AGGELOPOULOS, Christos

2007: Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, FORTH/ICE-HT & Department of Physics, University of Patras, Greece
2004: M.Sc. in Physics (Environmental Sciences), University of Patras, Greece
2002: B.Sc. in Physics, University of Patras, Greece

1. Soil/groundwater/wastewater remediation and waste treatment by cold atmospheric plasma (CAP)
(a) Ex-situ soil remediation: Lab-scale study and numerical modeling of CAP as a method for the advanced oxidation of recalcitrant pollutants (e.g. petroleum cuts, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, etc.) in contaminated soil.
(b) In-situ soil/groundwater remediation: Appropriately configured lab-scale reactors of model porous media and real soils. Appropriately-designed electrodes are inserted in the soil so that the discharge is ignited within the pore space and propagate in a multi-jet like form within the porous medium.
(c) Wastewater treatment: Lab-scale studies of several CAP configurations for the degradation of various organic pollutants (e.g. dyes, antibiotics, etc.) in aqueous solutions.
(d) Catalysis-assisted plasma treatment (plasma-catalysis) for soil and wastewater remediation.

2. Additional cold plasma research activities
(a) Materials surface modification for potential use in organic pollutants’ removal/determination: Highly-energy efficient oxidation of graphene-based materials (e.g. MWCNTs, SWCNTs) and regeneration of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) substrates.
(b) Treatment of cancer cells: Process optimization and critical plasma species identification towards cancer cell apoptosis.

3. Advanced methods of water treatment
(a) Photocatalytic (PC) wastewater treatment: Lab-scale study of photo-catalysis as an advanced oxidation method to decompose organic pollutants in water (e.g. dyes, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
(b) Biomass valorization for wastewater treatment: Valorization of agricultural wastes for the development of low cost adsorbents capable to remove multi-species pollutants from wastewater.

4. Multiphase flow and transport phenomena in soils with application to subsurface contamination and remediation
(a) Two-phase flow and hydrodynamic dispersion in soils: Methods and techniques to determine the multiphase effective transport coefficients of soils (e.g. oil/water relative permeability functions, dynamic capillary pressure, hydrodynamic dispersion coefficients), quantify their heterogeneity at various scales (microscale / macroscale), and detect the fate of pollutants in subsurface..
(b) In situ soil/groundwater remediation technologies: Experimental study of the efficiency of fluid injection-based soil/groundwater remediation technologies (e.g. steam injection, surfactants, injection of suspensions of zero valent iron nano-particles). Correlation of transport/ reactive processes and microscopic properties with macroscopically observed behavior.

5. Carbon dioxide storage in depleted oil/gas reservoirs/deep saline aquifers and environmental impacts
(a) Structural/hydrodynamic/solubility trapping: Measurement of interfacial tensions (IFTs) between CO2 and aqueous solutions at elevated pressures and temperatures. Experimental investigation and numerical modeling of CO2 dissolution in aquifers and correlation of the dissolution rate with the heterogeneity of porous media.
(b) Carbon dioxide leakages: Effect of CO2 leakages from deep storage sites on shallow aquifer properties.

10/2017 – 08/2020: Adjunct Academic Staff, Hellenic Open University, Postgraduate Course: Environmental Design of Infrastructure Works
06/2014 – 03/2018: Research Associate, FORTH/ICE-HT, Greece
06/2012 – 05/2014: Research Associate, Ecole Nationale Superieure de Chimie de Paris (ENSCP), Paris, France and FORTH/ICE-HT
09/2010 – 05/2012: Post-Doctoral Fellow, FORTH/ICE-HT, Greece
01/2009 – 08/2010: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Institut Francais du Petrole Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), Rueil-Malmaison, France

A. Prizes/Awards

1. 2^nd Prize of Applied Research: 3rd “Greece Innovates!” Applied Research & Innovation Competition, joint initiative of Eurobank and Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), Title: “Cold Plasma Apparatus for the fast, efficient and cost effective remediation of highly polluted soils”, February 2016 (http://www.kainotomeis.gr/article.aspx?id=2228).
2. Among the 8 Projects cited as most-promising projects in the 2013 ESPA report «Remediation of polluted soils with plasma discharge technologies – SOIL PLASMA» (Supporting Postdoctoral Researchers-ESPA, 2012-2015, Principal Investigator (PI): C.A. Aggelopoulos).
3. Best Oral Presentation Award “Effects of CO₂ leakages from storage sites on the quality of potable groundwater” by K. Terzi, I. Bountas, C.A. Aggelopoulos and C.D. Tsakiroglou, 6th Panhellenic Symposium of Porous Materials, Kavala, Greece, 9-10 September, 2013
4. Best Poster Prize “Simultaneous Determination of the Two-Phase Flow and Hydrodynamic Dispersion Coefficients of Soils from Transient Immiscible and Miscible Displacement Experiments” by C.A. Aggelopoulos and C.D. Tsakiroglou, Society of Core Analysts, Toronto, Canada, August, 2005.
5. Award from the Greek State Scholarship FoundationΙ.Κ.Υ) for the highest academic performance among the postgraduate students of the Department of Physics of University of Patras for the Academic years 2002-2003 & 2003-2004.

B. Other Honours/Distinctions

1. Guest Editor, Special Issue “Nanostructured Materials and Advanced Processes for Application in Water Purification” of Nanomaterials 2021-2022.

Participation in 21 R&D projects (7 of which as PI or Co-PI) funded by the EU and National sources (General Secretariat for Research and Innovation, HFRI, etc.).

48 (21 as corresponding author, 2 monographs) publications in refereed journals; 1 special issue editorial; 1 patent; 44 publications in international conference proceedings; 18 publications in national conference proceedings.

More than 65 presentations in international/national conferences and workshops.

2017 – 2020: Adjunct Academic Staff, Hellenic Open University, Postgraduate Course: Environmental Design of Infrastructure Works.
2016 – 2018: Lectures on “Innovative remediation technologies for soil/water systems”, Postgraduate Studies Program: Catalysis, Environmental Protection and Clean Energy Production, Department of Chemistry, University of Patras.
2004 – 2009 & 2010 – 2012: Adjunct Professor, Course instructor and laboratory assistant, Department of Electrical Engineering & Department of Mechanical Engineering, Higher Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece, Courses: Physics, Electrical Measurements, Fluid Mechanics.

• C.A. Aggelopoulos, Recent Advances of Cold Plasma Technology for Water and Soil Remediation: A Critical Review, Chemical Engineering Journal, 428, 131657 (2022).
• S. Meropoulis, G. Rassias, V. Bekiari, C.A. Aggelopoulos, Structure-Degradation Efficiency Studies in the Remediation of Aqueous Solutions of Dyes using Nanosecond-Pulsed DBD Plasma, Separation and Purification Technology, 274, 119031 (2021).
• M. Daletou, C.A. Aggelopoulos, Highly-Energy Efficient Oxidation of MWCNT with Nanosecond Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma, Applied Surface Science, 563, 150139 (2021).
• M. Hatzisymeon, D. Tataraki, G. Rassias, C.A. Aggelopoulos, Novel combination of high voltage nanopulses and in-soil generated plasma micro-discharges applied for the highly efficient degradation of trifluralin, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 415, 125646 (2021).
• C.A. Aggelopoulos, and C.D. Tsakiroglou, A new perspective towards in-situ cold plasma remediation of polluted sites: Direct generation of micro-discharges within contaminated medium, Short Communication, Chemosphere, 266, 128969 (2021).
• C.A. Aggelopoulos, M. Hatzisymeon, S. Meropoulis, Z. Lada, G. Rassias, Degradation of antibiotic enrofloxacin in water by gas-liquid nsp-DBD plasma: Parametric analysis, effect of H2O2 and CaO2 additives and exploration of degradation mechanisms, Chemical Engineering Journal, 398, 125622 (2020).
• C.A. Aggelopoulos, M. Hatzisymeon, D. Tataraki, G. Rassias, Remediation of ciprofloxacin-contaminated soil by nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma Influencing factors and degradation mechanisms, Chemical Engineering Journal, 393, 124768 (2020).
• A. Stavrinou, C.A. Aggelopoulos, C.D. Tsakiroglou, Exploring the adsorption mechanisms of cationic and anionic dyes onto agricultural waste peels of banana, cucumber and potato: Adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherms as a tool, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 6 (6), 6958-6970 (2018).
• C.A. Aggelopoulos, M. Dimitropoulos, A. Govatsi, L. Sygellou, C.D. Tsakiroglou, S.N. Yannopoulos, Influence of the surface-to-bulk defects ratio of ZnO and TiO2 on their UV-mediated photocatalytic activity, Applied Catalysis B: Envrironmental, 205, 292-301 (2017).