Michel Barsoum


Michel W. Barsoum 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 pioneering 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. 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.
Barsoum has held visiting positions at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Poitiers, CEA Saclay, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Imperial College London, Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, and Linköping University.

Research

In the mid-1990s, Barsoum and El-Raghy worked on the MAX phases, ternary compounds with the formula Mn+1AXn that exhibit metallic conductivity and ceramic hardness. His group synthesized and characterized many MAX phases, including Ti₃SiC₂, 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.
In 2011, Barsoum with M. Naguib and Y. Gogtsi, all at Drexel, co-discovered MXenes, two-dimensional derivatives of MAX phases obtained by removing the A-layer. MXenes, known for high conductivity, hydrophilicity, and tunable surface chemistry, have enabled breakthroughs in energy storage, water purification, sensors, and flexible electronics.
Barsoum and Tucker identified ripplocations, a universal deformation mechanism in layered solids like graphite and MAX phases, advancing the understanding of mechanical behavior in nanomaterials. 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 ≈ 5x7Å2. In 2024, he cofounded the company One-D Nano with G. Schwenk to market this discovery.

Publications

Barsoum has authored over 600 peer-reviewed publications, cited over 37,500 times with an h-index of over 150. He holds over 25 patents related to MAX phases and MXenes.
Barsoum has authored two books in materials science:Fundamentals of Ceramics, a textbook on the structure, properties, and applications of ceramic materials.MAX Phases: Properties of Machinable Ternary Carbides and Nitrides, covering the synthesis, properties, and applications of MAX phases.

Awards and honors