UPTON, N.Y. — The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences have recognized chemical engineer Juan Jimenez as a finalist in the 2024 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. Jimenez’s catalysis science research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory focuses on converting climate change-driving gases into industrially useful materials.
The annual honor is awarded to distinguished early career researchers at institutions in the New York Tri-State Area. Jimenez, a Goldhaber postdoctoral fellow in Brookhaven Lab’s Chemistry Division, was selected as a Chemical Sciences Finalist by a jury that considered 134 nominees. Only one laureate and two finalists were chosen for each of the three categories: chemical sciences, life sciences, and physical sciences and engineering. Jimenez will receive a medal along with $10,000 during the awards gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Tuesday, Oct. 1.
One of the grand challenges of our generation, climate change, “requires innovative and diverse solutions,” Jimenez reflected. “Being recognized as a Blavatnik Awards Finalist inspires me to elevate my field of clean energy, helping to make a brighter future for the next generation.”
He noted that his research aligns with the new DOE Energy Earthshots Initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across various energy-intensive areas. “For 10 years now, I've been working on different parts of the same problem: converting carbon dioxide into some kind of useful product,” he said. This work contributes directly to DOE’s Clean Fuels and Products Shot, part of the broader Earthshots Initiative aimed at decarbonizing the fuel and chemical industry.
Jimenez specializes in catalysts — clusters of atoms that expedite chemical reactions by lowering the required energy. He examined catalysts using X-ray techniques at Brookhaven's National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and Argonne National Laboratory's Advanced Photon Source. These DOE Office of Science user facilities produce intense beams of X-rays that researchers use to visualize atomic structures and materials’ electronic and chemical properties.
One aspect of Jimenez’s research recognized by the award involves methane dry reforming, where a catalyst transforms methane and carbon dioxide into synthesis gas (syngas), an ingredient for valuable chemicals and fuels.
“The techniques at NSLS-II are critical in understanding a catalyst’s properties under operating conditions,” Jimenez noted. One technique, X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy, measures energy absorbed by each element in real-time reactions. “This allows us to pinpoint precise changes in atomic structure and chemical composition under real reaction conditions,” he explained.
“Currently, there are two ways to use methane at large-scale industrial production,” explained Jimenez. “There’s steam reforming with methane and water; this generates most hydrogen worldwide. But dry reforming with carbon dioxide is novel because it uses two greenhouse gases — though it doesn't yield as much product as steam reforming yet.”
Jimenez’s work on developing new catalysts for dry reforming could potentially change this dynamic.
Another important aspect recognized by the award is Jimenez’s solvent-free approach for making catalysts, minimizing hazardous byproducts common in other synthesis processes.
Jimenez is also celebrated for his work on catalysts converting carbon dioxide into ethylene, essential for producing polyethylene and jet fuel intermediates — contributions that might enable sustainable aviation by recycling carbon dioxide.
Understanding catalysts at a molecular level helps scientists like Jimenez design them for various reactions and products. “In climate change initiatives, there's no such thing as a silver bullet; you need diverse materials and processes,” he said.
Beyond laboratory research, Jimenez aims to move discoveries into practical applications through basic science combined with entrepreneurial efforts. At Brookhaven, he took an entrepreneurship course and filed a patent on technology converting natural gas into methanol.
The Blavatnik Award recognizes these outreach efforts alongside his contributions to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. As an adjunct professor at City College of New York (CUNY-CCNY), he taught reaction engineering — a class that inspired him as an undergraduate student there.
“To go back not only teaching but also inspiring students who reflect my upbringing was very full circle,” he said.
Recognizing global collaboration's importance in addressing climate change challenges: “We need a global solution from a global team,” emphasized Jimenez who has worked with partners worldwide from South America to Japan.
Jimenez earned his Bachelor’s degree from CUNY-CCNY in 2015 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2020 before joining Brookhaven Lab later that year as a research associate. In 2021 he won the Goldhaber Distinguished Fellowship followed by serving as adjunct assistant professor at CUNY-CCNY in 2022 while publishing featured research articles prominently within ACS Catalysis & Journal Of The American Chemical Society publications funded under DOE Office Of Science support initiatives towards advancing scientific endeavors.