Petersen Lab

KAP 230C

3620 S. Vermont Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90089

thomasp3@usc.edu

My research program connects electrochemistry to the fluid and solid mechanics of porous media. We investigate porous systems central to civil and environmental engineering, including cementitious materials, subsurface rocks and minerals, and polymeric membranes. Applications span improved cement designs for multifunctional infrastructure, enhanced modeling of flow and stress in geophysical systems, and engineering membrane geometry and surface properties for filtration and energy extraction.

Our theoretical framework combines continuum mechanics with homogeneous and inhomogeneous thermodynamics—including phase-field (PF) models and classical density functional theory (cDFT)—to build self-consistent descriptions of porous media. Experimentally, we construct bench-scale systems using microfluidics, widefield fluorescent microscopy, and rheology to observe mesoscale structure and dynamics and directly validate theoretical predictions.

Before joining USC, I was a Research Engineer at ExxonMobil (2019–2022), where I led projects on pressure management in high-temperature, high-pressure wellbore systems. I hold a Ph.D. in Mechanics of Materials from MIT (2019, advisor: Franz-Josef Ulm) and a B.S. from NC State University (Valedictorian, 2011).

Prospective students: I am not actively recruiting Ph.D. students this year. Please see the Join Us page for details.

news

Feb 01, 2026	Paper submitted to Journal of Fluid Mechanics: “Electrokinetic Effects on Flow and Ion Transport in Charge-Patterned Corrugated Nanochannels.” Preprint available on arXiv.
Jan 15, 2026	Petersen Lab receives the USC CEE Oliveri Sustainable Prosperity Fund ($16,000) for “Size-dependent transport mechanisms of contaminants through porous media.”
Sep 01, 2025	Welcome to Nusrat Jahan, who joins the group as a new Ph.D. student working on dissolution and fracture of clay networks in microfluidic domains!
Jun 01, 2025	Amir Rabiee and Pouya Golchin present their research at the 2025 ASCE EMI Conference in Anaheim, CA.
Apr 01, 2024	Paper published in Journal of Physical Chemistry B: “Toward Modeling the Structure of Electrolytes at Charged Mineral Interfaces using Classical Density Functional Theory.”

selected publications

JFM
Electrokinetic Effects on Flow and Ion Transport in Charge-Patterned Corrugated Nanochannels

Thomas Petersen, Pouya Golchin, J. Im, and 1 more author

Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 2026

Submitted October 2025

Abs arXiv Bib

We conduct a systematic study of electrokinetic flow in charge-patterned corrugated nanochannels. By strategically placing surface charge gradients relative to geometric undulations, we demonstrate flow gating via discontinuous transitions in bulk flow, selective ionic current control, and ionic diode behavior with near-perfect charge selectivity.
@article{petersen2026electrokinetic, title = {Electrokinetic Effects on Flow and Ion Transport in Charge-Patterned Corrugated Nanochannels}, author = {Petersen, Thomas and Golchin, Pouya and Im, J. and de Barros, F. P. J.}, journal = {Journal of Fluid Mechanics}, year = {2026}, note = {Submitted October 2025}, }
JPCB
Toward Modeling the Structure of Electrolytes at Charged Mineral Interfaces using Classical Density Functional Theory

Thomas Petersen

Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2024

Abs Bib

We apply classical density functional theory (cDFT) to model electrolytes at highly charged mineral interfaces. The model predicts GPa-scale cohesive stresses between C–S–H grains arising from ion correlations, consistent with atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamics studies. Simulations further indicate that surface molecular texture and out-of-plane ion correlations contribute comparably to in-plane correlations previously emphasized in the cement physics literature.
@article{petersen2024cdft, title = {Toward Modeling the Structure of Electrolytes at Charged Mineral Interfaces using Classical Density Functional Theory}, author = {Petersen, Thomas}, journal = {Journal of Physical Chemistry B}, volume = {128}, number = {16}, pages = {3981--3996}, year = {2024}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, }