Geoffrey Ozin

Professor Geoffrey Ozin is a scientific leader and recognised icon in the field of nanochemistry. His work has defined, enabled, and popularized a chemical approach to nanoscale materials that has enabled the rapid development of innovative nanotechnologies we have observed over the last several decades. His highly cited 1992 paper “Nanochemistry – Synthesis in Diminishing Dimensions” published in Advanced Materials, instigated a veritable scientific revolution in the field that sparked a global movement towards the application of nanochemistry in advanced materials science. The field of Nanochemistry gave birth to a portfolio of materials that have made possible the development of sustainable forms of transportation, agriculture, and electricity generation to power a renewable energy infrastructure.

Professor Ozin established the Solar Fuels Group at the University of Toronto[1], an interdisciplinary research team of materials chemists and chemical engineers, devoted to developing scalable, cost-effective materials solutions towards using CO2 as a chemical feedstock for valuable products rather than treating it as a waste product from the combustion of fossil fuels. The Solar Fuels Group works with researchers in England, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, China, and the United States, where, in pursuit of an energy transition to net-zero emissions, a major focus in energy research is CO2 utilization enabled by renewable electrical energy.

Professor Ozin has around 800 academic publications, around 40 in Science and Nature, and 2 textbooks: Nanochemistry[2], Concepts in Nanochemistry[3]. His most recent books are general-audience books: The Story of CO2: Big Ideas for a Small Molecule[4], and Energy Materials Discovery for a Sustainable Future. He has received many prestigious honours, awards and prizes [5], and is the undisputed “father” of the field of Nanochemistry. Perhaps most remarkable, however, is his ability to create over a period of five decades “intellectual quantum leaps” with new Nano ideas that surprise, excite and inspire others to apply them in their own Nano research, especially in the field of renewable energy science and technology.

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[1] Nanochemistry (RSC 2005, 2009)
[2] Concepts in Nanochemistry (Wiley-VCH 2009)
[3] The Story of CO2: Big Ideas for a Small Molecule (University of Toronto Press 2020)
[4] Notable recent ones being the 2011 World Cultural Council's Albert Einstein Prize in Nanoscience, the 2015 Royal Society of Chemistry Centenary Prize in Nanochemistry, and the 2016 World Technology Award in Energy