George Palasantzas did the PhD in the group of Prof. J. Krim (USA). After mandatory military service in Greece and a postdoc at Delt University of Technology/DIMES (NEXT Lab) he moved to University of Groningen (RUG) as a Metals Fellow within the Netherlands Institute of Metals Research (NIMR). In 2000 he joined the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials as Lecturer and later promoted to Associate professor.  Since 2019 he is employed as full professor embedded within the Nanostructure Materials and Interfaces group.  In 2020 was received an GogiCron/RUG grant on Neuromorphics with nanoparticles, an NWO/ENW-M1 grant on Surface roughness effects on DLVO forces between functionalized surfaces (Ranked 2), in 2021 received an NWO/ENW-M1 grant on Casimir force control by reversible amorphous-crystalline phase transitions (Ranked 1), and in 2022 and NWO/Open Technology Program (OTP) grant on Repulsive Casimir forces from topological insulators towards device actuation (Ranked 3). His research interests include: Nanoscale surface roughness, Casimir forces, Nano/microelectromechanical systems, Nanoparticles, Kinetic roughening, Scanning probe microscopy, Adhesion, Wetting.

Representative publications:

Effect of Airborne Hydrocarbons on the Wettability of Phase Change Nanoparticle Decorated Surfaces, ACS Nano 13, 11, 13430 (2019)

Casimir and electrostatic forces from Bi2Se3 thin films of varying thickness, Phys. Rev. B 103, L161102 (2021)

Dynamical Casimir actuation under non-equilibrium conditions: The influence of optical properties from different interacting bodies, Physics Letters A 443, 11, 128220 (2022)