NPRE Undergraduate Seminar Series - Spring 2025
Dr. R. Mohan Sankaran
Donald Biggar Willett Professor
Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Tuesday, April 8 | 12:00 - 12:50 pm
4039 Campus Instructional Facility (CIF)
Low-temperature Plasmas for Power-to-X
Abstract: Ionized gases or plasmas will play an integral role in our future energy economy. High-temperature plasmas are being studied for fusion reactors that in the future could provide a safe and clean (carbon-free) form of electricity. But the electricity is only a source, and must be used downstream for various societal needs. Many current applications are not powered by electricity. For example, most chemical manufacturing is carried out by heat-driven processes where the heat is derived by burning fossil fuels which then generates greenhouse gas emissions. Low-temperature plasmas have the potential to efficiently convert electricity into valuable chemicals or materials, i.e., power-to-X. My research group is interested in developing low-temperature, atmospheric-pressure plasmas for electrified, modular, and resilient production of chemicals and materials. In this talk, I will discuss several examples such as the fixation of nitrogen and the reduction of metal ore. In all cases, plasmas drive chemical reactions with readily-available feedstocks at easily scalable conditions. Scientific issues such as the reaction selectivity and energy cost will be discussed.
Bio: Mohan is a California kid, having been raised in the Bay Area and completing all of his post-secondary education there, including a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology. To the surprise of his family and friends, he then moved out of California to the Midwest in 2005 to begin his independent academic career in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. After going through all the levels of a professorship and close to 15 happy years in Cleveland, he moved deeper into the Midwest in 2020, joining the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At the core, Mohan’s passion is to develop atmospheric-pressure plasmas as a chemical platform for the synthesis of novel materials and small molecules. The applications have changed over the years from electronics to energy. With lots of help from amazing students, postdocs, and collaborators, he has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles, edited one book, and contributed several book chapters. Outside of campus, Mohan is involved in several organizations, but is especially dedicated to AVS where he has served as the Program Chair for the AVS 68th International Symposium in 2022 and is currently the Co-Chair of the Symposia and Conferences Committee.
NPRE 199 Undergraduate Seminar is a series of lectures and discussions on current research and developments in the NPRE discipline areas. Presentations are led by visiting scientists and engineers from industry and research facilities as well as faculty and advanced students. Seminars are open to the Illinois community, space allowing. Undergraduate students wishing course credit for attending should register in NPRE 199.
