headshot of Giannis Mpourmpakis

Giannis Mpourmpakis

Associate Professor
Bicentennial Alumni Faculty Fellow
Lab website Google Scholar profile Chem/Petroleum Engineering

overview

Our research expertise is interdisciplinary, blending concepts and techniques from Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering and Data Science. We use theory and computation to investigate the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials with potential applications in diverse nanotechnological areas, ranging from energy generation and storage, to materials design and catalysis. We develop novel structure-property relationships describing the stability and reactivity of nanomaterials. These relationships enable the screening of nanomaterials as a function of their morphology and chemical composition. Thus, we design nanostructures that are optimal in terms of their stability and application performance (e.g. catalysis), significantly accelerating nanomaterials discovery.

about

(2019) Bodossaki Foundation Prize in Chemistry (Best Young Scientist of Greek descent in the world).

(2017) March 2017: National Science Foundation, CAREER Award.

(2016) May 2016: American Chemical Society (Petroleum Research Funds), Doctoral New Investigator.

(2010) June 2010: Participated in the 60th Nobel Laureates Meeting in Lindau-Germany, as a distinguished young researcher (An interdisciplinary meeting which brought together 500 young researchers who passed a multi-stage international selection procedure from around the globe, with Nobel Laureates from the fields of physiology, medicine, physics and chemistry)..

Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Delaware, 2008 - 2011

PhD, Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, University of Crete, 2006

BS, Chemistry, University of Crete, 2001

Austin, N., Kostetskyy, P., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Design of highly selective ethanol dehydration nanocatalysts for ethylene production. NANOSCALE, 10(8), 4004-4009.Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). doi: 10.1039/c7nr08678d.

Yan, Z., Taylor, M.G., Mascareno, A., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Size-, Shape-, and Composition-Dependent Model for Metal Nanoparticle Stability Prediction. NANO LETTERS, 18(4), 2696-2704.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00670.

Dixit, M., Peng, X., Porosoff, M.D., Willauer, H.D., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2017). Elucidating the role of oxygen coverage in CO2 reduction on Mo2C. CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 7(23), 5521-5529.Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). doi: 10.1039/c7cy01810j.

Li, Q., Lambright, K.J., Taylor, M.G., Kirschbaum, K., Luo, T.Y., Zhao, J., Mpourmpakis, G., Mokashi-Punekar, S., Rosi, N.L., & Jin, R. (2017). Reconstructing the Surface of Gold Nanoclusters by Cadmium Doping. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 139(49), 17779-17782.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/jacs.7b11491.

Li, Q., Luo, T.Y., Taylor, M.G., Wang, S., Zhu, X., Song, Y., Mpourmpakis, G., Rosi, N.L., & Jin, R. (2017). Molecular "surgery" on a 23-gold-atom nanoparticle. SCIENCE ADVANCES, 3(5), e1603193.American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1603193.

Taylor, M.G., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2017). Thermodynamic stability of ligand-protected metal nanoclusters. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 8(1), 15988.Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi: 10.1038/ncomms15988.

Chung, J., Granja, I., Taylor, M.G., Mpourmpakis, G., Asplin, J.R., & Rimer, J.D. (2016). Molecular modifiers reveal a mechanism of pathological crystal growth inhibition. NATURE, 536(7617), 446-+.Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi: 10.1038/nature19062.

Teixeira, I.F., Lo, B.T.W., Kostetskyy, P., Stamatakis, M., Ye, L., Tang, C.C., Mpourmpakis, G., & Tsang, S.C.E. (2016). From Biomass-Derived Furans to Aromatics with Ethanol over Zeolite. ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 55(42), 13061-13066.Wiley. doi: 10.1002/anie.201604108.

Marbella, L.E., Chevrier, D.M., Tancini, P.D., Shobayo, O., Smith, A.M., Johnston, K.A., Andolina, C.M., Zhang, P., Mpourmpakis, G., & Millstone, J.E. (2015). Description and Role of Bimetallic Prenucleation Species in the Formation of Small Nanoparticle Alloys. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 137(50), 15852-15858.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/jacs.5b10124.

Taylor, M.G., Austin, N., Gounaris, C.E., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2015). Catalyst Design Based on Morphology- and Environment-Dependent Adsorption on Metal Nanoparticles. ACS Catalysis, 5(11), 6296-6301.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/acscatal.5b01696.

Kostestkyy, P., Yu, J., Gorte, R.J., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2014). Structure-activity relationships on metal-oxides: alcohol dehydration. CATALYSIS SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, 4(11), 3861-3869.Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). doi: 10.1039/c4cy00632a.

Roy, S., Mpourmpakis, G., Hong, D.Y., Vlachos, D.G., Bhan, A., & Gorte, R.J. (2012). Mechanistic Study of Alcohol Dehydration on γ-Al2O3. ACS CATALYSIS, 2(9), 1846-1853.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/cs300176d.

Stamatakis, M., Christiansen, M.A., Vlachos, D.G., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2012). Multiscale Modeling Reveals Poisoning Mechanisms of MgO-Supported Au Clusters in CO Oxidation. NANO LETTERS, 12(7), 3621-3626.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/nl301318b.

Mpourmpakis, G., Andriotis, A.N., & Vlachos, D.G. (2010). Identification of Descriptors for the CO Interaction with Metal Nanoparticles. NANO LETTERS, 10(3), 1041-1045.American Chemical Society (ACS). doi: 10.1021/nl904299c.

Dean, J., Yang, Y., Austin, N., Veser, G., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Computer-aided bimetallic nanoparticle design for carbon dioxide adsorption and activation. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 256.

Dixit, M., Peng, X., Porosoff, M., Willauer, H., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Elucidating the role of oxygen coverage in CO2 reduction on Mo2C. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 255.

Taylor, M., Li, Q., Jin, R., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Molecular "surgery" and beyond: Understanding heterometal doping in atomically precise nanoclusters. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 256.

Taylor, M., Yan, Z., Mascareno, A., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2018). Simple bond-centric model for accelerated nanoalloy energetics. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 256.

Austin, N., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2017). Engineering ligand-protected Au nanoclusters for CO2 reduction. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 254.

Dixit, M., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2017). Developing structure activity relationships in the dehydrogenation of alkanes on oxides. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 254.

Austin, N., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2016). Computational design of Zr-decorated, Cu-based nanoparticles for CO2 activation. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 252.

Kostetskyy, P., Teixeira, I., Stamatakis, M., Tsang, E., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2016). Computational insights into DMF conversion to p-xylene: Ethylene or ethanol?. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 252.

Mpourmpakis, G. (2016). Adsorption on metal nanoparticles: Effects from size, shape and chemical environment. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 252.

Taylor, M., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2016). Modeling the structure-dependent stability of thiolated metal nanoparticles. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 252.

Austin, N., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2014). Adsorption on metal nanoparticles: Size and shape matters. AICHE 2014 National Meeting.Atlanta, GA, USA.

Kostetskyy, P., & Mpourmpakis, G. (2014). Structure-activity relationships for the conversion of biomass derived alcohols to chemicals. AICHE 2014 National Meeting.Atlanta, GA, USA.

Caratzoulas, S., Courtney, T., Mpourmpakis, G., Mushrif, S., Xiong, R., Doren, D., Auerbach, S., Sandler, S.I., & Vlachos, D.G. (2011). Multiscale modeling in The Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation for Biomass Conversion to Fuels and Chemicals. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 241.

Courtney, T., Mpourmpakis, G., Chen, J.G., Vlachos, D.G., & Caratzoulas, S. (2011). Ab-initio study of glycerol dehydration mechanisms with explicit solvent treatment. In 11AIChE - 2011 AIChE Annual Meeting, Conference Proceedings.

Courtney, T., Mpourmpakis, G., Chen, J.G., Vlachos, D.G., & Caratzoulas, S. (2011). Ab-initio study of glycerol dehydration mechanisms with explicit solvent treatment. In Fuels and Petrochemicals Division - Core Programming Topic at the 2011 AIChE Annual Meeting, (p. 411).

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2009). First principles calculations of supported catalysts: CO binding on MgO supported gold clusters for the CO oxidation reaction. AICHE 2008 National Meeting.Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2009). CATL 90 - First principles calculations of supported catalysts: CO binding on MgO supported gold clusters for the CO oxidation reaction. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 237, (p. 882).

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2009). CATL 89 - First principle modeling of catalyst nanoparticle synthesis. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 237, (p. 881).

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2008). First principle calculations of supported catalysts: CO binding on MgO supported gold clusters and nanoparticles. 237th ACS National Meeting.Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2008). COMP 72-First principle calculations of supported catalysts: CO binding on MgO supported gold clusters and nanoparticles. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 235.

Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2008). COLL 306-Understanding the silver nanoparticle growth via first principle methods. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 235.

Synowczynski, J., Andzelm, J., Mpourmpakis, G., & Vlachos, D.G. (2008). COMP 283-Theoretical investigation of the interaction of H2O, H2, O2, OH species with the alpha-Al2O3 (0001) surface. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 236.

Research interests

Catalysis
Energy
Nanomaterials
Theory and Computation