Erdogan Kiran honored at international conference for pioneering contributions to supercritical fluids

Many professors have an impact on the students who pass through their classrooms and labs, but there are some professors who make an impact on students they have never even met. 

Erdogan Kiran, the Alexander F. Giacco Professor of Chemical Engineering, is one of those professors. As an internationally recognized researcher, Kiran has over 40 years of experience in the area of supercritical fluids and their impact on polymer modification and processing. He was honored earlier this year at the European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids in Maribor, Slovenia, an international conference attended by the field’s top scholars and researchers.

Supercritical fluids have adjustable properties and can behave like liquids or gases depending on the amount of pressure they are under. Kiran's research on the pressure and temperature conditions at which polymers are completely dissolved has had a global impact. His findings on the solubility and phase separation of polymers and other compounds in supercritical fluids, and the dynamics associated with these transformations, provide the fundamental data for opportunities like the processing of a wide range of materials, from pharmaceuticals to forming the foam used in sneakers.

A dedicated section of the 2024 European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids recognized Kiran's significant contributions to the field, including founding the Journal of Supercritical Fluids in 1988. Numerous collaborators and former students delivered heartfelt speeches, highlighting his profound impact and pivotal role in shaping their individual careers. 

One such researcher, Marcus Petermann, professor and the chair of particle technology at the University of Bochum in Germany, has worked closely with Kiran over the years, beginning in 2013 when they piloted an international student exchange program. 

“The scientific community in the field of supercritical fluids is a relatively small community and therefore almost automatically relies on international collaboration,” Petermann said. “What drives us all is our enthusiasm for the possibilities that supercritical fluids open up. This shared enthusiasm and scientific collaboration has resulted in many friendships, which in turn has fostered excellent research results through joint efforts.”

The international collaboration between Kiran, Petermann, and his colleague Sulamith Frerich, who was a visiting professor in Kiran’s lab, has led to an annual reciprocal student exchange program between chemical engineering students from Virginia Tech and the University of Bochum in Germany. This study abroad opportunity benefits students with hands-on experiences in cutting-edge laboratories, collaborative projects with international peers, and the opportunity to build a global professional network, all of which are invaluable for their future careers in chemical engineering. 

“I believe our success is intimately linked to the success of our students,” Kiran said. “International connections are an integral part of the educational process. I prioritize bringing students with me to conferences like the European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids whenever I can, so they are exposed to, and connected with, our research community. From these experiences, they see what others are doing and how their impact contributes to the overall success of their field.”

Kiran believes exposing students to international meetings like the one in Slovenia helps them develop a sense of innovation and belonging and sets the stage for them to begin their careers. Dawn Rhee, a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering, has accompanied Kiran to several international meetings and gave a presentation at the meeting in Slovenia. Rhee also received her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech, so she has been benefitting from Kiran’s guidance for several years. 

“Dr. Kiran has been a role model for me. I feel privileged that I am benefiting from his immense knowledge and worldwide connections,” Rhee said. “It gives me pride to see how other scientists respect Dr. Kiran, which I have observed firsthand at international meetings. Having opportunities to present my research findings that I generated in the lab at global events has allowed me to meet researchers from all around the world."

A career of lasting impact

Kiran recognizes the influence that international collaborations have had on the forward momentum of the supercritical fluids field, with respect to students and scholars as well as for him personally. 

Earlier in Kiran’s career, in partnership with DuPont-Tyvek, he helped develop supercritical fluid based alternative solvents to replace ozone depleting Freons which were banned after the Montreal Protocol, thereby helping the company respond to a crisis. In collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, he used supercritical carbon dioxide, a safe and clean fluid, to create scaffolds that provide support for cells to adhere and form functional tissues from biocompatible or biodegradable materials for tissue engineering and biomedical applications.

Recently, Kiran has been involved in several research projects that significantly impact society, the environment, and the circular economy. In 2021, over 180 billion pounds of polypropylene — a major plastic waste found in water bottles, packaging, fibers, medical gloves, and various other products — were produced globally, yet only 5 percent of this waste is currently recycled. Collaborating with PureCycle Technologies, Kiran is advancing supercritical fluid-based processes for the dissolution, purification, and recovery of polypropylene. Additionally, he has worked with DuPont and Dow to explore the creation of polymeric foams for shoe soles using supercritical carbon dioxide or nitrogen.

In addition to his target-oriented fundamental research, Kiran has been committed to educating the next generation of scientists around the globe. He has organized many international summer programs and conferences, including two advanced study institutes sponsored by NATO, that have helped develop young scientists into leading researchers. Many in the field of supercritical fluids, including Petermann, have benefited from Kiran’s continual engagement in the field, including his dedication to the international community as the founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Supercritical Fluids for 35 years.

“Dr. Kiran is without a doubt an outstanding researcher in the field of polymer processing with supercritical fluids, but the founding of the Journal of Supercritical Fluids is of even greater significance to the scientific community,” Petermann said. “With the journal, he has succeeded in creating a home for a family-like structure of researchers in the field of supercritical fluids.”