Kumar Varoon AgrawalExpertise
Prof. Kumar Varoon Agrawal leads research at EPFL on advanced membrane materials and processes for energy-efficient molecular separations. His work focuses on atomically thin porous graphene film, and two-dimensional zeolite & metal–organic framework membranes that enable selective transport of gases and ions, with applications in carbon capture, hydrogen purification, ammonia separation, and resource recovery. By combining materials chemistry, nanofluidics, transport phenomena, atomistic simulati
Qiucheng XuExpertise
- Operando Water and Ion Transport: I pioneered operando high-energy X-ray scattering and fluorescence (WAXS/SAXS/XRF) to directly visualize water and ion transport in membrane–electrode assemblies. These studies revealed how water movement, flooding, and salt formation govern degradation in CO/CO2 electrolysis, establishing the dynamic transport mechanisms in confined electrochemical environments. (Nat. Nanotechnol. 2025; Joule 2024; Nat. Catal. 2023)2. Design of Membrane-Electrode Interface: I
Daniel Alexander Florez OrregoExpertise
• Exergy and Energy Integration of Chemical and Industrial Processes• Cogeneration and Polygeneration, Refrigeration and Heat Pumping Systems• Technical, Economic and Environmental Analyses• Refineries, Biorefineries, Fertilizers Complexes, Hydrogen and Synthetic Fuels (SNG, DME, MeOH, FT, H2, Power-to-X)• Second law of Thermodynamics and Irreversible Thermodynamics• Combustion, Heat Transfer, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Reaction design• Modeling and Optimization of Energy Conversion Systems• Ma
Pascal Alexander SchouwinkTeaching & PhD Courses Advanced Solid State and Surface Characterization CH-633 State-of-the-art surface/thin film characterization methods of polycrystalline/nano/amorphous materials. Selected topics from X-ray scattering (SAXS/GISAXS, PDF, GIWAXS, HRXRD), electronic and optical spectroscopy (XPS, AES, SERS, TERS), scanning probe and electron microscopy (STM, AFM, HRTEM, SEM). Principles and Applications of X-ray Diffraction CH-632 Basic theoretical aspects of Crystallograph
Zohreh AkbariExpertise
Energy Materials, Hydrogen, Catalysis, Chemical Engineering, Material Characterization
Education Catalytic Hydrogen Combustion: Insights into Reaction Mechanisms and Material Design | Materials Science and Engineering 2021 – 2025 EPFL
Ayush AgarwalCurrent work
Developing size resolved elemental analysis methods for characterizing nano-objects in process effluents and environmental samples
Education PhD | Energy - Chemistry and Chemical Engineering 2020 – 2020 EPFL – École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne / Paul Scherrer Institute M.Sc. | Chemical Engineering for Energy and Environment 2017 – 2019 KTH Royal Institute of Technology B.E. (Hons.) | Chemical Engineering 2011 – 2015 Birla I
Victor Carle Adrien BoureauExpertise
Aberration-corrected TEM and STEMQuantative microscopyElectron diffractionStrain mapping (GPA, precession 4D-STEM)Electric and magnetic field mapping (electron holography, DPC, 4D-STEM)
Teaching & PhD Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Pierpaolo Ranieri Courses Scanning and Analytical Transmission Electron Microscopy MSE-735 This intensive course discusses advanced TEM techniques such as: scanning TEM; analytical TEM using EELS and EDX; aberration corrected imaging; and image s
Laura PiveteauTeaching & PhD Courses Basic and advanced NMR - Level 1 A (EPFL) CH-601(x) Basic theoretical and experimental aspects of NMR will be taught. Students will be familarized with modern NMR spectrometers. Basic and advanced NMR - Level 1 B (Sion) CH-601(y) Basic theoretical and experimental aspects of NMR. Students will be familarized with modern NMR spectrometers. Basic and advanced NMR - Level 2 (EPFL) CH-703 The goal is to give a sound theoretical and practi
Camille Aude RollandResearchCurrent Research Fields Microbes in radioactive waste disposalIn Switzerland, radioactive waste will be stored in a deep geological repository hosted within the Opalinus Clay rock formation. During long-term storage, hydrogen gas is expected to be generated through the anoxic corrosion of the steel containers that hold the waste. To prevent the accumulation of hydrogen, we propose creating conditions within the repository that allow microorganisms to grow and consume this gas. My PhD focuses on thre
Vasiliki TileliTeaching & PhD PhD Students Chang Liu, Elizaveta Shcherbacheva, Richa Ashish Rajadhyax Past EPFL PhD Students Jing Hou, Tzu-Hsien Shen, Reinis Ignatans, Robin Girod, Michele Bozzetti, Morgan Julien André Barbey-Binggeli, Pierpaolo Ranieri, Saltanat Toleukhanova Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Jan Vávra Courses Materials structure MSE-100 Thermodynamics for materials science MSE-204 This course establishes the basic concepts of thermodynamics and defines the main state
Mo LiBorn in 1988 in Shenyang, China, Mo Li graduated with a BSc and MSc in Chemical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology in 2012 and 2015, respectively. During this time, he worked on projects on membranes for gas separation and the synthesis of well-defined nanostructure. He then went on to pursue PhD studies in ETH Zurich in 2015 working on CO2 sorbents and metal-oxide gas sensors. In 2017, he moved to EPFL and continued with his PhD focusing on near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) for the investigation of CO2 hydrogenation mechanisms.
