Biography

Prof. Michel W. Barsoum is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel University. He is an internationally recognized leader in the area of MAX phases and the 2D solids MXenes, which are derived from the MAX phases. Most recently he discovered a new universal mechanism – ripplocation – in the deformation of layered solids. With over 500 refereed publications and a Google h-index of 130, his work has been cited almost 100,000 times to date. Professor Barsoum has been listed as a Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers since 2018. In 2020, according to a recent Stanford University study, he had the highest c-index (combines citations and h-index) in the Materials Science subfield. In a recent listing of the world's highest cited researchers in the Materials Science field, he was ranked 209 in the world and 95 in the USA.

Professor Barsoum is a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Society of Engineering Sciences and Fellow of both the American Ceramic Society and the World Academy of Ceramics. He is the author of MAX Phases: Properties of Machinable Carbides and Nitrides and Fundamentals of Ceramics, a leading textbook in the field. In 2020, he was awarded the International Ceramics Prize for basic science by the World Academy of Ceramics. This prize is awarded quadrennially and is one of the highest in his field. The prize was awarded for “…outstanding contribution in opening new horizons in material research and specifically for your pioneering work in MAX phases and their derivatives.”

Degrees / Education

• PhD, Ceramics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• MSc, Ceramic Engineering, University of Missouri, Rolla
• BSc, Materials Engineering, American University in Cairo, Egypt

Research Areas

• Materials

Research Interests

Areas of Study

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Nanomaterials

Academic Distinctions

• World Academy of Ceramics International Ceramics Prize, 2020
• Provost Award for Outstanding Career Scholarly Productivity, 2019
• Highly Cited Research – Cross-Field, Clarivate Analytics, 2018
• ASM International Liberty Bell Chapter’s Delaware Valley Materials Person of the Year, 2016
• Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, 2016.
• Editor, Materials Science Letters
• Outstanding Career Scholarly Research Achievement Award, College of Engin. Drexel U. 2017.
• Chair of Excellence, Nanosciences Foundation, Univ. Foundation Grenbole Alpes, France, 2016.
• Elsevier Scopus, List of 300 most Cited Authors in Materials Science and Engineering, 2016.
• Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professorship, Imperial College, London, UK; Fall 2015.
• Outstanding Research Award, Dept. of Materials Science and Engin., Drexel Univ., 2013.
• Ross Coffin Purdy Award 2013, American Ceramic Society.
• Visiting Professor, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France; Feb. 2012.
• ISI’s Most Highly Cited Authors List 2009.
• Visiting Professor, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden, 2008 -
• A. W. Grosvenor Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2009-2014.
• Wheatly Scholar, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, October 2008.
• University Research/Scholarship Award, Drexel University, 2007 (Inaugural award).
• Academician, World Academy of Ceramics, 2006.
• Fellow, American Ceramic Society, 2005.
• Alexander von Humboldt-Max Planck Society Prize for Senior US Scientists, 2000.

Select Publications

• M. Ghidiu, M. Lukatskaya, M.-Q. Zhao, Y. Gogotsi and M. W. Barsoum, "Conductive Two-Dimensional Titanium Carbide 'Clay' with High Volumetric Capacitance", Nature, 516, 78-81 (2014).
• M. W. Barsoum, MAX Phases: Properties of Machinable Carbides and Nitrides, Wiley VCH GmbH & Co. 2013.
• M. W. Barsoum, Fundamentals of Ceramics, Taylor and Francis, London, 2003.
• M. W. Barsoum, "The Mn+1AXn Phases: A New Class of Solids: Thermodynamically Stable Nanolaminates", Prog. Solid State Chem., 28, 201-281 (2000). This paper has been cited > 2000 times.
• M. W. Barsoum and T. El-Raghy, “The MAX Phases: Unique New Carbide and Nitride Materials”, American Scientist, 89, 336-345 (2001).
• J. Gruber, A. Lange, J. Griggs, M. Taheri, G. Tucker and M. W. Barsoum, "Evidence for Bulk Ripplocations in Layered Solids", Sci. Rep., 6, 33,451 (2016).
• S. Kota, E. Zapata-Solvas, A. Ly, J. Lu, O. Elkassabany, A. Huon, W. E. Lee, L. Hultman, S. J. May and M. W. Barsoum, "Synthesis and Characterization of an Alumina Forming Nanolaminated Boride: MoAlB", Sci. Rep. 6, 26,475 (2016).
• B. Anasori, Y. Xi, M. Beidaghi, J. Lu, B. Hosler, L. Hultman, P. Kent, Y. Gogotsi and M. W. Barsoum, "Two-Dimensional, Ordered, Double Transition Metal Carbides (MXenes)", ACS Nano, 9, 9507-9516 (2015). Editor's Choice and Cover.
• M. Naguib, M. Kurtoglu, V. Presser, J. Lu, J. Niu, M. Heon, L. Hultman, Y. Gogotsi and M. W. Barsoum, "Two Dimensional Nanocrystals Produced by Exfoliation of Ti3AlC2", Adv. Mater. 23, 4207 (2011). First MXene paper.
• M. Naguib, O. Mashtalir, J. Carle, V. Presser, J. Lu, L. Hultman, Y. Gogotsi and M. W. Barsoum, “Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Carbides”, ACS Nano, 6, 1322-1331 (2012). This paper won the Ross Coffin Purdy Award from the American. Ceramic Society for the “paper judged to have made the most valuable contribution to the ceramic technical literature in 2012”.