Georgia Institute of Technology

Reserach Scientist II, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Reserach Scientist II

About

In 2007, Dr Mahmoud joined the Laser Dynamics Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology working as a Postdoc and later as a Research Scientist II under the direction of Prof. Mostafa A. El-Sayed. His research work is in the area of nanoscience and nanotechnology and his specific research topic is a synthesis and assembling of nanoparticles to be used in catalysis, solar energy, and biosensing in addition to theoretical modeling of the optical properties of nanoparticles. Since he joined to Georgia Tech, he has been published over 23 peer reviewed papers in addition to a patent. Before he joined Georgia Tech, he received his BS degree in chemistry from the department of chemistry at Zagazig University. In 2003, he received his MS degree in physical chemistry from the National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences (NILES) at Cairo University in the spectroscopic and dynamic studies of the photodissociation reaction of acyl compounds under the direction of Prof. Yehia Badr, 5 Peer reviewed papers came out from the MS thesis. In 2007, he received his PhD in physical and inorganic chemistry from the NILES at Cairo University in optimization of different types of nanostructures to be used for catalysis, optical, and biological applications (13 Peer reviewed papers came out from the PhD thesis).
He taught for 6 years while he was graduate student, and he has also participated in various educational projects in the Georgia Institute of Technology. These included teaching 25 graduate students at Georgia Tech that how to make and assemble nanoparticles with different types, shapes and sizes.
In 2005, he awarded the highly prestigious Zagazig University Prize in Science for the year of 2004, which is given annually for one professor or scientist who has great scientific achievement in the university. In 2007 he receipted a highly competitive fellowship from the Partnership and Ownership Agreement between the industry and the Egyptian ministry of higher education. The selection based on submitting a proposal and interview. 
Dr Mahmoud is a member of a quite number of scientific societies and international committees such as American Chemical Society, African nanotechnology network (NanoAfnet), African laser center (ALC).  He is also acting as a reviewer for a quite number of journals such as ACS and Elsevier, John Wiley Journals. I also acted as an international examiner for three PhD theses from India. Dr Mahmoud got awards for participation in many international conferences (travel, accommodation, and registration fees) such as TWAS (UNISCO), NSF (US), ALC (African Laser Center), MRS (African Material Research Society), ICTP (International Center of Theoretical Physics, UNISCO), NSF South Africa, ICS (International center of Science and technology, UNISCO), ICMR Santa Barbara (US). Dr Mahmoud delivered a number of invited oral presentations in international meetings held by different organization such as ACS National Meeting, US-Egypt and US-Africa workshops, African Material Research Society meetings, ..etc. He also participated with his colleagues in writing grant proposal funded recently in 2009 and 2010 by DARPA, NSF, and DOE.


Research Interests:
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Nanocatalysis:
• Catalysis using nanoreactors (catalysis inside the hollow nanoparticles and shell-shell of two metals).
• Nanocatalysis with plasmonic nanoparticles (Gold and Silver).
• Photocatalysis by semiconductor nanoparticles (Silica, Titinia, and Copper Oxide).
• Study the mechanisms of nanocatalysis.
• Catalysis with active shaped platinum and palladium nanoparticles.
Spectroscopy:
• Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) by plasmonic nanoparticles.
• Attenuated total reflection spectroscopy.
• Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy.
• Time-resolved infrared spectroscopy (rapid and step scan).
• Pump-probe transient spectroscopy.
Material science:
• Synthesis of different new shapes and sizes of metallic and semiconductor nanoparticles to fit a certain application.
• Assembling of the nanoparticles into monolayer using Langmuir-Blodgett technique.
• Surface modification of the nanoparticles.
• Synthesis of plasmonic inorganic hydride with organic solar active polymer monolayer, to be used for polymer solar cells.
• Incorporation of the nanoparticles on the surface of nano and microsphere polymers, for supporting the catalyst on the surface of nanoparticles.
• Enhancement of the fluorescence of the fluorescent polymers by plasmonic nanoparticles.
Nanosensing:
• Fabrication of chips from plasmonic nanoparticles to be used as a sensor for biological systems and hazardous materials.
• Fabrication of photonic crystal chips for sensing biological materials, based on absorption and fluorescence. 
• Synthesis of different plasmonic nanoparticles of different shape with high sensitivity factor such as gold nanoframes and nanocages. 
Computational Chemistry:
• Simulation of the surface plasmon resonance spectrum of the plasmonic nanoparticles.
• Calculation of the plasmon field strength of the plasmonic nanoparticles,
• Simulation of the Infrared and Raman spectra. 
Chemical Dynamics:
• Study of the dynamics of the molecular processes such as photodissociation of the organic compounds present in gas phase by UV lasers, and following the emission from the fragments by time-resolved infrared, proposing models for the photodissociation reaction based on the energy distribution and degree of freedom. 
• Studying the dynamics of the semiconductors nanoparticles combined with plasmonic nanoparticles by femtosecond laser spectroscopy.


Peer-Reviewed Publications with H-Factor=14
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A. Publications from Georgia Tech, USA:

1- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed,  The Reaction of Platinum Nanocatalyst with the Ferricyanide Reactant to Produce Prussian Blue Analogue Complexes, the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2007, 111, 17180.

2- M. A. Mahmoud, C. E. Tabor, M. A. El-Sayed, Y. Ding, Z. L. Wang, A New Catalytically Active Colloidal Platinum Nanocatalyst: The Multi-armed Nanostar Single Crystal, J. American Chemical Society, 2008, 130, 4590.

3- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed Comparative study of the plasmon fields of Langmuir-Blodgget assembled monolayers of gold nanocages and silver nanocubes, J. Phys Chem. C 2008, 112, 14618. 

4- C. E. Tabor, R., Murali, M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, On the use of plasmonic nanoparticle pairs as a plasmon ruler: The dependence of the nearfield dipole plasmon coupling on nanoparticle size and shape, J. Phys Chem. A 2009, 113, 1946.

5- M. A. Mahmoud, C. E. Tabor, M. A. El-Sayed, The importance of the electromagnetic fields to SERS enhancement by aggregated silver nanocube monolayers assembled by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique at different surface pressures, J. Phys Chem. C 2009,  113,  5493.

6- C. W. Yen, M. A. Mahmoud, and M. A. El-Sayed, Photocatalysis by nanoreactor J. Phys Chem. A 2009, 113, 4340.

7- Jung-Hyun Lee, M. A. Mahmoud, Sitterle, v, , Sitterle, J and J. Carson Meredith, Facile preparation of highly-scattering metal nanoparticle coated polystyrene latex beads,  Journal of American Chemical Society  2009,  131,  5048.

8- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Aggregation of gold Nanoframes reduces, rather than enhances SERS efficiency due to the tradeoff of the inter- and intra particle plasmonic fields. Nano Lett., 2009, 9, 3025.

9- Jung-Hyun Lee, M. A. Mahmoud, V. Sitterle, J. Sitterle, J and J. Carson Meredith, Preparation of Highly-Scattering Metal Nanoparticle-Coated Polymer Microbeads via Combined Swelling-Heteroaggregation Technique and Their Optical Properties, Chemistry of Materials, 2009, 23, 5654.

10- M. A. Mahmoud, B. J. Snyder, M. A. El-Sayed, Polystyrene Microspheres; Inactive Supporting Material for Recycling and Recovering Colloidal Nanocatalysts in Solution. J Phys. Chem. Lett. 2010, 1, 28.

11- M. A. Mahmoud, A. Poncheri, M. A. El-Sayed, Plasmon Induced Exciton Annihilation in a Silver Nanocube-Poly(phenylene ethynylene) Fluorescent Polymer System, Journal of American Chemical Society  2010,  132,  2633.

12- M. A. Mahmoud, B. J. Snyder, M. A. El-Sayed, Surface Plasmon Fields and Coupling in the Hollow Gold Nanoparticles and Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy; Theory and experiment, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2010),  114(16),  7436-7443.

13- M. A. Mahmoud, Proposed Molecular Mechanism for the Colloidal Nanocatalysis of the Hexacyanoferrate III-Thiosulfate Electron Transfer Reaction: On the Involvement of a Prussian Blue Analogue Complex Intermediate, Journal of Catalysis 274 (2010) 215–220.

14- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Gold Nanoframes: Very High Surface Plasmon Fields and Excellent Near-Infrared Sensors, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 132 (2010) 12705.

15- M. A. Mahmoud, F. Saira, M. A. El-Sayed, Experimental Evidence For The Nanocage Effect In Catalysis With Hollow Nanoparticles, Nano Letters 10 (2010), 3764-3769. 

16-M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Time Dependence and Signs of The Shift of The Surface Plasmon Resonance Frequency In Nanocages Elucidate The Nanocatalysis Mechanism In Hollow Nanoparticles, Nano Letters. 2011, 11, 946–953.

17- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Plasmonic Field coupling effect on the energy transfer between Poly(paraphenyleneethynylene) Fluorescent Polymer and Au Nanocages, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C (2011), 115, 12726–12735.

18- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Dynamical studies of the Interaction of Cu2O with gold nanoframe by Pump-probe technique, Nano letters (2011), 11, 3285–3289.

19- M. A. Mahmoud, M. A. El-Sayed, Metallic Double Shell Nanocages: The Challenges of their synthetic Techniques, Langmuir. (2012), 28, 4051–4059. 

20-X. Li, K. Blinn,Y. Fang, M. Liu, M. A. Mahmoud,S Cheng, L. A. Bottomley, M. A. El-Sayed, and M. Liu, Application of Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy to the Study of SOFC Electrode Surfaces, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, (2012), 14, 5919-5923.

21- M. A. Mahmoud, M. Chamanzar, A. Adibi, M. A. El-Sayed, Effect of the Dielectric Constant of the Surrounding Medium and the Substrate on the Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectrum and Sensitivity Factor of Isotropic Silver Nanocubes. Journal of the American Chemical Society,(2012),134 (14), 6434–6442.

22- B. Reginald Thio, M.O. Montes, M. A. Mahmoud, D. Lee, D. Zhou, and A. A. Keller, Mobility of Capped Silver Nanoparticles under Environmentally Relevant Conditions, Environmental Science & Technology. ASAP (2012).

23- M. A. Mahmoud, A. Poncheri, M. A. El-Sayed, Dependence of the Photophysical Properties of Poly(paraphenyleneethynylene) polymer on Chains Length and Assembling into Langmuir-Blodgett Monolayer: Pure Polymer Versus Hybrid with Silver Nanocube Monolayer. (Submitted).


B. Publications NILES, Cairo University, Egypt:
24- Y. Badr, S. M. Abd El-Wanes, M. A. Mahmoud,  The effect of delay time on the CO and CH3 radicals resulting from the photolysis of acetone by 193 nm excimer laser, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 165 (2004) 187. (corresponding author)

25- Y. Badr, S. M. Abd El-Wanes, M. A. Mahmoud, The ro-vibrational spectra of CO molecule resulting from the photolysis of acetone, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 167 (2004) 159.  (corresponding author)

26- Y. Badr, S. M. Abd El-Wanes, M. A. Mahmoud, Spectroscopic and dynamic studies of the photolysis reaction of acetone by 193 nm Excimer laser, Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 168 (2004) 34. (corresponding author)

27- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, On interaction of 193 nm Excimer laser with acetone (3s Rydberg state), Journal of Molecular Structure, 748 (2005) 189. (corresponding author)

28- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Size dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering of Sodium Benzoate on Silver nanoparticles, Journal of Molecular Structure, 749 (2005) 187. (corresponding author)

29- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Optimization and Photophysics of Cadmium Selenide nanoparticles, Physica B, Physics of Condensed Matter, 369 (2005) 278. (corresponding author)

30- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Effect of Silver nanowires on the surface-enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) of the RNA bases, Spectrochimica Acta Part A 63 (2006) 639. (corresponding author)

31- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Enhancement of the optical properties of poly vinyl alcohol by doping with silver nanoparticles, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 99 (2006) 3608. (corresponding author)

32- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Size-dependent spectroscopic, optical, and electrical properties of PbSe nanoparticles, Journal of Crystal Research and Technology 41 (2006) 658. (corresponding author)

33- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Effect of PVA Surrounding Medium on ZnSe nanoparticles: Size, Optical, and Electrical properties, Spectrochimica Acta Part A 65 (2006) 584. (corresponding author)

34- Y. Badr, M. G. Abd El-Wahed, M. A. Mahmoud, On 308 nm photofragmentation of the silver nanoparticles, Applied Surface Science, 253 (2006) 2502. (corresponding author)

35- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Manifestation of the Silver nanoparticles incorporated into the polyvinyl alcohol, Journal of Materials science, 41 (2006) 3947. (corresponding author)

36- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Effect of PbS shell on the optical and electrical properties of PbSe core nanoparticles doped in PVA, Physica B, Physics of Condensed Matter, 388 (2007) 134. (corresponding author)

37- M. I. Husseiny, Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using Pseudomonas Bacteria, Spectrochimica Acta Part A 67 (2007) 1003. (corresponding author)

38- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Photocatalytic Degradation of Methyl Red Dye by Silica Nanoparticles, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 68 (2007) 413. (corresponding author)

39- Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Excimer laser photofragmentation of metallic nanoparticles, Physics Letters A 370 (2007) 158. (corresponding author)

40- M. Abd El-Aziz, Y. Badr, M. A. Mahmoud, Biosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using Pseudomans aeruginosa.    AIP Conference Proceedings (2007), 888 (Modern Trends in Physics Research), 177-181. (corresponding author)

41- Y. Badr, M. G. Abd El-Wahed, M. A. Mahmoud, On Silica Nanoparticles Photocatalytic Degradation, J. Hazardous Materials, 154 (2008) 245. (corresponding author)

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