Prof. Dr. Sotiris E. Pratsinis

Sotiris E. Pratsinis is professor of process engineering and materials science at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) since 1998 teaching Mass Transfer, and Micro-Nano-Particle Technology. He received a Diploma in Chemical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1977. In 1977-1980, he served in the Greek Navy and worked in a textile company before receiving his MSc (1982) and PhD from University of California, Los Angeles in 1985. He was in the faculty of the University of Cincinnati, USA from 1985 to 2000. He has graduated 42 PhD students, now at leading positions in industry and academia across the world, while currently he is advising six. He has published 400+ refereed articles, filed 20+ patents that are licensed to industry and have contributed to the creation of four spinoffs. 

              His research focuses on multiscale particle dynamics and aerosol reactor design for synthesis of novel materials and devices. He has pioneered flame synthesis of nanostructured materials with closely controlled characteristics. This scalable process is practiced today in industrial units and academic laboratories worldwide. For example, in April 2017 the German National Science Foundation launched a 6-year, 6M Euro program funding about 20 PhDs in German universities on the fundamentals of flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) that was developed in his laboratories back in 2002.  Also Harvard’s School of Public Health is using extensively his FSP for synthesis of nanomaterials of various sizes and compositions to benchmark their toxicity under $5M funding by the U.S. National Institute of Health since 2016.

             He first measured the oxidation rate of TiCl₄ for synthesis of TiO₂ that has been recognized as “… a landmark contribution to … (pigment) industry…”. He has led the development of innovative algorithms for agglomerate formation and growth by 2-dimensional (mass and surface area) population balances for reaction, coagulation and sintering. These models along with his proof of the rapid attainment of both self-preserving size distribution and fractal-like structure during aerosol synthesis of materials enabled him to create simple, reliable, unimodal and even monodisperse particle dynamics models. These are interfaced readily with fluid mechanics greatly facilitating process design for particle manufacture and processing. For example, his model for production of optical fiber preforms was the first of its kind and it is still used in industry.

             Motivated by this quantitative understanding, he showed experimentally, how to control flame-made particle size, crystallinity and, for the first time, morphology: from perfectly spherical particles to highly ramified agglomerates. Most notably, he developed the above FSP process for synthesis of sophisticated particle compositions, up to 5 kg/h in his laboratories, perhaps world’s largest such facility for manufacture of nanoparticles at an academic institution. With FSP he prepared novel heterogeneous catalysts (primarily for environmental remediation) and, for the first time, flame-made gas sensors (primarily for breath analysis) and nutritional supplements as well as dental and theranostic materials. Also his FSP contributed decisively to environmental policy by identifying the origins of nanosilver toxicity and even developed processes for “curing” it.

             His program has been funded by both Swiss and U.S. National Science Foundations (NSF), European Union as well as by DuPont, Dow, Degussa, Toyota, Nestle, Siemens, Millennium, Bühler, Clariant etc.. His research 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. NSF, a 1995 Smoluchowski Award by the Gesellschaft für Aerosolforschung, the 2003 Thomas Baron Award by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). In 2009 he won an Advanced Investigator Grant from the European Research Council, in 2011 a Humboldt Research Award (Germany) and in 2018 a Fuchs Memorial Award from the International Aerosol Research Assembly and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Particle Technology from AIChE. He is AIChE Fellow (2015) and in 2017 he was elected to the Inaugural Class of Fellows of The Combustion Institute.  He is member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering since 2012.  

             He is associate editor of AIChE Journal and on the editorial board of Advanced Powder Technology, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Powder Technology, Journal of Nanoparticle Research and Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering. He was visiting professor at University of New Mexico, TU Delft, Hiroshima University, TH Karlsruhe, University of California, Berkeley (Russell Springer Professor), University of Duisburg-Essen, Harvard University and a Diaspora Professor at the University of Cyprus.