N onequilibrium anoscale ew horizons

Plasmas Reactive: Modelling and Engineering (N-PRiME)

Mission

The N - Plasmas Reactive: Modelling and Engineering (N-PRiME) group explores the potential of Nonequilibrium low-temperature plasmas for tailoring energy and matter at Nanoscale level and for reaching New Horizons in Space exploration. We intertwine experimental, theoretical and model-based predictive capabilities, providing answers to fundamental scientific challenges and developing novel plasma technologies with societal benefits.

N-PRiME

N-PRiME at ESCAMPIG 2026 in Funchal (Madeira)

Goals

  • Development of microwave-driven plasma-based technologies for the synthesis and engineering of two-dimensional nanostructures, as key enablers of the nanotechnology revolution;
  • Exploring microwave plasmas as sources of uncharted VUV/EUV radiation;
  • Operation of the European Shock-Tube for High Enthalpy Research (ESTHER), the sole Portuguese Space facility for the planning of planetary exploration missions;
  • Modelling and simulation of non-equilibrium reactive plasmas, adopting state-of-the-art kinetic schemes, including the complex transport of multi-species and radiation, and implemented in new computational platforms;
  • Curation of elementary data and databases.
Prof. Luís Lemos Alves , Group Leader
Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear
Instituto Superior Técnico
1049-001 Lisboa
Portugal

Plasma Engineering Laboratory
Plasma Modelling and Simulation
Hypersonic Plasmas Laboratory

See here for research opportunities at N-PRiME.


02 Oct

Best PhD Poster Prize for Farzaneh Ostovarpour

The IPFN PhD student Farzaneh Ostovarpour received the Best PhD Poster Prize for her work on “Surface kinetic modeling of ozone-assisted methane oxidation over Coβ catalyst: validation against experimental data under humid conditions". read more

25 Sep

Two new projects on plasma technologies for Mars exploration

IPFN will coordinate two newly research projects focused on the development of plasma technologies for oxygen production and resource utilisation on Mars: ARES (Applied Research and Engineering for Space Resources) and PERSEUS (Plasma Engineering for Resource Separation and Utilization in Space). read more

10 Jul

Public release of LoKI-GM

The N-PRiME group (N-Plasmas Reactive: Modelling and Engineering) of IPFN has publicly released the LisbOn Kinetics Global Model (LoKI-GM), an open-source simulation framework for the modelling of low-temperature plasmas (LTPs). read more