About

Dr. Abdennour Abbas is a Professor of nanotechnology at the University of Minnesota, where he directs the Bionanotechnology Laboratory. His research interests include bionanotechnology, nanotechnology, rapid diagnostics, food safety, and biological purification technologies. He has published over 50 publications and holds 20 patents, reflecting his significant contributions to the field. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Abbas is the founder and CEO/CTO of two technology companies: Claros Technologies Inc., an advanced materials company established in 2018, and Frontline Biotechnologies d.b.a. PureBioX, a biotech and AI company founded in 2020. He also founded the North African Academy in 2023, a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to establishing cost-free educational institutions in Africa to promote AI and robotics education. He teaches courses such as Engineering Principles for Biological Scientists and Biological Process Engineering, and his research focuses on rapid diagnostic technologies, volatolomics, volatome-based diagnostic technologies, microbial diagnostic technologies, and biological purification technologies. Dr. Abbas has been recognized with the MIT Technology Review Award as one of the Top 10 innovators under the age of 35 in Europe.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Composite material
• Pulp and paper industry
• Medicine
• Chemistry
• Microbiology
• Waste management
• Mathematics
• Chemical engineering
• Engineering
• Biology
• Environmental science
• Organic chemistry
• Metallurgy
• Environmental protection

Selected publications

• Recovery of the Planck–Boltzmann Ratio (h/kB) from Non-Closure in Blackbody Spectral–Temperature Relations

  Research Square · 2026-04-21

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Atomic Periodicity as Spectral Structure

  ChemRxiv · 2026-05-21

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The periodic system was established from trends in atomic weight and chemical behavior and later explained through electronic structure models, but it has not been derived directly from atomic observables without prior chemical or theoretical knowledge. Here we show that atomic spectra alone encode the full organization of the periodic table. Frequency-domain analysis reveals that elements occupy a bounded spectral space governed by hierarchical scaling between K-edge (𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) and first ionization frequencies. Elements organize into spectral bands (periods) and parallel power law trajectories (groups). Periodic differentiation emerges from bifurcation of spectral modes, and periodic bandwidth (Δ 𝑝 ) contracts following Δ 𝑝 ∝ 𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 −1.19 (R 2 = 0.9995), establishing a fundamental limit on elemental differentiation. Substituting atomic number for K-edge does not reproduce this organization, indicating that the spectral domain represents the natural scaling coordinate for periodic structure. This two-parameter framework provides an empirical resolution to longstanding classification questions and enables prediction using spectral scaling relations. Leave-one-out cross-validation yields median prediction errors of 1.1% for measured first ionization frequencies and 2.1% for covalent radii, with lanthanide-series prediction errors below 0.3%. Extending these predictions to elements with incomplete data yields new covalent radii for actinium and lawrencium, and ionization frequency for praseodymium. The same two-parameter spectral structure also organizes different types of conductivity and magnetism, from which superconducting behavior is predicted for chromium and silver.

  PublisherDOI

• Atomic Periodicity as Spectral Structure

  ChemRxiv · 2026-04-08

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The periodic system was established from trends in atomic weight and chemical behavior and later explained through electronic structure models, but it has not been derived directly from atomic observables without prior chemical or theoretical knowledge. Here we show that atomic spectra alone encode the full organization of the periodic table. Frequency-domain analysis reveals that elements occupy a bounded spectral space governed by hierarchical scaling between K-edge (𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) and first ionization frequencies. Elements organize into spectral bands (periods) and parallel trajectories (groups). Periodic differentiation emerges from bifurcation of spectral modes, and periodic bandwidth (Δ 𝑝 ) contracts following Δ 𝑝 ∝ 𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 −1.19 (R 2 = 0.9995), establishing a fundamental limit on elemental differentiation. Substituting atomic number for K-edge does not reproduce this organization, indicating that the spectral domain represents the natural scaling coordinate for periodic structure. This two-parameter framework provides an empirical resolution to longstanding classification questions and enables prediction using spectral scaling relations. Leave-one-out cross-validation yields median prediction errors of 1.1% for measured first ionization frequencies and 2.1% for covalent radii, with lanthanide-series prediction errors below 0.3%. Extending these predictions to atoms with experimentally unknown properties yields new K-edge frequencies and covalent radii for actinium and lawrencium, and ionization frequency for praseodymium, while predicting superconducting behavior for Chromium and Silver.

  PublisherDOI

• Atomic Periodicity as Spectral Structure

  ChemRxiv · 2026-03-27

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The periodic system was established from trends in atomic weight and chemical behavior and later explained through electronic structure models, but it has not been derived directly from atomic observables without prior chemical or theoretical knowledge. Here we show that atomic spectra alone encode the full organization of the periodic table. Frequency-domain analysis reveals that elements occupy a bounded spectral space governed by hierarchical scaling between K-edge (𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) and first ionization frequencies. Elements organize into spectral bands (periods) and parallel trajectories (groups). Periodic differentiation emerges from bifurcation of spectral modes, and periodic bandwidth (Δ 𝑝 ) contracts following Δ 𝑝 ∝ 𝜈 𝑚𝑎𝑥 −1.19 (R 2 = 0.9995), establishing a fundamental limit on elemental differentiation. Substituting atomic number for K-edge does not reproduce this organization, indicating that the spectral domain represents the natural coordinate system for periodic structure. This two-parameter framework provides an empirical resolution to longstanding classification questions and enables prediction using spectral scaling relations. Leave-one-out cross-validation yields median prediction errors of 1.1% for measured first ionization frequencies and 2.1% for covalent radii, with lanthanide-series prediction errors below 0.3%. Extending these predictions to atoms with experimentally unknown properties yields new K-edge frequencies and covalent radii for actinium and lawrencium, and ionization frequency for praseodymium.

  PublisherDOI

• Universal Spectral Scaling and Hierarchical Organization in Atomic Spectra

  Research Square · 2026-01-27

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Domain Projection: The Geometric Origin of Physical Constants and Laws

  Research Square · 2026-01-27

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• PTR-MS analysis of fungal VOCs for early detection of oak wilt

  Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry · 2025-04-24

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• A rapid loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for the detection of root rot in soybean caused by <i>Phytophthora sojae</i>

  Analytical Methods · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Soybean ( Glycine max ) production is severely impacted by Phytophthora sojae , the causal agent of Phytophthora root and stem rot, resulting in significant yield losses worldwide.

  PublisherDOI

• Visualization methods for loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays

  The Analyst · 2025-01-01 · 20 citations

  reviewSenior authorCorresponding

  Recent advances in nucleic acid (NA) detection techniques have significantly enhanced the diagnosis of diseases caused by a range of pathogens. These NA-based methods that target specific gene sequences for identification offer high specificity. Despite the effectiveness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), its requirement for sophisticated laboratory settings and expensive equipment restricts its accessibility, particularly in resource-limited settings. As an alternative, isothermal nucleic acid amplification methods are highly sought after due to their rapid, sensitive, and specific detection ability. Among these, loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) stands out due to its simplicity, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. LAMP operates without the need for varied temperature cycles, employing a simple heating block to maintain a constant temperature, thus facilitating onsite rapid testing. In LAMP, the detection step is critical as it shows the outcome of the assay. In order to make the LAMP technique user-friendly and applicable for large scale testing, it is critical to have visual detection where the results can be observed with the naked eye. This review focuses on recent developments of LAMP visualization techniques, including the more common fluorescence, turbidity, and gel electrophoresis methods, as well as innovations in colorimetric techniques applying novel transduction methods such as nanoparticles and digital tools. Additionally, various practical applications of LAMP are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• A rapid LAMP assay for the diagnosis of oak wilt with the naked eye

  Research Square · 2024-02-19

  preprintOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Homogeneous Plasmonic Assays for Instantaneous Microbial Detection

  NSF · $301k · 2016–2019

Frequent coauthors

• B. Bocquet

  Université de Lille

  33 shared

• John Brockgreitens

  ORCID

  23 shared

• Vinni Thekkudan Novi

  École Nationale Supérieure des Ingénieurs en Arts Chimiques et Technologiques

  13 shared

• Snober Ahmed

  Center for Drug Evaluation and Research

  13 shared

• Philippe Supiot

  Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement

  13 shared

• Hamada A. Aboubakr

  University of Minnesota System

  12 shared

• Limei Tian

  Texas A&M University

  11 shared

• Srikanth Singamaneni

  Washington University in St. Louis

  11 shared

Education

• PhD, Condensed Matter, specialization: Materials Science and Engineering

  Université de Lille Faculté des Sciences et Technologies

  2009

• Masters, Physical Chemistry of Biological Systems

  Université Lille 1

  2006

Awards & honors

• MIT Technology Review Award: Top10 innovators under the age…