Biographical Info

Dr. Kelesidis is an Assistant Professor at the Rutgers University School of Public Health. He received his Diploma in Chemical Engineering from University of Patras (Greece), a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical and Process Engineering from ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Before joining Rutgers University, he was a lecturer and research associate at the Particle Technology Laboratory of ETH Zurich (Switzerland).

Research Areas

The research of Dr. Kelesidis focuses on the climate and public health impact of carbonaceous aerosols. To this end, he has developed advanced computational algorithms during his M.Sc. and Ph.D. studies that simulate in detail the morphology, optical properties and climate forcing of organic and black carbon (soot) nanoparticles. His models were able to explain several observations made over the past 20 years in various laboratories across the world. In collaboration with Siemens AG, these models have been used for the design of robust laser diagnostics (e.g. smoke detectors) for fast detection and prevention of fires. His recent research involves the design of novel platforms for the controlled, high-throughput aerosol synthesis of carbonaceous nanoparticles that emulate real world emissions. This enables the detailed physicochemical and toxicological characterization of such pollutants and facilitates the accurate estimation and mitigation of their contribution to global warming. The aerosol-based platforms developed here are also used for the design of functional nanomaterials with superior performance in energy, sensor and biomedical applications.

The 2015 M.Sc. thesis of Dr. Kelesidis at ETH Zurich earned the IBM research prize (2017) for computer modelling and simulations in chemistry, biology and material science. His 2019 Ph.D. thesis on the morphology and optical properties of flame-made nanoparticles received the 2020 Ph.D. Award from GAeF (German Association for Aerosol Research) and the ETH medal for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis (top 8 %). He received also the 1^st Graduate Student Award on Carbon Nanomaterials at the 2019 AIChE Annual Meeting (Orlando, FL, USA), as well as Best Poster Awards at the European Aerosol Conference in 2016 (Tours, France) and 2020 (Aachen, Germany), the 2019 ETH Conference on Combustion Generated Nanoparticles (Zürich, Switzerland) and the 2019 Fall Meeting of the Material Research Society. The societal impact of his Ph.D. research was also highlighted by the Forbes Magazine by including him in the 2020 Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list for Science & Healthcare. He has co-authored 21 peer-reviewed articles so far, being the first author in 16 of them.

Research Highlights

• Advanced computational algorithms for the morphology (doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.06.004), optical properties (doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2018.08.025) and climate impact (doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c00428) of carbonaceous aerosols.
• High-throughput, aerosol synthesis and physicochemical characterization of organic (doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2022.2070055) and inorganic (doi.org/10.1021/acs.langmuir.8b00576) nanomaterials.
• Design of laser diagnostics (e.g. smoke detectors) for fire detection & prevention (doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2019.02.003).
• Optimization of nanoparticle size, morphology and porosity for energy (doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2022.06.020), sensor (doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c05145) and biomedical (doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b05518) applications.

Scholarly Activities

• Member of the leadership team on Laminar Flames and Chemistry and Particle Formation of the International Sooting Flame Workshop.
• Co-chair of the Aerosol Technology Working Group of the European Aerosol Assembly.
• Session chair for the 2019-2021 European (EAC) and 2022 International Aerosol Conferences (IAC), the 2020-2022 Annual Conferences of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR), the 2022 World Congress on Particle Technology and the 2016 Fall Meeting of the Material Research Society.

Publications

• Kelesidis, G.A., Crepaldi, P., Allemann, M., Duric, A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “The mobility diameter of soot determines its angular light scattering distribution”, Combustion and Flame, (2023) accepted; doi: 10.1016/j.combustflame.2022.112476.
• Kelesidis, G.A., Rossi, N. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Porosity and crystallinity dynamics of carbon black during internal and surface oxidation”, Carbon 197, 334-340 (2022).

– 3 min talk @ 6^th International Sooting Flame Workshop, Vancouver, Canada (Best 3-min presentation award).

– 12 min talk @ 11^th International Aerosol Conference, Athens, Greece.

• Kelesidis, G.A., Neubauer, D., Fan, L.-S., Lohmann, U. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Enhanced direct radiative forcing by black carbon agglomerates”, Environmental Science and Technology 56, 8610-8618 (2022).

– 11 min talk @ 39^th Annual (Virtual) Conference of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).

• Trivanovic, U., Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “High-throughput generation of aircraft-like soot”, Aerosol Science and Technology 56, 732-743 (2022).
• Kelesidis, G.A., Gao, D., Starsich, F.H.L. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Light extinction by agglomerates of gold nanoparticles: A plasmon ruler for sub-10 nm interparticle distances”, Analytical Chemistry 94, 5310-5316 (2022).
• Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Santoro flame: the volume fraction of soot accounting for its morphology and composition”, Combustion and Flame, 240, 112025-1-5 (2022).

– 12 min talk @ 39^th Annual (Virtual) Conference of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).

• Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “A perspective on gas-phase synthesis of nanomaterials: Process design, impact and outlook”, Chemical Engineering Journal 421, 129884-1-7 (2021).
• Kelesidis, G.A. and Kholghy, M.R., “A Monodisperse Population Balance Model for Nanoparticle Agglomeration in the Transition Regime”, Materials 14, 3882-1-13 (2021).
• Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Determination of the volume fraction of soot accounting for its composition and morphology”, Proc. of the Combustion Institute 38, 1189-1196 (2021).

– 15 min talk @ 2021 International Symposium on Combustion (Virtual), Adelaide, Australia.

• Kelesidis, G.A. and Goudeli, E., “Self-preserving size distribution and collision frequency of flame-made nanoparticles in the transition regime”, Proc. of the Combustion Institute 38, 1233-1240 (2021).
• Kelesidis, G.A., Bruun, A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “The impact of organic carbon on soot light absorption”, Carbon, 172, 742-749 (2021).

– 3 min talk @ 2020 European Aerosol Conference (Virtual), Aachen, Germany (Best Poster Award).

• Kholghy, M.R. and Kelesidis, G.A., “Surface growth, coagulation and oxidation of soot by a monodisperse population balance model”, Combustion and Flame, 227, 456-463 (2021).
• Kelesidis, G.A., Kholghy, M.R., Zuercher, J., Robertz, J., Allemann, M., Duric, A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Light scattering from nanoparticle agglomerates”, Powder Technology 365, 52-59 (2020).
• Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Soot light absorption and refractive index during agglomeration and surface growth”, Proc. of the Combustion Institute 37, 1177-1184 (2019).
• Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Estimating the internal and surface oxidation of soot agglomerates”, Combustion and Flame 209, 493-499 (2019).

– 3 min talk @ 2020 European Aerosol Conference (Virtual), Aachen, Germany.

• Kelesidis, G.A., Furrer, F.M., Wegner, K. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Impact of humidity on silica nanoparticle agglomerate morphology and size distribution”, Langmuir 34, 8532-8541 (2018).

– 12 min talk @ 2020 European Aerosol Conference (Virtual), Aachen, Germany.

• Kholghy, M.R., Kelesidis, G.A. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Reactive polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dimerization drives soot nucleation”, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 20, 10926-10938 & Erratum, ibid 20, 28941-28942 (2018).
• Kelesidis, G.A., Goudeli, E. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Morphology and Mobility Diameter of Carbonaceous Aerosols by Agglomeration and Surface Growth”, Carbon 121, 527-535 (2017).
• Pratsinis, A., Kelesidis, G.A., Zuercher, S., Krumeich, F., Bolisetty, S., Mezzenga, R., Leroux, J.C. and Sotiriou, G.A., “Enzyme-mimetic antioxidant luminescent nanoparticles for highly sensitive hydrogen peroxide biosensing”, ACS Nano 11, 12210-12218 (2017).
• Kelesidis, G.A., Goudeli, E. and Pratsinis, S.E., “Flame synthesis of functional materials and devices: Surface growth and aggregation”, Proc. of the Combustion Institute 36, 29-50 (2017).
• Dimakopoulos, Y., Kelesidis, G.A., Tsouka, S., Georgiou, G.C. and Tsamopoulos, J., “Hemodynamics in stenotic vessels of small diameter under steady state conditions: Effect of viscoelasticity and migration of red blood cells”, Biorheology 52, 183-210 (2015).