Mohan Sankaran

Department of Chemical Engineering
Case Western Reserve University

Research Interest

Mohan Sankaran, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering, is in an expert in plasma synthesis of nanoparticles. Prof. Sankaran pioneered synthesis of nanoparticles in non-equilibrium plasmas formed by microdischarges. He participates in the development of a new capability for in-situ monitoring of nanoparticles and nanostructures with specific responsibility for the development of a microplasma device for calibration tests of this diagnostic and conducting these tests at CWRU and PBNL.

Education

• 6/2004-12/2004 Postdoctoral scholar, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
• 6/2004-12/2004 Postdoctoral scholar, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
• 6/2004-12/2004 Postdoctoral scholar, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Research and Professional Experience

• 2012     Associate Director, Swagelok Center for Surface Analysis of Materials (SCSAM), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
• 2010-     Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
• 2005-2010     Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
• 1998-2004     Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
• 1999-2004      Laboratory Assistant, Beckman Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA
• 1996-1998      Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA

Honors and Awards

• 2013     J. Bruce Jackson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring
• 2012     Case School of Engineering International Activities Award
• 2012     Invited Participant, National Academy of Engineering GAFOE Symposium
• 2011     AVS Peter Mark Memorial Award
• 2011     Case Western Learning Fellowship
• 2010     Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
• 2010     Case School of Engineering Research Award
• 2009     AFOSR Young Investigator Program
• 2009     Case Western Glennan Fellowship
• 2008     NSF CAREER Award
• 2007-     George B. Mayer Assistant Professorship
• 2005-2007     John C. Angus Legacy Assistant Professorship
• 2003     Applied Materials Graduate Fellowship
• 2002     Intel Foundation Graduate Fellowship
• 2002     Best Student Paper, SCCAVS Leading Edge Student Symposium
• 2000     Caltech Constantin G. Economou Award

Ten Recent Publications

A. Kumar, P. A. Lin, A. Xue, B. Hao, Y. K. Yap, R. M. Sankaran, "Formation of nanodiamonds at near ambient conditions via microplasma dissociation of ethanol", Nat. Comm., in press

P. A. Lin, A. Kumar, R. M. Sankaran, "New insights into plasma-assisted dissociation of organometallic vapors for gas-phase synthesis of metal nanoparticles", Plasma Process. Polym. 9, 1184-1193 (2012) (Invited to special issue)

P. A. Lin, R. M. Sankaran, "Plasma-assisted dissociation of organometallic precursors for continuous, gas-phase preparation of multimetallic nanoparticles", Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 50, 10953-10956 (2011)

D. Mariotti, R. M. Sankaran, "Microplasmas for nanomaterials synthesis", J. Phys. D 43, 323001 (2010) (Invited topical review)

W-H. Chiang, C. Richmonds, R. M. Sankaran, "Continuous-flow, atmospheric-pressure microplasmas: a versatile source for nanoparticle synthesis in the gas or liquid phase", Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 19, 034001 (2010)

W-H. Chiang, M. Sakr, X. P. A. Gao, R. M. Sankaran, "Nanoengineering NixFe1-x nanocatalysts for gas-phase, selective synthesis of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes", ACS Nano 3, 4023 (2009)

W-H. Chiang, R. M. Sankaran, "Linking catalyst composition to chirality distributions of as-grown single-walled carbon nanotubes by tuning NixFe1-x nanoparticles", Nat. Mater. 8, 882 (2009)

W-H. Chiang, R. M. Sankaran, "Synergistic effects in bimetallic nanoparticles for low temperature carbon nanotube growth", Adv. Mater. 20, 4857 (2008)

W-H. Chiang, R. M. Sankaran, "In-flight dimensional tuning of metal nanoparticles by microplasma synthesis for selective production of diameter-controlled carbon nanotubes", J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 17920 (2008)

W-H. Chiang, R. M. Sankaran, "Microplasma synthesis of metal nanoparticles for gas-phase studies of catalyzed carbon nanotube growth", Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 121503 (2007)