Illinois Experts Profile

• Technology Maturation and Commercialization
• Plasma-based CO₂ and super pollutants capture and conversion
• Critical minerals recovery and extraction
• Voluntary carbon credits scenario analysis and integration
• Development of new voluntary carbon credit protocols
• Digitization of voluntary carbon credits
• Net-zero cement and concrete

Research Statement

Baroi’s research interests include technology development, maturation, and commercialization in carbon management, such as CO₂ capture and conversion, super pollutant capture and conversion (e.g., methane, nitrous oxide, carbon particles, water vapor, refrigerants), and critical minerals recovery and extraction. His interests also include voluntary carbon credit scenario analysis and integration, the development of new voluntary carbon credit protocols, digitization of carbon credits, and project financing through various routes.

• B.Sc., Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh, 2005
• M.Sc., Environmental Engineering, Western University, Canada, 2008
• Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 2015

Chinmoy Baroi, Ph.D., joined the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) in 2019. He is the Associate Director for Technology Maturation and serves as the head of Direct Air Capture (DAC) and DAC Hub business development at ISTC and the Net-Zero Center of Excellence under the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Baroi’s business development efforts have resulted in three DAC Hub projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the most prestigious of which is the “Illinois Basin DAC Hub,” which he is actively managing.

Baroi holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He has more than 15 years of research and development experience in catalysis, reaction engineering, renewable energy research, shale gas conversion, carbon dioxide capture and conversion, techno-economics, and life-cycle analysis. Before joining ISTC, he was a postdoctoral fellow at DOE’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL), USA. 

Baroi is also serving as one of “Canada’s Global Executives,” a prestigious voluntary position appointed by the government of Canada to Canadian citizens with a global reputation in their subject matter. 

Baroi leverages his R&D experience to identify promising technologies, working with University groups, spin-offs, start-ups, private funding groups, venture capital groups, accelerator groups, and U.S. and foreign government funding agencies to mature promising technologies in various areas, including but not limited to: carbon management, net-zero emissions, and critical minerals. 

Besides working with external groups, Baroi has developed a novel plasma-based gaseous compounds capture and conversion technology that is currently under development and further maturation.

• Capture and in-situ conversion of CO₂ using novel plasma technology under ambient conditions
• CO₂ mineralization in WTE ashes for critical materials recovery
• Methane capture and conversion

Openings

Baroi is always looking for qualified candidates with the appropriate education and experience (e.g., chemical engineering, catalysis, reaction engineering). Interested and qualified candidates (e.g., researchers, scientists, postdocs, engineers) are highly encouraged to send their recent CVs to Baroi at cbaroi@illinois.edu.