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Barun Gupta

The United Nations (UN) and the World Bank have repeatedly emphasized the significance of sustainable management and use of land, forest, water and energy resources. Out of the said resources, the land resource has recorded the most... more
The United Nations (UN) and the World Bank have repeatedly emphasized the significance of sustainable management and use of land, forest, water and energy resources. Out of the said resources, the land resource has recorded the most number of conflicts in local, national and international levels."Land is a delineable area of the earth's terrestrial surface, encompassing all attributes of the biosphere, immediately above or below this surface, including those of the near-surface climate, the soil and terrain forms, the surface hydrology (including shallow lakes, rivers, marshes, and swamps), the near-surface sedimentary layers and associated groundwater reserve, the plant and animal populations, the human settlement pattern and physical results of past and present human activity (terracing, water storage or drainage structures, roads, buildings, etc.)" (UN Convention to Combat Desertification, 1994). Resources that can be quantified in economic terms can be of any size, e.g., individual, municipality, province, state, etc.. Sustainability ensures a better future for the future generation. The objective of this article is to study the relationship between various factors of sustainability and the pathways to define pathways for sustainability by environment education. Sustainability involves social, economic and political conditions. The increase in the rate of growth of human population and the consequent use of land for human activities has resulted in a loss of 7-11 million sq km of forest in the last 300 years. Adequate supply of safe, nutritious and sufficient food for the growing population is the persistent concern for all governments. Though, methodology and institutional framework is in use by different means in various nations, a question arises whether environment education is necessary for sustainability. This study concludes that a consolidated plan by legal, administrative, institutional procedure for a sound macroeconomic poverty reduction policy along with environment education may lead to a perfect roadmap towards a sustainable future.
Research Interests:
Decay pathogens follow dissimilar metabolic mechanisms to cause irreversible damage to woody tissues. The objective of this study is to perform inter- and intra-species microbial cell structural comparison using attenuated total... more
Decay pathogens follow dissimilar metabolic mechanisms to cause irreversible damage to woody tissues. The objective of this study is to perform inter- and intra-species microbial cell structural comparison using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Representative fungi species, causing brown rot and white rot, namely, Postia placenta and Trametes versicolor , respectively, were cultured in laboratory conditions. In vitro spectral measurements were performed at periodic two week intervals of fungal growth. The study shows structural differences for both species of fungi. The prominent presence of protein amide, carbohydrate and carboxyl bands was of interest. Spectral deconvolution of the infrared broadband around approximately 3300 cm −1 produced peaks at four different wavenumbers. The hydrogen bond energy obtained at the four wavenumbers, from deconvolution, varied from approximately 41 kJ mol −1 to approximately 7 kJ mol −1 , indicating the presen...
... Marie-Pierre G. Laborie a * ... To overcome the low adhesion levels of adhesives and coatings on WPCs, researchers have turned to surface activation methods including corona, flame, and chromic acid treatments [66. Akhtarkhavari , A.... more
... Marie-Pierre G. Laborie a * ... To overcome the low adhesion levels of adhesives and coatings on WPCs, researchers have turned to surface activation methods including corona, flame, and chromic acid treatments [66. Akhtarkhavari , A. , Kortschot , MT and Spelt , JK , Prog. Org. ...
ABSTRACT Predicting service life of cladding materials is a challenging task. Wooden claddings are the outermost part of the building envelopes and are commonly surface treated or impregnated to increase their durability and service life.... more
ABSTRACT Predicting service life of cladding materials is a challenging task. Wooden claddings are the outermost part of the building envelopes and are commonly surface treated or impregnated to increase their durability and service life. There are a number of factors that affect the durability of the wooden claddings. Wind driven rain, solar radiation, temperature, insects and decay fungi are prominent threats. Natural outdoor exposure is needed along with simulated laboratory exposure to compare the findings. In this study, wooden claddings have been aged in outdoor exposure at a field test site in Trondheim and artificially weathered in an Atlas Solar Simulator. The objective is to evaluate the efficacy of the FTIR spectroscopy in predicting service life. Attenuated total reflectance - Fourier transform infrared (ATRFTIR) spectroscopy has been used as a surface characterizing tool to quantify the wood degradation. Altogether, four types of wood materials were studied, i.e. three untreated and one treated wood type. Preliminary results show that spectral peaks originating from surface concentrated cellulose and lignin might be considered as the two main wood components to determine the quality of wood during ageing. Treatments with preservative chemicals affect surface properties before, during and after ageing. The impact of roughness on cladding surface, during artificial and outdoor exposures, has also been studied. Future research involves quantitative spectral analysis in order to evaluate the scope of FTIR among other parameters to predict durability and service life.
ABSTRACT Claddings or façades are the outer part of building envelopes. In this study, wooden claddings are exposed to natural and accelerated weathering. The natural climate exposure was performed at a field test site located in... more
ABSTRACT Claddings or façades are the outer part of building envelopes. In this study, wooden claddings are exposed to natural and accelerated weathering. The natural climate exposure was performed at a field test site located in Trondheim, Norway. Accelerated climate exposure was performed in the laboratory in an Atlas SC600 MHG solar simulator. Attenuated total reflectance – Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy was used to characterise surfaces. The objective was to assess degradation by use of FTIR and thereby see how this may be applied to evaluate the service life of wood. Four types of wooden materials were studied; three untreated and one treated with chromated copper arsenate. Surface concentrated cellulose and lignin are the primary wood components used to determine the quality and durability of wood during ageing. It was found that treatment with preservative chemicals and surface roughness has definitive impacts on cladding surfaces and change to the chemical properties of the materials during ageing. The acceleration factor deduced from the Arrhenius equation shows that an increase in temperature lowers the service life of cellulose at a higher rate than the other wood components.
... Marie-Pierre G. Laborie a * & Barun Gupta b pages 830-846. ... View all references]. Common surface activation methods that have been evaluated on WPCs include treatments with corona, flame, oxygen plasma, benzophenone/UV... more
... Marie-Pierre G. Laborie a * & Barun Gupta b pages 830-846. ... View all references]. Common surface activation methods that have been evaluated on WPCs include treatments with corona, flame, oxygen plasma, benzophenone/UV irradiation, and chromic acid. ...
... molded WPCs. For cold molded WPCs, corona treatment further increased the peel force by another four folds. The corona treatment acted by increasing the surface energy and improving the wettability of the substrate [5]. Another ...