M Vanderveken, E Caron, I Gautam, D Debnath, B Husband, F Hatton, C Martin-Olmos, F Marchesini, T Wang, M Ul-Islam, K Sebakhy, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 2026, 341, 150321.
5. M Ullah, M Ul-Islam, A Shehzad, S Manan, S Ul Islam, A Fatima, A Al-Saidi, M El Hariri El Nokab, J Sanchez, K Sebakhy, Macromolecular Materials and Engineering 2025, e00251.
6. M El Hariri El Nokab, J Es Sayed, F De Witte, K Dewettinck, A Elshewy, Z Zhang, P Van Steenberge, T Wang, K Sebakhy, Food Hydrocolloids 2024, 154, 110159.
7. O Harris, R Larder, B Jordan, I Prior, R El-Khoury, K Sebakhy, F Hatton, Chemical Communications 2024, 60, 14399.
8. A Elshewy, M El Hariri El Nokab, J Es Sayed, Y Alassmy, M Abduljawad, D D’hooge, P Steenberge, M Habib, K Sebakhy, ACS Applied Polymer Materials 2024, 6, 115.
9. K Sebakhy, S Kessel, M Monteiro, Macromolecules 2010, 43, 9598.

1. Member, American Chemical Society, USA, (2013-Present)
2. Member, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, (2018-2013)
3. Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), USA, (2013-Present)
4. Member, Canadian Society of Chemical Engineers (CSChE), Canada, (2013-Present)
5. Member, Egyptian Engineers Syndicate, Egypt, (2004-Present)