Highly stable and super hot plasma technology wins 'Oscar of Innovation' award
Liangbing Hu is among the co-developers honored with a 2025 R&D 100 Award for innovations in advanced plasma technology.
Hu and collaborators Yiguang Ju of Princeton University and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Ji-Cheng ‘JC’ Zhao of the University of Connecticut, and their startup, USPlasma, Inc., received the award for the development of a uniform, ultrahigh-temperature, stable plasma (USP) apparatus. The system enables stable plasma processes at temperatures reaching 8,000 K – conditions that open new pathways for advanced manufacturing and materials processing.
The R&D 100 Awards, presented annually by R&D World Magazine, are often referred to as the “Oscars of Innovation.” Each year, the program highlights 100 technologies with the potential to transform industry, improve lives, and expand scientific frontiers.
“This recognition reflects the importance of advancing plasma technologies to meet global challenges in materials science and sustainable manufacturing,” said Hu, the Carol and Douglas Melamed Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering & Materials Science. “I’m honored to be part of a team pushing the boundaries of what plasma processes can achieve.”
The plasma apparatus was initially invented through collaborations at the University of Maryland and Princeton University before being further developed and scaled up by USPlasma, Inc.
The novel system addresses longstanding limitations of thermal plasma techniques, including volume, uniformity, stability, scalability, and cost. Its potential applications range from producing high-purity carbon materials and sustainable fuels/chemicals to enabling entirely new chemical syntheses that were previously difficult to achieve. Researchers also see opportunities for the technology to tackle pressing national security needs and environmental challenges, such as synthesizing extremely high temperature materials and breaking down PFAS (“forever chemicals”), immobilizing fluorine, and creating sustainable fertilizers directly from air.
USPlasma, Inc. (College Park, MD), established in 2023, is actively scaling up the apparatus and developing processes for domestic production of advanced materials. “I am so proud of our small but agile and innovative R&D team who has already made significant progress in scaling up the USP reactor, demonstrating continuous operation at temperatures up to 8,000 K,” said Dr. Hamideh Soltani-Ahmadi, VP R&D of USPlasma, Inc. “This advancement is a significant step toward product development and commercialization.”
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Published Date
Sep 15, 2025
