Samy El-Shall

Samy El-Shall
Education	B.S., Chemistry Ph.D., Physical Chemistry
Alma mater	Cairo University Georgetown University
Occupation(s)	Chemist and academic
Scientific career
Institutions	Virginia Commonwealth University

Samy El-Shall is an Egyptian-American chemist and academic. He is the Mary Eugenia Kapp Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

El-Shall's research interests include nanostructured materials, graphene, and nanocatalysis for energy and environmental applications. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Education and career

El-Shall earned his B.S. degree in chemistry in 1976 from Cairo University. Later in 1985, he completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Georgetown University. ^[1]

El-Shall is the Mary Eugenia Kapp Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. ^[1] Moreover, he also held an appointment as the senior science advisor in the Bureau for the Middle East, Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program. ^[2]

Research

El-Shall, along with Wang and others, presented a simple solution synthesis for quantum dots of metal sulfides, featuring chemical reactions between KBH_₄, sulfur, and metal salts at room temperature in organic solvents. ^[3] He also developed a new method of synthesizing polymers by utilizing a laser to vaporize metal targets, adding metal particles to the polymer-formation process. ^[4] His group developed a microwave-based technique to make uniform nanowires and nanorods of certain semiconductors. The process involved changing the heat time to control the shape evolution from nanoparticles to nanorods, and eventually to extended nanowires. ^[5] His research group also proposed a microwave-assisted method to deposit metal nanoparticles and reduce graphene oxide simultaneously by utilizing reducing agents. ^[6]

El-Shall, in collaboration with Abdelsayed and others, reported a photothermal reduction method to obtain reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. ^[7] His work established the effectivity of hybrid catalysts made using microwave-assisted chemical reduction in catalyzing carbon–carbon coupling (Suzuki, Heck) reactions. ^[8] In addition, he also demonstrated the utility of Pd/FE₃O₄/G nanocomposites as catalysts for Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions. ^[9] Furthermore, he co-designed a synergistic bimetallic metal–organic framework containing copper and cobalt ions using benzene tetraamine and benzene tricarboxylic acid. ^[10]

Awards and honors

• 2012 - Fellow, American Physical Society ^[11]
• 2013 - Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science ^[12]
• 2018 - Virginia Outstanding Scientist, Government of Virginia ^[13]

Selected articles

• Wang, W.; Germanenko, I.; El-Shall, M. S. (2002). "Room-temperature synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline CdS, ZnS, and Cd_xZn_1–xS". Chemistry of Materials. 14 (7): 3028–3033. doi:10.1021/cm020040x.
• Panda, A. B.; Glaspell, G.; El-Shall, M. S. (2006). "Microwave synthesis of highly aligned ultra narrow semiconductor rods and wires". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 128 (9): 2790–2791. Bibcode:2006JAChS.128.2790P. doi:10.1021/ja058148b. PMID   16506744.
• Hassan, H. M.; Abdelsayed, V.; Abd El Rahman, S. K.; AbouZeid, K. M.; Terner, J.; El-Shall, M. S.; Al-Resayes, S. I.; El-Azhary, A. A. (2009). "Microwave synthesis of graphene sheets supporting metal nanocrystals in aqueous and organic media". Journal of Materials Chemistry. 19 (23): 3832–3837. doi:10.1039/b906253j.
• Abdelsayed, V.; Moussa, S.; Hassan, H. M.; Aluri, H. S.; Collinson, M. M.; El-Shall, M. S. (2010). "Photothermal deoxygenation of graphite oxide with laser excitation in solution and graphene-aided increase in water temperature". The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 1 (19): 2804–2809. doi:10.1021/jz1011143.
• Siamaki, A. R.; Abd El Rahman, S. K.; Abdelsayed, V.; El-Shall, M. S.; Gupton, B. F. (2011). "Microwave-assisted synthesis of palladium nanoparticles supported on graphene: A highly active and recyclable catalyst for carbon–carbon cross-coupling reactions". Journal of Catalysis. 279 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.jcat.2010.12.003.

References

1. "M. Samy El-Shall, Ph.D. - VCU". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
2. "M. Samy El-Shall - National Academies". National Academies. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
3. Masala, Ombretta; Seshadri, Ram (4 August 2004). "Synthesis Routes for Large Volumes of Nanoparticles" . Annual Review of Materials Research. 34: 41–81. Bibcode:2004AnRMS..34...41M. doi:10.1146/annurev.matsci.34.052803.090949. ISSN   1531-7331.
4. "New Process to Produce Special Polymers". Richmond Times-Dispatch . May 10, 1993. p. 20. Retrieved July 16, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. Zhu, Ying-Jie; Chen, Feng (25 June 2014). "Microwave-Assisted Preparation of Inorganic Nanostructures in Liquid Phase". Chemical Reviews. 114 (12): 6462–6555. doi:10.1021/cr400366s. ISSN   0009-2665. PMID   24897552.
6. Georgakilas, Vasilios; Otyepka, Michal; Bourlinos, Athanasios B.; Chandra, Vimlesh; Kim, Namdong; Kemp, K. Christian; Hobza, Pavel; Zboril, Radek; Kim, Kwang S. (14 November 2012). "Functionalization of Graphene: Covalent and Non-Covalent Approaches, Derivatives and Applications" . Chemical Reviews. 112 (11): 6156–6214. doi:10.1021/cr3000412. ISSN   0009-2665. PMID   23009634.
7. Huang, Xiao; Qi, Xiaoying; Boey, Freddy; Zhang, Hua (4 January 2012). "Graphene-based composites". Chemical Society Reviews. 41 (2): 666–686. doi:10.1039/C1CS15078B. ISSN   1460-4744. PMID   21796314.
8. Khan, Mujeeb; Tahir, Muhammad Nawaz; Adil, Syed Farooq; Khan, Hadayat Ullah; Siddiqui, M. Rafiq H.; Al-warthan, Abdulrahman A.; Tremel, Wolfgang (15 September 2015). "Graphene based metal and metal oxide nanocomposites: synthesis, properties and their applications" . Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 3 (37): 18753–18808. doi:10.1039/C5TA02240A. ISSN   2050-7496.
9. Su, Chunming (15 January 2017). "Environmental implications and applications of engineered nanoscale magnetite and its hybrid nanocomposites: A review of recent literature". Journal of Hazardous Materials. 322 (Pt A): 48–84. Bibcode:2017JHzM..322...48S. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2016.06.060. ISSN   0304-3894. PMC   7306924 . PMID   27477792.
10. Wang, Wenjuan; Chen, Di; Li, Fayan; Xiao, Xin; Xu, Qiang (11 January 2024). "Metal-organic-framework-based materials as platforms for energy applications". Chem. 10 (1): 86–133. Bibcode:2024Chem...10...86W. doi: 10.1016/j.chempr.2023.09.009 . ISSN   2451-9294.
11. "Honors and Award Winners". American Physical Society. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
12. "AAAS Council Elects 388 New AAAS Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
13. "VCU researchers named Virginia's Outstanding Scientists for 2018". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved July 16, 2025.