Biography

Kyriakos obtained his Ph.D. degree in materials chemistry at the University of Liverpool, UK. His Ph.D. thesis was based on the rational design of porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for advanced applications. Upon completion of his Ph.D. thesis, he was awarded the prestigious Marie Curie individual fellowship to work at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, ICN2, in Barcelona, Spain. He chose to apply his synthetic background in surface chemistry and investigate the growth of MOFs on surfaces using several methods such as nanolithography and inkjet printing, and study how the miniaturization of MOFs at the nanoscale regime can affect their properties and investigate their potential as drug carriers. In 2015, he moved to EPFL Valais in Sion, Switzerland, as a team leader within LSMO and started his independent research career. His team’s interests are based on the design and synthesis of porous MOFs for carbon capture and separation, hydrogen generation, the capture of hazardous molecules such as ammonia and iodine, and sensing applications.

Research

The "Materials Discovery Laboratory" (MaD Lab) research focuses on the generation of porous materials; namely metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) for advanced applications. They intend to develop synthetic strategies to functionalize their pore surface with specific groups in order to enhance interactions with targeted molecules and test their potential for the capture and utilization of CO2, photocatalytic, and as sensors.