Department of chemistry

Education

Nikolaos Chalmpes received his diploma from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Ioannina (2016), and in 2018, he completed the interdepartmental Master’s program in Chemistry and Materials Technology at the University of Ioannina. In 2021, he obtained his PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the School of Engineering, University of Ioannina. His doctoral thesis focused on the development of novel two-dimensional nanostructures for technological applications.

Career

After completing his doctoral thesis, Nikolaos Chalmpes joined Cornell University (USA) as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Emm. Giannelis research group. His first research project at Cornell was conducted in collaboration with the US Air Force (Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL) and focused on developing novel experimental approaches for transition metal dichalcogenides.

In parallel, he pursued extensive research into the design, synthesis and characterization of nanostructured and functional materials, placing particular emphasis on carbon-based materials. Specifically, he pioneered the use of hypergolic reactions—traditionally employed in rocket propulsion—as a novel synthetic method for producing porous carbon-based materials with exceptionally high specific surface areas. This approach led to the development of porous carbon nanomaterials exhibiting the highest porosity values ​​reported to date in the literature, while simultaneously delivering superior performance as supercapacitor electrodes.

During his research career at Cornell, he participated in numerous interdisciplinary research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), DARPA, and industry partners. Notably, in collaboration with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, he contributed to the development and evaluation of Nanoparticle Ionic Materials (NIMs) as innovative propellants for space propulsion systems.

In 2026, he was appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the School of Sciences and Engineering, University of Crete.

Research Interest

Carbon-based nanostructures and superstructures, porous materials, two-dimensional materials, hybrid and nanocomposite materials, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy.

Research Output and Scientific Impact

• Author of 65 international publications in peer reviewed journals
  Published articles in journals such as: Nature, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Nano, Angewandte Chemie, Chemistry of Materials, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Chemical Engineering Journal, Small, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, ACS Applied Nano Materials.
• Author of 2 papers (referred) in book series 
• Inventor of 4 international patents 
• 26 oral / poster presentations

Recent Publications

1. N. Chalmpes, P. Ochonma, I. Tantis, A. W. Alsmaeil, T. E. Assafa, M. Tathacharya, M. Srivastava, G. Gadikota, A. B. Bourlinos, T. Steriotis, E. P. Giannelis. Ultrahigh surface area nanoporous carbons synthesized via hypergolic and activation reactions for enhanced CO2 capacityand volumetric energy density. ACS Nano (2024), Vol. 18, p. 33491–33504.
2. Chalmpes, M. Susner, M. Velez, A. W. Alsmaeil, A. Jawaid, R. Vaia, E. P. Giannelis. Enhanced yield and compatibility of exfoliated MoS2 through iodine-assisted thermal treatment ofpowders. Advanced Functional Materials (2025), pp. 2420741.
3. Chalmpes, I. Tantis, A.W. Alsmaeil, A. B. Bourlinos, E. P. Giannelis. Design, synthesis and evaluation of noble metal nanoparticle and in-situ decorated carbon supported nanoparticle electrocatalysts using hypergolic reactions. Chemistry of Materials (2024), Vol. 36, p. 10616- 10625.
4. Chalmpes, I. Tantis, A. W. Alsmaeil, B. S. Aldakkan, A. Dimitrakou, M. A. Karakassides, C. E. Salmas, E. P. Giannelis. Elevating waste biomass: supercapacitor electrode materials derived from spent coffee grounds. Energy Fuels (2025), Vol. 39, p. 1305–1315.
5. Lu, W. Wu, F. M. Colombari, A. Jawaid, B. Seymour, K. Whisnant, X. Zhong, W. Choi,
6. Chalmpes, J. Lahann, R. A. Vaia, A. F. de Moura, D. Nepal, N. A. Kotov. Nano-achiral complex composites for extreme polarization optics. Nature (2024), Vol. 630, p. 860-865.