About Professor Christos COMNINELLIS

Christos Comninellis, of Greek origin, received his Bachelor of Science in chemistry (distinction with honor) in 1970 from the University of Alexandria.
From 1971 to 1975, he worked as a chemist at the Institute of chemical engineering at the EPFL, where he achieved his PhD in technical sciences in 1979 for his research on the electrochemical fluorination of organic compounds in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride.

Appointed professor in 1996, he teaches at the Faculty of Basic Sciences (FSB) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL)
. General Chemistry.
. Transport Phenomena.
. Chemical and Electrochemical Technologies Related to the Environment.
. Electrochemical Engineering.
He also holds a teaching position at the Haute Ecole Valaisanne -Sion (HEVs).

His research work is focused on environmental electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, fuel cell and electrochemical promotion in catalysis. An applied research for the utilization of electrochemical techniques in industry for the protection of the environment is a constant concern within his activities. As a result, the collaboration with the industry enabled the development of oxidation processes with regeneration of the oxidant using a new type of bipolar electrochemical reactor.

Christos Comninellis has published over 240scientific papers, directed 25doctoral theses and holds 15patents. He has participated in over 150 international symposia, giving five plenary lectures during the last three years. He has been president of the Evaluation Committee of the FSB since the beginning of 2004 and is member of the jury of the EPFL prize for outstanding PhD-thesis.
Recently he has been elected Fellow of the Internationa Society of Electrochemistry (ISE).

LATEST PUBLICATIONS

A. Kapalka, G. Foti, and Ch. Comninellis. Basic principles of the electrochemical mineralization of organic pollutants for wastewater treatment. In Electrochemistry for the Environment, New York: Springer, pages 1-23, 2010.
[detailed record] [full text]

Stéphane Fierro. Electrocatalysis induced by surface redox activities on conductive metal oxide electrodes. Ph.D. Thesis, 2010.
[detailed record] [full text]

S. Fierro, A. Kapalka, and Ch. Comninellis. Electrochemical comparison between IrO2 prepared by thermal treatment of iridium metal and IrO2 prepared by thermal decomposition of H2IrCl6 solution. In Electrochemistry Communications, 2009. To appear.
[detailed record] [full text]

A. Kapalka, A. Cally, S. Neodo, Ch. Comninellis, M. Wächter, and K. M. Udert. Electrochemical behavior of ammonia at Ni/Ni(OH)2 electrode. In Electrochemistry Communications, 2009. To appear.
[detailed record] [full text]

C. Pétrier, R. Torres-Palma, E. Combet, G. Sarantakos, S. Baup, and C. Pulgarin. Enhanced sonochemical degradation of bisphenol-A by bicarbonate ions. In Ultrasonic Sonochemistry, 2009. To appear.
[detailed record] [full text]

A. Kapalka, B. Lanova, H. Baltruschat, G. Foti, and Ch. Comninellis. A DEMS study of methanol and formic acid oxidation on boron-doped diamond electrode. In Journal of the Electrochemical Society, volume 156, pages E149-E153, 2009.
[detailed record] [full text]

V. Nadtochenko, N. Denisov, A. Gorenberg, Yu. Kozlov, P. Chubukov, J.A. Rengifo, and C. Pulgarin. Correlations for photocatalytic activity and spectral features of the absorption band edge of TiO2 modified by thiourea. In Applied Catalysis B, Environmental, volume 91, number 1-2, pages 460-469, 2009.
[detailed record] [full text]

M.I. Mejía, J.M. Marín, G. Restrepo, C. Pulgarin, E. Mielczarski, J. Mielczarski, Y. Arroyo, J.C. Lavanchy, and J. Kiwi. Self-cleaning modified TiO2-cotton pretreated by UVC-light (185 nm) and RF-plasma in vacuum and also under atmospheric pressure. In Applied Catalysis B, Environmental, volume 91, number 1-2, pages 481-488, 2009.
[detailed record] [full text]

J.A. Rengifo-Herrera, J. Kiwi, and C. Pulgarin. N, S co-doped and N-doped Degussa P-25 powders with visible light response prepared by mechanical mixing of thiourea and urea. Reactivity towards Escherichia coli inactivation and phenol oxidation. In J. Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, volume 205, number 2-3, pages 109-115, 2009.
[detailed record] [full text]

F. Mazille, A. Lopez, and C. Pulgarin. Synergistic effect of TiO2 and iron oxide supported on fluorocarbon films. Part 2: Long term stability and influence of reaction parameters on photoactivated degradation of pollutants. In Applied Catalysis B, Environmental, volume 90, number 3-4, pages 321-329, 2009.
[detailed record] [full text]