Alexei Khalizov
Professor, Chemistry and Environmental Science
356 Tiernan Hall (TIER)
About Me
A physical chemist who focuses on chemical and physical processes that govern the transformations of atmospheric pollutants
Education
Ph.D.
; Ufa Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
; Physical Chemistry
; 1997
B.S. ; Bashkir State University, Russia ; Chemistry ; 1994
B.S. ; Bashkir State University, Russia ; Chemistry ; 1994
Experience
Texas A&M University
Assistant Research Scientist,
July 2005 -
July 2013
University of Waterloo
Research Associate,
October 2002 -
June 2005
McGill University
Postdoctoral Fellow,
October 1999 -
August 2002
Ufa Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Research Scientist,
January 1997 -
September 1999
Awards & Honors
2016 NSF CAREER: Molecular Mechanism of Atmospheric Mercury through Speciation-Resolved Experiments, National Science Foundation
2016 Rising Star Research Award, College of Sciences and Liberal Arts, New Jersey Institute of Technology
2012 Dean's Distinguished Achievement Award , College of Geosciences, Texas A&M
2012 Research Productivity Award , Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M
2000 NATO-NSERC Postdoctoral Science Fellowship , NATO-NSERC
Website
2025 Fall Courses
CHE 492 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY
CHE 705 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
CHE 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
CHEM 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I
CHEM 591 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER II
CHEM 700B - MASTERS PROJECT
CHEM 701B - MASTERS THESIS
FRSC 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I
MTEN 491 - RESEARCH & INDEPENDENT STUDY I
MTEN 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
CHE 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
CHEM 492 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY
EVSC 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
EVSC 701C - MASTER'S THESIS
MTEN 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
CHE 701B - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
EVSC 591 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE I
EVSC 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
CHE 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY
CHE 701C - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
EVSC 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
MTEN 492 - RESRCH AND INDPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
MTEN 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
CHEM 391 - RESEARCH AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
EVSC 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
MTEN 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
CHE 700B - MASTERS PROJECT
CHEM 590 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER I
CHEM 701C - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 592 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE II
CHE 706 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
CHEM 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
MTEN 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
MTEN 701B - MASTERS THESIS
CHE 705 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
CHE 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
CHEM 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I
CHEM 591 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER II
CHEM 700B - MASTERS PROJECT
CHEM 701B - MASTERS THESIS
FRSC 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY I
MTEN 491 - RESEARCH & INDEPENDENT STUDY I
MTEN 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
CHE 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
CHEM 492 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY
EVSC 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
EVSC 701C - MASTER'S THESIS
MTEN 792 - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
CHE 701B - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
EVSC 591 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE I
EVSC 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 790A - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
CHE 491 - RESEARCH & INDEP STUDY
CHE 701C - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
EVSC 701B - MASTER'S THESIS
MTEN 492 - RESRCH AND INDPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 725 - INDEPENDENT STUDY I
MTEN 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
CHEM 391 - RESEARCH AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
EVSC 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
MTEN 790A - DOCT DISSERTATION & RES
CHE 700B - MASTERS PROJECT
CHEM 590 - GRADUATE CO-OP WORK EXPER I
CHEM 701C - MASTERS THESIS
CHEM 726 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
EVSC 592 - GRADUATE WORK EXPERIENCE II
CHE 706 - INDEPENDENT STUDY II
CHEM 792B - PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH
MTEN 700B - MASTER'S PROJECT
MTEN 701B - MASTERS THESIS
Teaching Interests
Environmental Chemistry
Past Courses
CHEM 235A: PHYSICAL CHEM II LAB
CHEM 339: ANALY/PHY CHM LAB FOR CHM ENG
CHEM 360: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY I
CHEM 360: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY OF AIR POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
CHEM 361: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY II
CHEM 361: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY OF WATER AND SOIL POLLUTION
CHEM 791: GRADUATE SEMINAR
EVSC 610: ENVIRN CHEM SCIENCE
EVSC 791: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SEMINAR
CHEM 339: ANALY/PHY CHM LAB FOR CHM ENG
CHEM 360: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY I
CHEM 360: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY OF AIR POLLUTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
CHEM 361: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY II
CHEM 361: ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY OF WATER AND SOIL POLLUTION
CHEM 791: GRADUATE SEMINAR
EVSC 610: ENVIRN CHEM SCIENCE
EVSC 791: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SEMINAR
Research Interests
Atmospheric chemistry
In Progress
Aging transformations of atmospheric soot nanoparticles
Major goals of this project are to understand how different coating structures form on soot nanoparticles during atmospheric aging, determine how the coating induces restructuring of soot nanoparticles, and measure/predict light absorption and scattering by the modified soot.
Chemistry of atmospheric mercury
The project goal is to understand the chemistry and speciation of atmospheric mercury, a persistent and bioaccumulative pollutant emitted to the atmosphere in large quantities by coal-fired power plants. Specific objectives are the gas-phase oxidation of mercury, the interaction of oxidized mercury with atmospheric aerosols, and the development of new detection technique for atmospheric oxidized mercury based on the chemical ionization mass spectrometry.
Compressibility of nanopore-confined liquids probed by ultrasonic experiments
This project explores the effects of confinement on compressibility of fluids by means of adsorption-ultrasonic experiments. When fluids are confined in nanopores, many of their physico-chemical properties (e.g. density, freezing point, diffusivity) change as compared to bulk. Some experimental studies suggested that compressibility of confined fluids might also deviate from that in bulk. A series of recent molecular simulation studies, including the work by Gennady Gor, confirmed these observations for nitrogen and argon, and predicted that the departure of compressibility progressively increases with the decrease of the pore size. This let us hypothesize that confinement will change the elastic properties of all fluids when the pore size is comparable to the molecular size, and the extent of this change is determined by the pore size and strength of the solid-fluid interactions. Here we are testing this hypothesis experimentally, as well as explore the effects of other parameters, such as the properties of pore surface, molecular shapes, etc. We also investigate whether confinement can lead to appearance of the shear modulus absent in bulk fluids. We expect that the results of these experiments will complement the current and future molecular simulation studies by Gennady Gor’s group.
Multiscale Modeling of Restructuring of Atmospheric Soot
Soot is a major environmental pollutant with impacts ranging from air quality and human health to climate. The extent of these impacts depends on the microstructure of soot nanoparticles and their surface properties. The soot microstructure is complex, with nanoparticles being fractal aggregates of graphitic spherules mixed with organic and inorganic combustion products or other atmospheric chemicals. On top of it, soot nanoparticles often change structure when interacting with chemicals adsorbed on their surface. The main goal of this project is to develop a molecular-based model for soot nanoparticles restructuring (Gor's group) and verify it against experimental measurements (Khalizov's group).
Major goals of this project are to understand how different coating structures form on soot nanoparticles during atmospheric aging, determine how the coating induces restructuring of soot nanoparticles, and measure/predict light absorption and scattering by the modified soot.
Chemistry of atmospheric mercury
The project goal is to understand the chemistry and speciation of atmospheric mercury, a persistent and bioaccumulative pollutant emitted to the atmosphere in large quantities by coal-fired power plants. Specific objectives are the gas-phase oxidation of mercury, the interaction of oxidized mercury with atmospheric aerosols, and the development of new detection technique for atmospheric oxidized mercury based on the chemical ionization mass spectrometry.
Compressibility of nanopore-confined liquids probed by ultrasonic experiments
This project explores the effects of confinement on compressibility of fluids by means of adsorption-ultrasonic experiments. When fluids are confined in nanopores, many of their physico-chemical properties (e.g. density, freezing point, diffusivity) change as compared to bulk. Some experimental studies suggested that compressibility of confined fluids might also deviate from that in bulk. A series of recent molecular simulation studies, including the work by Gennady Gor, confirmed these observations for nitrogen and argon, and predicted that the departure of compressibility progressively increases with the decrease of the pore size. This let us hypothesize that confinement will change the elastic properties of all fluids when the pore size is comparable to the molecular size, and the extent of this change is determined by the pore size and strength of the solid-fluid interactions. Here we are testing this hypothesis experimentally, as well as explore the effects of other parameters, such as the properties of pore surface, molecular shapes, etc. We also investigate whether confinement can lead to appearance of the shear modulus absent in bulk fluids. We expect that the results of these experiments will complement the current and future molecular simulation studies by Gennady Gor’s group.
Multiscale Modeling of Restructuring of Atmospheric Soot
Soot is a major environmental pollutant with impacts ranging from air quality and human health to climate. The extent of these impacts depends on the microstructure of soot nanoparticles and their surface properties. The soot microstructure is complex, with nanoparticles being fractal aggregates of graphitic spherules mixed with organic and inorganic combustion products or other atmospheric chemicals. On top of it, soot nanoparticles often change structure when interacting with chemicals adsorbed on their surface. The main goal of this project is to develop a molecular-based model for soot nanoparticles restructuring (Gor's group) and verify it against experimental measurements (Khalizov's group).
Journal Article
Ashoka Karunarathne, Stephan Braxmeier, Boris Gurevich, Alexei Khalizov, Gudrun Reichenauer, Gennady Gor.
2025. "Ultrasound propagation in water-sorbing carbon xerogel."
npj Acoustics , vol. 1 , no. 1 .
Alexei Khalizov, E V Ivanova, E V Demidov, A Hasani, J H Curtis, N Riemer, Gennady Gor. 2025. "Capillary Condensation: An Unaccounted Pathway for Rapid Aging of Atmospheric Soot.." Environmental science & technology .
Ashoka Karunarathne, Egor V. Demidov, Ali Hasani, Alexei Khalizov. 2025. "Mechanical properties of bare and coated soot aggregates probed by atomic force microscopy." Journal of Aerosol Science , pp. 106523.
Egor V. Demidov, Gennady Gor, Alexei Khalizov. 2024. "Discrete element method model of soot aggregates." Physical Review E , vol. 110 , no. 5 , pp. 054902.
Ashoka Karunarathne, Günel Nabiyeva, Christopher J. Rasmussen, Keven Alkhoury, Naila Assem, Jonathan Bauer, Shawn A. Chester, Alexei Khalizov, Gennady Gor. 2024. "Effects of Humidity on Mycelium-Based Leather." ACS Applied Bio Materials , vol. 7 , no. 10 , pp. 6441-6450.
Alexei Khalizov, E V Ivanova, E V Demidov, A Hasani, J H Curtis, N Riemer, Gennady Gor. 2025. "Capillary Condensation: An Unaccounted Pathway for Rapid Aging of Atmospheric Soot.." Environmental science & technology .
Ashoka Karunarathne, Egor V. Demidov, Ali Hasani, Alexei Khalizov. 2025. "Mechanical properties of bare and coated soot aggregates probed by atomic force microscopy." Journal of Aerosol Science , pp. 106523.
Egor V. Demidov, Gennady Gor, Alexei Khalizov. 2024. "Discrete element method model of soot aggregates." Physical Review E , vol. 110 , no. 5 , pp. 054902.
Ashoka Karunarathne, Günel Nabiyeva, Christopher J. Rasmussen, Keven Alkhoury, Naila Assem, Jonathan Bauer, Shawn A. Chester, Alexei Khalizov, Gennady Gor. 2024. "Effects of Humidity on Mycelium-Based Leather." ACS Applied Bio Materials , vol. 7 , no. 10 , pp. 6441-6450.
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