Krijn de Jong - Biography#

Krijn P. de Jong received his BSc (1976), MSc (1978) and PhD (1982) in chemistry, all degrees cum laude at Utrecht University. In 1987 he also obtained an MSc degree in chemical engineering from Twente University.

From 1982-1997 he was with Shell Research working on catalyst preparation, heavy oil conversion, environmental processes, zeolite catalysis and synthesis gas production and conversion.

In 1997 he was appointed as professor of inorganic chemistry and catalysis at Utrecht University.

His current research interests are catalyst synthesis, electron tomography of nanostructured catalysts, hydrocarbon conversions over zeolites, catalysts for liquid-phase catalysis, conversion of synthesis gas to fuels and chemicals and hydrogen storage.

He has published well over 200 scientific papers and 30 patents.

From January 1st 2012 until February 1st 2015, he was appointed as Scientific Director of the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science of Utrecht University.

He has received amongst others the Unilever Chemistry Award in 1977, the Shell Patent Award in 1987 and in 1991,
an NWO TOP Research Grant in 2008, the Award for Excellence in Natural Gas Conversion in 2013 and
an ERC Advanced Grant in 2013.

Research

• The research of Prof. Krijn de Jong involves synthesis and assembly of catalysts and functional materials with particular interest in zeolites, mesoporous materials, carbon nanofibers, supported metals and metal oxides, and solid base materials such as hydrotalcites. The work on zeolites comprises generation of mesopores, characterization using electron tomography (3D-TEM) and catalysis. Carbon nanofibers are investigated for their potential as catalysts support materials. Mesoporous materials (e.g. MCM-41, SBA-15) are used as support materials for fundamental studies on catalyst preparation. Structural investigations on hydrotalcites have enabled synthesis of solid base catalysts highly active at ambient conditions in liquid-phase.
• The approach of his research is to combine the outcome of several techniques into a unifying picture of the complex nanomaterials that are synthesized. The techniques used are amongst others in situ XRD, IR, physisorption, TPR-TPD-TPO, TGA, SEM and TEM. Special competencies in his group are XAS, STEM-EELS (with Prof. Frank de Groot), 3D-TEM (with Dr. Jovana Zecevic) and advanced microbalance techniques such as tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM).
• Catalytic studies carried out in his group involve (hydro-)isomerisation of hydrocarbons, selective hydrogenations, aldol-condensation, synthesis gas conversion (paraffins, olefins and alcohols) and biomass conversions. Nanostructured materials are also studied for hydrogen storage and CO2 capture.