Agrios, Alexander

Alexander Agrios

Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Email agrios@uconn.edu
Phone 860-486-1350
Mailing Address Civil and Environmental Engineering 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3037 Storrs, CT 06269-3037
Campus Storrs
Link Research Website
Google Scholar Link

Brief Bio

Dr. Alexander Agrios is an Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn). He is also associated with UConn's Center for Clean Energy Engineering. His research focuses on sustainable energy and environmental applications of semiconductors, particularly in areas like photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion, solar CO2 reduction, zinc-based rechargeable batteries, and photocatalytic pollutant remediation. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University (2003). 
  • materials for low-cost solar energy conversion
  • materials and devices for solar-powered CO2 reduction
  • nanostructures and protection schemes for improved cycling of zinc-based batteries
  • measurements to identify ageing effects in photovoltaic panels
  • electrodes for PFAS destruction

Solar CO2 reduction

We are exploring semiconductor films that have low bandgaps and can therefore absorb the full visible spectrum of sunlight. Such systems do not have enough energy to reduce CO2 using electrons taken from water, but they can perform CO2 reduction if provided electrons from organic carbon such as that found in wastewater. The ultimate goal is bio-coupled solar-driven CO2 reduction. To achieve this requires tailoring materials and interfaces to minimizing internal recombination and efficiently route photoexcited electrons to CO2 using appropriate catalysts to obtain desirable products that can serve as solar fuels or organic feedstocks.

  • ENVE 2310E Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering
  • ENVE 3201 Environmental Engineering Laboratory
  • ENVE 4210 Environmental Engineering Chemistry (Undergraduate)
  • ENVE 49102/4920W Senior Design
  • ENVE 5210 Environmental Engineering Chemistry (Graduate)
  • Sifat, I.; Biswas, K.; Ayers, J.; Park, S.-Y.; Agrios, A.G. "A multimodal analysis of degradation processes in 10W PV panels under thermal and mechanical stress." Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 2025, 287, 113617. doi:10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113617
  • Emanuele, E.; Agrios, A.G.; Alleva, A.; Bonanni, V.; Ciancio, R.; Gianoncelli, A.; Guzzi, F.; Kourousias, G.; Bassi, A.L.; Macrelli, A.; Ronchese, P.; Sifat, I.; Žižić, M.; Bozzini, B. "Carbon-Cloth Supported ZnO Nanorods as Binder-Free Zinc-Ion Battery Anodes: An Investigation into the Electrode Formation Process." Adv. Sust. Sys. 2025, 9, 2400921. doi:10.1002/adsu.202400921
  • Yang, B.; Agrios, A.G. “Attachment of Pt nanoparticles to a metal oxide surface using a thiol–carboxyl bifunctional molecule.” J. Colloid Interf. Sci. 2018, 513:464-469. doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2017.11.058
  • Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G. “Facile synthesis of Zn1−xCoxO/ZnO core/shell nanostructures and their application to dye-sensitized solar cells.” Superlatt. Microstruct. 2017, 104:374-381. doi: 10.1016/j.spmi.2017.02.020
  • Haynes, V.N.; Ward, J.E.; Russell, B.J.; Agrios, A.G. “Photocatalytic effects of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on aquatic organisms—Current knowledge and suggestions for future research.” Aquat. Toxicol. 2017, 185:138-148. doi:10.1016/j.aquatox.2017.02.012
  • Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G. “Synthesis of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite platelets by vacuum impregnation.” Solid State Sci. 2016, 61:116-120. doi:10.1016/j.solidstatesciences.2016.08.009
  • Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G. “Single-pot ZnO nanostructure synthesis by chemical bath deposition and their applications,” Nano-Structures & Nano-Objects 2016 7:1-11. doi:10.1016/j.nanoso.2016.03.005
  • Correa Baena, J.P.; Artyushkova, K.; Santoro, C.; Atanassov, P.; Agrios, A.G. “Morphological Characterization of ALD and Doping Effects on Mesoporous SnO2 Aerogels by XPS and Quantitative SEM Image Analysis,” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2016 8:9849–9854. doi: 10.1021/acsami.6b00019
  • Correa Baena, J.P.; Kriz, D.A.; Giotto, M.; Suib, S.L.; Agrios, A.G. "Fluoride additive in epoxide-initiated sol-gel synthesis enables thin-film applications of SnO2 aerogels." RSC Adv. 2016 6:21326-21331. doi:10.1039/C6RA01015F
  • Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G. “Blocking layers for nanocomposite photoanodes in dye sensitized solar cells: Comparison of atomic layer deposition and TiCl4 treatment.” Thin Solid Films 2016 598:54-59. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2015.11.054
  • Noor, N.; Lucera, L.; Capuano, T.; Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G.; Silva, H.; Gokirmak, A. “Blue and white light emission from zinc oxide nanoforests.” Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015 6:2463-2469. doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.255
  • Noor, N.; Manthina, V.; Cil, K.; Adnane, L.; Agrios, A.G.; Gokirmak, A.; Silva, H. “Atmospheric pressure microplasmas in ZnO nanoforests under high voltage stress.” AIP Adv. 2015 5:097212. doi:10.1063/1.4932037
  • Hewage, N.; Yang, B.; Agrios, A.G.; Brückner, C. "Introduction of Carboxylic Ester and Acid Functionalities to meso-Tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin and their Limited Electronic Effects on the Chromophore." Dyes and Pigments 2015 121:159-169. doi:10.1016/j.dyepig.2015.05.006
  • Manthina, V.; Agrios, A.G. "Band edge engineering of composite photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells." Electrochimica Acta 2015 169:416-423. doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2015.04.080
  • Correa Baena, J.P.; Agrios, A.G. “Transparent Conducting Aerogels of Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interf. 2014 6:19127-19134. doi:10.1021/am505115x
  • Kopecky, A.; Liu, G.; Agushi, A.; Agrios, A.G.; Galoppini, E. "Synthesis of bifunctional Ru complexes with 1,2-dithiolane and carboxylate-substituted ligands." Tetrahedron 2014 70:6271-6275 (NANOTEK special issue). doi:10.1016/j.tet.2014.04.042
  • Correa Baena, J.P.; Agrios, A.G. “Antimony-Doped Tin Oxide Aerogels as Porous Electron Collectors for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.” J. Phys. Chem. C. 2014 118:17028-17035 (Invited paper for Michael Grätzel “Festschrift” special issue). doi:10.1021/jp500542v
  • Manthina, V.; Patel, T.; Agrios, A.G. “Number Density and Diameter Control of Chemical Bath Deposition of ZnO Nanorods on FTO by Forced Hydrolysis of Seed Crystals.” J. Amer. Ceram. Soc. 2014 94:1028-1034. doi:10.1111/jace.12819
  • Liu, G.; Arellano-Jiménez, M. J.; Carter, C.B.; Agrios, A.G. “Preparation of functionalized platinum nanoparticles: A comparison of different methods and reagents.” J. Nanoparticle Res. 2013 15:1744-1756. doi:10.1007/s11051-013-1744-9
  • Wang, X.; Santoro, C.; Cristiani, P.; Squadrito, G.; Lei, Y.; Agrios, A.G.; Pasaogullari, U.; Li, B. “Influence of Electrode Characteristics on Coulombic Efficiency (CE) in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) Treating Wastewater.” J. Electrochem. Soc. 2013 160:G3117-G3122. doi:10.1149/2.019307jes
  • Manthina, V.; Correa Baena, J.P.; Liu, G.; Agrios, A.G. "ZnO–TiO2 Nanocomposite Films for High Light Harvesting Efficiency and Fast Electron Transport in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells." J. Phys. Chem. C 2012 116:23864-23870. doi:10.1021/jp304622d
  • Santoro, C.; Agrios, A.G.; Pasaogullari, U.; Li, B.K. "Effects of gas diffusion layer (GDL) and micro porous layer (MPL) on cathode performance in microbial fuel cells (MFCs)." Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2011 36:13096-13104. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.07.030