Michel Barsoum

Michel W. Barsoum (born January 1, 1955, in Cairo, Egypt) is a materials scientist and Distinguished Professor at Drexel University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He is known for his work with MAX phases, and for research that led to the development of MXenes, a family of two-dimensional materials derived from MAX phases.

Education Barsoum was born on January 1, 1955, in Cairo, Egypt. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Materials Engineering from the American University in Cairo in 1977. He received a Master of Science in Ceramics Engineering from the University of Missouri–Rolla in 1980. Barsoum completed his PhD in Ceramics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985.

Academic career Barsoum joined Drexel University in 1985 as an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Engineering (now Materials Science and Engineering). He was promoted to associate professor in 1991, full professor in 1997, and distinguished professor in 1999. He served as A.W. Grosvenor Professor from 2009 to 2013. ternary compounds with the formula Mn+1AXn (where M is a transition metal, A is an A-group element, and X is carbon or nitrogen) that exhibit metallic conductivity and ceramic hardness. His group synthesized and characterized many MAX phases, including , establishing them as thermodynamically stable nanolaminates. These materials are used in high-temperature refractories, protective coatings, and nuclear reactor components due to their machinability, thermal shock resistance, and irradiation tolerance.

Barsoum and Tucker identified ripplocations, a universal deformation mechanism in layered solids like graphite and MAX phases. They found that atomic layers, like all other layered systems, will buckle.

In 2022, Barsoum and El-Badr discovered a simple, scalable method to synthesize quantum-confined one-dimensional titania-based nanofilaments whose cross-sections are ≈ 5 x 7 Å2. In 2024, he cofounded the company One-D Nano with G. Schwenk to market this discovery.

Publications Barsoum has authored two books in materials science: Fundamentals of Ceramics (McGraw-Hill, 1997; Taylor & Francis, 2002; CRC Press, 2019), a textbook on the structure, properties, and applications of ceramic materials. MAX Phases: Properties of Machinable Ternary Carbides and Nitrides (Wiley-VCH, 2013), covering the synthesis, properties, and applications of MAX phases.

Awards and honors 2023: Fellow - National Academy of Inventors 2021: Horizon Prize - Royal Society of Chemistry 2020: International Ceramics Prize (Basic Science) - World Academy of Ceramics 2016: Foreign Member - Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences 2016: Chair of Excellence - Nanosciences Foundation 2013: Ross Coffin Purdy Award - American Ceramic Society 2000: Max Planck Research Award - Alexander von Humboldt Foundation