Dr. Romanos is an associate professor of physics in the Department of Natural Sciences. He joined LAU in fall 2013. He received an MS in Physics, an MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and a PhD in Physics from the University of Missouri. Before returning to Lebanon, Dr. Romanos worked in the oil and gas industry in Houston, Texas, where he led a team of researchers in developing sorbent materials for the transport and storage of natural gas.

Research Interests

His research interests are interdisciplinary and lie in the fields of condensed matter physics, materials science, nanotechnology, and energy storage.  His current research focuses on the development of novel nanomaterials for various applications:   

• Natural gas capture, storage, and transport for the upstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry.   
• Gas separation by physical adsorption. 
• On-board storage of hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles. 
• Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.
• Lead-free ceramics.

Dr. Romanos’s research has been patented, published in renowned peer-reviewed journals, and presented at international conferences. He is an active member of the Materials Research Society (MRS), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and the American Physical Society (APS).

Selected Publications

• R Roukos, S Abou Dargham, J Romanos, D Chaumont “Detection of morphotropic phase boundary in A-site/Ca-substituted Na0. 5Bi0. 5TiO3 complex oxides ferroelectric system.”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol 840, 155509 2020.
• J. Romanos, M. Beckner, M. Prosniewski, T. Rash, M. Lee, J. David Robertson, Lucyna Firlej, B. Kuchta, and P. Pfeifer. “Boron-neutron capture on activated carbon for hydrogen storage.” Scientific Reports, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 2971, 2019.
• R. Roukos, J. Romanos, S. A. Dargham, and D. Chaumont, “Quantification of relaxor behavior in (1 − x)Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 – xCaTiO3 lead-free ceramics system.” Journal of the European Ceramic Society, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 2297-2303, 2019.
• M. Prosniewski, T. Rash, J. Romanos, A. Gillespie, D. Stalla, E. Knight, A. Smith, P. Pfeifer, “Effect of cycling and thermal control on the storage and dynamics of a 40-L monolithic adsorbed natural gas tank.” Fuel, vol. 244, pp. 447-453, 2019
• R. Roukos, S. A. Dargham, J. Romanos, F. Barakat, and D. Chaumont, “Complex structural contribution of the morphotropic phase boundary in Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 - CaTiO3 system.” Ceramics International, vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 4467-4473, 2019.
• J. Romanos, S. Abou Dargham, R. Roukos, and P. Pfeifer, “Properties of adsorbed supercritical methane film in nanopores,” AIP Advances, vol. 8, no. 12, p. 125011, 2018.
• J. Romanos, S. Abou Dargham, R. Roukos, and P. Pfeifer, “Local pressure of supercritical adsorbed hydrogen in nanopores.” Materials, vol. 11, no. 11, 2018.
• M. Prosniewski, A. Gillespie, E. Knight, T. Rash, D. Stalla, J. Romanos, and A. Smith, “Evaluating methane adsorbed film densities on activated carbon in dynamic systems.” Journal of Energy Storage, vol 20, pp. 357–363, 2018.
• J. Romanos, S. A. Dargham, M. Prosniewski, R. Roukos, F. Barakat, and P. Pfeifer, “Structure–Function Relations for Gravimetric and Volumetric Methane Storage Capacities in Activated Carbon,” ACS Omega, vol. 3, no. 11, pp. 15119-15124, 2018.
• J Romanos, F. Barakat, and S. Abou Dargham, “Nanoporous Graphene Monolith for Hydrogen Storage,” Materials Today: Proceedings, vol. 5, no. 9, Part 2, pp. 17478-17483, 2018
• P. Santos, S. Rackey, J. Pitts, A Hilber, K. Seshasai, P. Vergel, J. Romanos. “Virtual Gaseous Fuel Pipeline” Australian Patent Office 2018247201, Canadian Intellectual Property Office CA2921548, European Patent Office EP2888546A2, Chinese Patent Office CN104981646B, World Intellectual Property Organization WO2014031999A2, United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent No. US 9863581B2, 2018 (Patent).
• J. Romanos, T. Rash, S. Abou Dargham, M. Prosniewski, F. Barakat, P. Pfeifer, “Cycling and Regeneration of Adsorbed Natural Gas in Microporous Materials.”, Energy & Fuels, vol. 31, pp. 14332-14337, 2017.
• T. Rash, A. Gillespie, B.P. Holbrook, L.H. Hiltzik, J. Romanos, Y.C. Soo, S. Sweany, and P. Pfeifer, “Microporous carbon monolith synthesis and production for methane storage.” Fuel, vol. 200, pp. 371-379, 2017.
• J. Romanos, J. Burress, P. Pfeifer, T. Rash, P. Shah, and G. Suppes, “High Surface Area Carbon and Process for Its Production”, United States Patent and Trademark Office US 9517445B2, 2016 (Patent).
• L. Firlej, M. Beckner, J. Romanos, P. Pfeifer, and B. Kuchta, “Different approach to estimation of hydrogen-binding energy in nanospace-engineered activated carbons.”  J. Phys. Chem. C 118, 955-961, 2014.
• J. Romanos, S. Sweany, T. Rash, L. Firlej, B. Kuchta, J.C. Idrobo, and P. Pfeifer, “Engineered porous carbon for high volumetric methane storage.” Adsorpt. Sci. & Technol. 32, 981-991, 2014.
• J. Romanos, P. Santos, S. Rackey “Methods, Materials, and Apparatuses Associated with Adsorbing Hydrocarbon Gas Mixtures”, World Intellectual Property Organization WO2014144595 A2, Japan Patent Office JP2016520412A, 2014 (Patent).
• B. Kuchta, L. Firlej, A. Mohammadhosseini, M. Beckner, J. Romanos, and P. Pfeifer, “Open carbon frameworks—a search for optimal geometry for hydrogen storage.” J. Mol. Mod. 19, 4079-4087, 2013.
• J. Romanos, M. Beckner, D. Stalla, A. Tekeei, G. Suppes, S. Jalisatgi, M.W. Lee, M.F. Hawthorne, J.D. Robertson, L. Firlej, B. Kuchta, C. Wexler, P. Yu, and P. Pfeifer, “Infrared study of boron-carbon chemical bonds in boron-doped activated carbon.” Carbon 54, 208-214, 2013.
• B. Kuchta, L. Firlej, A. Mohammadhosseini, P. Boulet, M.W. Beckner, J. Romanos, and P. Pfeifer, “Hypothetical high-surface-area carbons with exceptional hydrogen storage capacities: open carbon frameworks.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134, 15130-15137 , 2012.
• J. Romanos, M. Beckner, T. Rash, L. Firlej, B. Kuchta, P. Yu, G. Suppes, C. Wexler, and P. Pfeifer, “Nanospace engineering of KOH activated carbon.” Nanotechnology 23, 015401, 2012.

Academic Degrees

• PhD Physics, University of Missouri, USA
• MS Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, USA  
• MS Physics, University of Missouri, USA
• Maitrîse in Fundamental Physics, Lebanese University, Lebanon