Research Experience

Research Experience

  • Participating as a researcher into H2020 Marie Skłodowska Curie: C-PlaNeT (Circular Plastics Network for Training). 7/2020 till today

Goal: C-PlaNeT is a consortium of high-profile universities, research institutions and companies located in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark and Greece.


www.c-planet.eu/

Europe needs this training network. Bringing plastics into the circular economy is one of the great challenges of our age. C-PlaNeT lays the foundations for a New Plastics Economy through a European Joint Doctoral Programme that trains 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to become part of a new generation of scientists, engineers and policy makers for the EU’s circular economy, which must include the design, processing, use and reuse of plastics. Each ESR, developing his/her research skills together with a supervisor and co-promoter, represents a piece of the jigsaw, at the same time benefiting from being part of a project team with 14 other ESRs and their supervisors covering other parts of the life cycle, challenging each other in terms of lifecycle thinking and a much more sustainable future for plastics.

  • Participating as a researcher into CUDET project, supported by Hellenic Foundation Research & Innovation (HFRI-FM17-1899). 12/2019 till today

The aim of the CUDET project is to develop a new process for ethylene production via dehydrogenation of ethane assisted by CO2 acting as a mild oxidant. By developing active and selective catalysts it will be possible to produce ethylene at relatively low temperatures and high yield and simultaneously convert CO2 almost exclusively to high added value CO. The potential to employ two underutilized reactants to supply ethylene and CO, as well as to mitigate detrimental CO2 emissions, can be highly rewarding though challenging

  • Participating as PhD-student into a 7th European Framework Program project: “FASTCARD”. 2014-2018

(FAST industrialisation by CAtalysts Research and Development). Consortium between 14 industrial and academic partners.

Website: FASTCARD

Objective: Speed-up industrialization of advanced catalysts for biomass conversion into biofuels. Processes: Gasification chain (hydrocarbons reforming + Fischer Tropsch) and pyrolysis liquid chain (HT + co-FCC).

Interview for FASTCARD project: Stavros-Alexandros Theofanidis

    • (Master’s thesis project): “Environmental and energy analysis of organic municipal solid waste anaerobic digestion”

    • (Practice exercise in Environmental Engineering): Outdoor PM particles in Thessaloniki, Supervisor Dr Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Thermi, Thessaloniki from 1/6/2011 until 31/8/2011.

    • Internship in ETECO D. BELLOS Company, Water Cleaning & Treatment Machinery & Supplies, Industrial Zone of Sindos in Thessaloniki from 1/6/2012 until 31/8/2012.

    • Participation in “Atmospheric pollution and health impacts from transportation- integrated methodologies for PM estimation- TRANSPHORM”, from 22/11/2012 until 31/12/2012 and from 27/6/2013 until 31/7/2013.

Journal Publications: 12 publications

    • S.A.Theofanidis, A. Papagiannakis, S. Semelidis and Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis, ‘’Integrated recycling of municipal solid waste in Thessaloniki’’, Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, PSP Volume 21 – No 11. 2012.

    • Theofanidis, S.A., V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, and G.B. Marin, "Enhanced Carbon-Resistant Dry Reforming Fe-Ni Catalyst: Role of Fe". ACS Catal., 2015: p. 3028-3039. DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.5b00357

    • Theofanidis, S.A., R. Batchu, V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, and G.B. Marin, "Carbon gasification from Fe–Ni catalysts after methane dry reforming". Appl. Catal., B, 2016. 185: p. 42-55. DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.12.006

    • Hu, J., L. Buelens, S.-A. Theofanidis, V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, and G.B. Marin, "CO2 conversion to CO by auto-thermal catalyst-assisted chemical looping". J. CO2 Util., 2016. 16: p. 8-16. DOI: 10.1016/j.jcou.2016.05.006

    • S.A. Theofanidis, V.V. Galvita, M. Sabbe, H. Poelman, C. Detavernier, G.B. Marin, "Controlling the stability of a Fe–Ni reforming catalyst: Structural organization of the active components", Appl. Catal., B, 209 (2017) 405-416 DOI: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2017.03.025

    • Pegios, N.; Bliznuk, V.; Theofanidis, S. A.; Galvita, V. V.; Marin, G. B.; Palkovits, R.; Simeonov, K., Ni nanoparticles and the Kirkendall effect in dry reforming of methane. Applied Surface Science 2018, 452, 239-247.. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.04.229

    • Theofanidis, S.; Galvita, V.; Konstantopoulos, C.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G., Fe-Based Nano-Materials in Catalysis. Materials 2018, 11 (5), 831. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11050831

    • S.A. Theofanidis, V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, N.V.R.A. Dharanipragada, A. Longo, M. Meledina, G. Van Tendeloo, C. Detavernier, G.B. Marin, Fe-containing magnesium aluminate support for stability and carbon control during methane reforming, ACS Catal., 8 (2018) 5983-5995. DOI: doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b01039

    • S.A. Theofanidis, V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, R. Batchu, L.C. Buelens, C. Detavernier, G.B. Marin, Mechanism of carbon deposits removal from supported Ni catalysts, Appl. Catal., B, 239 (2018) 502-512. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2018.08.042

    • S.-A. Theofanidis, J.A.Z. Pieterse, H. Poelman, A. Longo, M.K. Sabbe, M. Virginie, C. Detavernier, G.B. Marin, V.V. Galvita, Effect of Rh in Ni-based catalysts on sulfur impurities during methane reforming, Appl. Catal., B, 267 (2020) 118691. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.118691

    • A. Longo, S.A. Theofanidis, C. Cavallari, N.V. Srinath, J. Hu, H. Poelman, M.K. Sabbe, C.J. Sahle, G.B. Marin, V.V. Galvita, What makes Fe-modified MgAl2O4 an active catalyst support? Insight from X-ray Raman Scattering, ACS Catal., (2020). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.0c00759

    • S.A. Theofanidis, C. Loizidis, E. Heracleous, A.A. Lemonidou, CO2-oxidative ethane dehydrogenation over highly efficient carbon-resistant Fe-catalysts, J. Catal., 388 (2020) 52-65 . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2020.05.004

Book Chapter

  • How Does the Surface Structure of Ni-Fe Nanoalloys Control Carbon Formation During Methane Steam/Dry Reforming?

Book Chapter: 6; Vladislav Sadykov; editor

S.A. Theofanidis, V.V. Galvita, H. Poelman, G.B. Marin, "Advanced Nanomaterials for Catalysis and Energy: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications" Elsevier, 2018, ISBN 978-0-12-814807-5

Oral Conference Presentations

  • S.Theofanidis, D.A. Sarigiannis, “Anaerobic digestion of organic municipal solid waste: a valid waste management option”, 9th Greek National Conference in Chemical Engineering, May 23-25, 2013.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B, “Methane dry reforming of Ni-Fe catalysts: effect of Fe content”, IAP Annual Meeting 2014, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, September 19, 2014.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; De Jong J.; Dharanipragada, A.; Galvita, V.V.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G.B, “Novel Fe-promoted MgAl2O4 support material for control of carbon deposition during reforming reactions”, American Institute of Chemical Engineers Annual Meeting (AIChE 2016), San Francisco CA, USA, November 13-18, 2016, Online, 4 pages, ISBN 978-0-8169-1097-7.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Dharanipragada, A.; Longo, A.; Galvita, V.V.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G.B, “Ni supported on MgFexAl2-xO4 as carbon resistant catalyst for methane reforming: structural and mechanistic study”, North American Catalysis Society Meeting 2017 (NAM25), Denver, Colorado, 4-9 July 2017.

  • Pieterse, J.A.Z; Aranda Almansa, G.; Klotz, M.; Hakouk, K.; Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Toch, K.; Thybaut, J.W.; Thorpe, S.; Steele, A.; Laprune, D.; Meunier, F., “Steam reforming of the producer gas obtained from the gasification of beech wood: scale up from laboratory benches to full-size demonstrator”, 13th European Congress on Catalysis (EUROPACAT 2017), Florence, Italy, August 27-31, 2017, Book of Abstracts, 168 pages, 24

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Dharanipragada, A.; Buelens, L.C.; Poelman, H.; Longo, A.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B, “TIME RESOLVED INSIGHT IN AN IRON CONTAINING CATALYST SUPPORT”, TWF-2018: time resolved synchrotron and neutron techniques for studies of soft, biological and hard matter, Oslo, Norway, June 13-15, 2018.

Other Presentations

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B., “Methane reforming over Ni-Fe/MgAl2O4 catalysts”, FASTCARD General Assembly 2015-1, Chilton, United Kingdom, January 7-9, 2015.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B., “Steam reforming and carbon formation over Ni-Fe-(Pd)/MgAl2O4 catalysts”, FASTCARD General Assembly 2015-2, Brussels, Belgium, June 25-26, 2015.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B, “Carbon gasification mechanism and activity tests over Ni-M (M=Pd, Rh) catalysts”, FASTCARD General assembly M18-24, Stuttgart, Germany, January 19, 2016.

  • Dharanipragada A.; Theofanidis, S.A.; Longo, A.; Detavernier, C.; Poelman, H.; Galvita, V.V.; Marin, G.B, “When less is more: Mg-Fe-Al-O as a novel oxygen storage material for advanced CO2 conversion to CO”, Belgian Crystallographic Symposium (BCS-9), Brussels, Belgium, October 26, 2016.

Poster presentations

  • S.A.Theofanidis, A. Papagiannakis, S. Semelidis and Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis, ‘’Integrated recycling of municipal solid waste in Thessaloniki’’, International Conference on Environmental Pollution and its Impacts on Life in the Mediterranean Region, Sustainable Water Management, September 24-27, 2011.

  • S.Theofanidis, D.A. Sarigiannis, “Anaerobic digestion of organic municipal solid waste: a valid waste management option”, 17th International Conference on Environmental Pollution and its Impacts on Life in the Mediterranean Region (MESAEP), September 28th- October 1st, 2013.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Galvita, V.V.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G.B, “Enhanced catalytic performance of Ni-Fe alloy in methane dry reforming: role of Fe”, Joint workshop of ENMIX, FASTCARD, CASCATBEL, BIOGO, Stuttgart, Germany, January 20-21, 2016.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; Batchu, R.; Galvita, V.V.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G.B. “The mechanism of carbon gasification over a Fe-Ni catalyst after methane dry reforming”, International Congress on Catalysis (ICC 16), Beijing, China, July 3-8, 2016, Book of Abstracts.

  • Theofanidis, S.A.; De Jong J.; Dharanipragada A.; Galvita, V.V.; Poelman, H.; Marin, G.B, “Syngas production from methane dry reforming over a novel Ni-Fe/Mg(Al)(Fe)Ox catalyst”, IAP Annual Meeting 2016, Liege, Belgium, September 12, 2016.

  • Srinath, N.V.; Galvita, V.V.; Theofanidis, S.A.; Poelman, H.; Detavernier, C.; Marin, G.B.; Longo, A.; Pieterse, J.A.Z., “Effect of Rh-Ni based catalysts during reforming of biomass gasification gas”, The Dutch-Belgian Synchrotron/Neutron/FEL workshop (SYNEW 2018), Ghent, Belgium, March 19-20, 2018.

Awards

  • Best paper resulting from Diploma Thesis: “Anaerobic digestion of organic municipal solid waste: a valid waste management option”. Commendation at the 9th Greek National Conference in Chemical Engineering, May 23-25, 2013.

  • Two months scholarship from “Institut Francais Greece and embassy of France in Greece” to pursue research work in European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF - from 01/04/2021-31/05/2021)