Prof. Yuri Akishev
Head of Laboratory, State Research Centre of Russian Federation Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research
“Influence of longitudinal and transverse magnetic field on streamers in volume and on surface of a barrier discharge”
Yuri Akishev is a distinguished physicist specializing in non-thermal plasma and gas discharge technologies. He graduated from the Physical Department of Moscow State University in 1971 and earned his Candidate of Science degree (equivalent to a PhD) in 1979 from the Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute, Moscow, with a thesis on instabilities in glow discharges. In 1988, he received his Doctor of Science degree from the same institute, focusing on the spatial structure of glow discharges at higher pressures. Since 1988, Akishev has served as head of the Plasma Physics Laboratory at the State Research Centre Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research, and since 1996, he has been a Professor of Physics at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute. His career includes roles as a junior and senior researcher, group leader, and leading researcher at the Kurchatov Institute and its successor. Akishev’s research focuses on diffusive, constricted, and micro discharges for applications such as airflow control, gas cleanup, plasma surface modification, and non-thermal plasma disinfection. His laboratory excels in developing DC and AC non-thermal plasma sources for surface treatment, pollutant removal, and sterilization, supported by extensive expertise in experimental and numerical plasma physics.
In the talk, the overview of state of the art on influence of longitudinal and transverse magnetic field on streamers propagating in volume and on surface of a barrier discharge will be given. The results of experimental and numerical investigations on this topic will be presented. The role of gas composition on the streamer behavior under magnetic field will be discussed as well.
Dr. Tony Murphy
Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO, Manufacturing
“CO2 conversion using plasma catalysis – prospects for scale-up”
Tony has been with CSIRO, Australia’s main government research organisation, since 1989. Before this, he received a PhD from the University of Sydney and was a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics. He works on plasma applications, including plasma catalysis and hydrogen plasma ironmaking. He has published over 350 refereed journal papers with a Web of Science h-index of 60, and has received several awards for his research, most recently the 2024 Plasma Physics Innovation Prize of the European Physical Society. He holds editorial positions with five international journals, including Editor-in-Chief of Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing.
Plasma-assisted catalysis is being investigated for gas conversion processes including ammonia production, CO2 hydrogenation and dry reforming of methane. CO2 methanation (CO2 + 4H2 → CH4 + 2H2O), for example, shows significant potential for producing green methane from biogas. Bench-scale experiments in packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactors give methane yield, selectivity and energy efficiency that are competitive with those of the thermal catalytic process while operating at a much lower temperature. However, the scale-up of packed-bed DBD reactors is problematic for several reasons, including the significant pressure drop across the reactor. In this talk, I will present the latest results from bench-scale experiments and discuss the requirements for scale-up, which include novel reactor designs.
Prof. Dingxin Liu
Xi’an Jiaotong University
“Plasma-activated media: a new generation of plasma medical technology”
Prof. Liu received his PhD degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2010 and has been working there since then. He is currently a professor at the university. His research interest includes simulation and diagnostics of plasmas, plasma-liquid interaction and plasma biomedicine. In collaboration with hospitals, he is conducting over 10 clinical trials using plasma-activated media. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers with a total citation of 5000+, and has given invited talks in 17 international conferences.
Plasma medical technology has been widely applied, but the existing mature technologies all use plasma to directly treat the human body. Usually, they can only handle the body surface or small areas. Unlike direct plasma treatment, plasma-activated media could store the reactive species generated by plasma in aqueous solutions, hydrogels, etc. By leveraging the fluidity and sustained-release properties of the medium materials, it can be flexibly applied to the deep area and/or large area of human body, thereby promoting the upgrading of plasma medical applications. This report will introduce the research work on plasma-activation media by the Centre for Plasma Biomedine of Xi'an Jiaotong University.
Prof. Xiaolei Fan
The University of Manchester
“CO2 conversion using plasma catalysis – prospects for scale-up”
Xiaolei Fan at The University of Manchester (UK) is a leading researcher in the field of nonthermal plasma catalysis. Since 2019, he has emerged as a highly active and influential contributor, advancing both fundamental understanding and practical development in the field. His research, documented in over 30 peer-reviewed publications in field of plasma catalysis, has been pivotal in guiding the rational design of heterogeneous catalysts and elucidating key phenomena in plasma–catalyst hybrid systems. From an applied perspective, Fan has designed and developed advanced DRIFTS flow cells for robust and accurate characterization of surface reactions under various discharge conditions; this technology has since been commercialized. His team also pioneered the development of the first modular plasma catalytic reactor prototype, which features a patented multichannel design. This scalable system is compatible with solar renewable energy, underscoring its promise for real-world implementation of plasma catalysis technologies.
Nonthermal plasma catalysis, especially coupling with renewable energy, offers a promising and sustainable route for many applications such as energy storage and distributed chemical production, yet the field faces critical challenges in both mechanistic understanding and scalable reactor design. In this plenary lecture, I will present recent advances from our group that address these challenges through the development of specialized tools and platforms. First, I will introduce our design and implementation of advanced DRIFTS (Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectroscopy) flow cells, which enable robust and accurate in situ characterization of surface reactions under various plasma discharge conditions. These cells are engineered to operate under realistic plasma catalytic environments, allowing us to capture dynamic surface phenomena and mechanistic pathways with high temporal and spatial resolution. Now commercialized, these flow cells provide a versatile platform for operando plasma catalysis studies across a wide range of systems. Second, I will share briefly the design and fabrication of modular plasma catalytic reactors and system prototype developed by our team. Together, these developments represent a significant step toward the rational design and deployment of plasma catalytic technologies. The talk will highlight how integrated characterization and modular design principles can drive innovation across fundamental and applied domains in plasma-assisted catalysis.
