Christopher Jones

Prof. Christopher W. Jones, the John F. Brock III School Chair in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology has been selected for the 2023 Distinguished Researcher Award from the Energy & Fuels (ENFL) Division of the American Chemical Society.

Prof. Jones has made significant research contributions in the design of functional materials for applications in catalysis and separations related to energy and fuels, specifically in (i) adsorptive CO₂ separation and (ii) catalysis science and technology. The strategic theme that links these two application areas is the molecular design and functionalization of oxide surfaces, as demonstrated in over 340 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is internationally recognized for his pioneering contributions to the direct air capture (DAC) of CO₂ from the atmosphere using solid amine-functionalized adsorbents and has simultaneously developed fundamental principles behind adsorbent design for this application. His group identified primary amine-rich amine polymers for DAC application. Recognizing that the stability of the adsorbents is critical to practical deployment, his group was first to report on the oxidative stability of amine-based DAC adsorbents and developed structure-property relationships for different amine types. His team has also developed crucial fundamental insights into the oxide/amine hybrid materials being deployed for DAC targeting climate change mitigation.

Prof. Jones has made significant contributions in service to the ACS and the ENFL Division. Since the 2008 ACS Meeting, Jones has been a regular speaker and participant of PETR and ENFL sessions, presenting numerous invited talks on carbon capture. More significantly, his roles as the founding Editor-in-Chief of ACS Catalysis (2010-2020) and now JACS Au (2020-present) have contributed substantially to the ENFL community by providing new, high impact venues for scientific publishing. Under his leadership, ACS Catalysis quickly grew to become the top comprehensive catalysis journal, publishing hundreds of papers from ENFL members.

An ACS award symposium in honor of Prof. Jones will be held in the Energy and Fuels Division during ACS Fall 2023 national meeting in San Francisco, CA.