Guangdong-Technion Leadership in Science and Technology Lecture by Prof. Sotiris Pratsinis (ETH)

Title

Highly selective flame-made gas sensors (高选择性火焰气体传感器)

Speaker: Sotiris E. Pratsinis

Professor of Process Engineering & Materials Science

ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Host

Assoc. Prof. Panagiotis Grammatikopoulos (GTIIT MSE)

Time and Location

May. 29 2023, Monday, 7:00pm-8:00pm(Beijing Time), GTIIT Auditorium

Language

English

Abstract

The lecture will start with a fascinating overview of flame aerosol technology from ancient China to the bible printing by Gutenberg and to the current manufacture of nanostructured commodities (carbon black, fumed SiO2, pigmentary TiO2 and nanosilver among others).  Recent advances in understanding of combustion and aerosol formation and growth through multiscale process design, allow now inexpensive synthesis of nanoparticles with sophisticated composition, size and morphology by flame spray combustion at kg/h even at an academic institution [Chem. Eng. J., 421, 129884 (2021)] with such units now all over the world (UK, Spain, India etc.). These have led to synthesis of single noble atom heterogeneous catalysts, highly porous self-assembled lace-like or cauliflower-like gas sensing films and biomaterials. The research frontier now shifts to direct fabrication of highly-selective gas sensing devices by flame depositing nanoparticles onto microelectronics and preceding them with flame-made catalyst or adsorbing beds [Prog. Energy Combust. Sci. 90, 100992 (2022)]. This enables early detection of illnesses (i.e. diabetes) & monitoring of their treatment (i.e. obesity) by breath analysis as well as the revealing of liquor adulteration (i.e. methanol poisoning) and indoor air pollutants (i.e. formaldehyde, benzene etc.).

Biography

Professor Sotiris E. Pratsinis has a 1977 Diploma in Chemical Engineering from Aristotle Univ. of Thessaloniki, Greece and a 1985 PhD from Univ. of California, Los Angeles. He was in the faculty of the Univ. of Cincinnati, USA from 1985 to 1998 until he was elected Professor of Process Engineering & Materials Science at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. There he teaches Mass Transfer, Micro- & Nano-Particle Technology and Combustion Synthesis of Materials. He has graduated 46 PhDs, published 400+ articles, has filed 20+ patent families that are licensed to industry and have contributed to creation of four spinoffs. One of them (HeiQ Materials AG) was the first ever from ETH Zurich to enter the London Stock Exchange in December 2020.

His research on aerosol synthesis of materials and agglomerate dynamics has been recognized by the 1988 Kenneth T. Whitby award of the American Association of Aerosol Research, a 1989 Presidential Young Investigator award from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the 1995 Marian Smoluchowski award of the Gesellschaft für Aerosolforschung and the 2003 Thomas Baron award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). In 2009 he won an Advanced Investigator Grant from the European Research Council, in 2011 he received a Humboldt Research Award from Germany and in 2018 the Fuchs Award from the International Aerosol Assembly, the highest honor in aerosol science, worldwide, given every four years. In 2012 he was elected to the Swiss Academy of Engineering.

He is Associate Editor of the AIChE Journal and on the Editorial Board of Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Powder Technology, etc. He was visiting professor at the Univ. of Queensland, Australia, TU Delft, Netherlands, Univ. Karlsruhe & Univ. Duisburg-Essen, Germany, Harvard School of Public Health (2004-17), a Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellow at the Univ. of Hiroshima, Japan while in 2005-06 he was appointed Russell Severance Springer Visiting Professor at the Mechanical Eng. Dept. of the Univ. of California, Berkeley.