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Dr. Chris Jones Receives Dreyfus Foundation Award

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Professor Chris Jones was selected as one of eight recipients of a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation fellowship in the Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry for 2009. The program is open to all academic and other not-for-profit organizations in the United States that have well-established research efforts in environmental science or engineering. The award supports the development of scientific leadership in the field of environmental chemistry by awarding $120,000 to a principal investigator to appoint a postdoctoral fellow for two years.

The Dreyfus Foundation strongly encourages collaboration across disciplines, which makes the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering uniquely positioned to direct a successful research program due to its interaction with the Schools of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Chemistry, and Biology. The fellow will be housed in ChBE but will have ample opportunity to interact with scientists and engineers in diverse fields through a variety of planned and serendipitous activities.

Dr. Jones will direct the fellowship, which promises to provide a rich learning opportunity, combining research on the fundamental science of CO2 adsorption with inorganic-organic hybrid materials, the engineering of new CO2 capture process technologies with exposure to contemporary issues in climate modeling, environmental policy, and modern energy problems. ChBE Professor Dr. William Koros will serve as a collaborator.

The postdoctoral scientist will assist Dr. Jones and his research team on Dr. Jones' recent development of a potentially breakthrough material for CO2 capture from flue gas. Targeting simple, robust, practical adsorbents, his group prepared organic-inorganic hybrid materials comprised of silica with a covalently tethered layer of hyperbranched poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) on the surface. These solids, referred to as hyperbranched aminosilicas (HAS), are inexpensive, fully regenerable, and operate well in presence of water vapor, a requirement for separation of CO2 from combustion streams.

Dr. Jones says that because "the world desperately needs new efficient CO2 capture technologies, generation of a fundamental understanding of synthesis-structure-property relationships for this new class of adsorbents is a crucial, immediate goal."

The purpose of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation is to advance the science of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances. Established in 1946 by chemist, inventor, and businessman Camille Dreyfus as a memorial to his brother Henry, the Foundation became a memorial to both men when Camille Dreyfus died in 1956. Throughout its history the Foundation has sought to take the lead in identifying and addressing needs and opportunities in the chemical sciences.

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  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Josie Giles
  • Created:12/08/2008
  • Modified By:Fletcher Moore
  • Modified:10/07/2016