Alex Ivanov

Assistant Professor and Early Career Faculty Fellow

Biography

Alex Ivanov is an Assistant Professor and Early Career Faculty Fellow in Nuclear Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT). Before joining UT, he was an R&D Staff Scientist in the Physical Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Ivanov’s research involves nuclear materials and fuels, molten salt chemistry, isotope separations, and data-driven molecular design for nuclear medicine applications. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 33) and is widely recognized for first-of-its-kind studies on promethium radionuclide spectroscopic investigations, transient covalency phenomenon in molten uranium fuel, and seawater uranium capture.

Research

Ivanov’s group targets three inter-locking themes:

• Molten salts under reactor extremes – in-situ X-ray/neutron scattering and synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy coupled with machine-learned atomistic simulations reveal structure, dynamics, and corrosion processes in fission/fusion coolants and molten-fuel systems.
• Actinide–lanthanide separations & critical minerals recovery – quantum-chemical and ML screening of ligand architectures for efficient nuclear-fuel reprocessing and recovery of rare-earth elements.
• Radionuclide theranostics – data-driven design of ultra-chelators and nanoparticle carriers for targeted radionuclide therapy; structure prediction by EXAFS/X-ray/neutron scattering coupled with first-principles modeling.

Previous projects included principal investigator roles in the DOE Energy Frontier Research Center “Molten Salts in Extreme Environments” and BES programs on critical minerals separations, with active funding exceeding $1 M per year.

Education

• PhD, Chemistry, Utah State University, 2015
• BS/MS, Physical Chemistry (summa cum laude), RUDN Moscow, 2011

Professional Service

• Organizer & Chair, American Chemical Society Molten Salt Chemistry Symposia
• Corresponding Symposium Organizer, “Structural Analysis of Complex Materials: Advances in X-ray and Neutron Scattering”, The International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies - Pacifichem 2025
• Beam-time and proposal reviewer for NSLS-II, APS, SNS, and DOE programs
• Editorial and peer-review duties across top journals

Awards and Recognitions

• 2024 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Science Communication Award for excellence in communicating the importance of nuclear science and engineering to the public through publicity campaigns
• 2024 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Research Accomplishment Team Award for landmark promethium radionuclide studies
• 2018 UT-Battelle Postdoctoral Researcher of the Year
• 2015 Utah State University Marjorie H. Gardner Teaching Award
• 2014 Utah State University Outstanding Graduate Student Award
• 2013 Utah State University Award for Early Research Progress
• Media highlights of research featured in Nature, Scientific American, Chemical & Engineering News, and over 100 outlets worldwide

Publications

For a full list of publications, visit Ivanov's Google Scholar.

• D. M. Driscoll, F. D. White, S. Pramanik, J. D. Einkauf, B. Ravel, D. Bykov, S. Roy, R. T. Mayes, L. H. Delmau, S. K. Cary, T. Dyke, A. Miller, M. Silveira, S. M. VanCleve, S. M. Davern, S. Jansone-Popova, I. Popovs, A. S. Ivanov. Observation of a Promethium Complex in Solution. Nature, 629, 819–823, 2024.
• D. S. Maltsev, D. M. Driscoll, Y. Zhang, J. C. Neuefeind, B. Reinhart, C. Agca, D. Ray, P. W. Halstenberg, M. Aziziha, J. Schorne-Pinto, T. M. Besmann, V. S. Bryantsev, S. Dai, S. Roy, A. S. Ivanov. Transient Covalency in Molten Uranium (III) Chloride. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146, 21220–21224, 2024.
• M. Toro-González, N. Akingbesote, A. Bible, D. Pal, B. Sanders, A. S. Ivanov, S. Jansone-Popova, I. Popovs, P. Benny, R. Perry, S. Davern. Development of 225Ac–Doped Biocompatible Nanoparticles for Targeted Alpha Therapy. J. Nanobiotechnol., 22, 306, 2024.
• M. E. Simms, M. M. Sibley, D. M. Driscoll, V. Kertesz, J. T. Damron, A. S. Ivanov, F. D. White, N. A. Thiele. Reining in Radium for Nuclear Medicine: Extra-Large Chelator Development for an Extra-Large Ion. Inorg. Chem., 62, 20834–20843, 2023.
• N. P. Bessen, A. S. Ivanov, D. Stamberga, V. S. Bryantsev, B. A. Moyer. Lipophilic Guanidine with Enhanced Stability for Use in Cesium Separation from Legacy High-Level Nuclear Waste. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 62, 3684–3694, 2023.
• D. M. Driscoll, H. Liu, B. Reinhart, I. Popovs, V. Bocharova, S. Jansone-Popova, D. Jiang, A. S. Ivanov. Noncoordinating Secondary Sphere Ion Modulates Supramolecular Clustering of Lanthanides. J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 13, 12076–12081, 2022.
• A. S. Ivanov, M. E. Simms, V. S. Bryantsev, P. D. Benny, J. R. Griswold, L. H. Delmau, N. A. Thiele. Elucidating the Coordination Chemistry of the Radium Ion for Targeted Alpha Therapy. Chem. Comm., 58, 9938–9941, 2022.
• S. Sharma, A. S. Ivanov, C. J. Margulis. A Brief Guide to the Structure of High-Temperature Molten Salts and Key Aspects Making Them Different from Their Low-Temperature Relatives, the Ionic Liquids. J. Phys. Chem. B, 125, 6359–6372, 2021.
• S. Roy, S. Sharma, W. V. Karunaratne, F. Wu, R. Gakhar, D. S. Maltsev, … & A. S. Ivanov. X-ray Scattering Reveals Ion Clustering of Dilute Chromium Species in Molten Chloride Medium. Chemical Science, 12, 8026–8035, 2021.
• A. S. Ivanov, B. F. Parker, Z. Zhang, B. Aguila, S. Ma, S. Jansone-Popova, J. Arnold, R. T. Mayes, S. Dai, V. S. Bryantsev, L. Rao, I. Popovs. Siderophore-Inspired Chelator Hijacks Uranium from Aqueous Medium. Nature Communications, 10, 819, 2019.