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CD4DC congratulates Principal Investigator Prof. Omar Farha on being named the recipient of the 2026 Reticular Science Prize by Atoco. The award recognizes outstanding and original contributions to the science and engineering of molecularly defined materials.

Prof. Farha was honored for his pioneering work in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), including fundamental advances in reticular chemistry and the translation of those discoveries into real-world technologies through NuMat Technologies. The Selection Committee also highlighted his innovative work in gas storage, toxic gas remediation, and MOF-based catalytic decomposition of chemical warfare agents.

We are proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition of Prof. Farha’s leadership and impact in the field.

Read the full announcement here.

The Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center (CD4DC) proudly celebrates Director Laura Gagliardi on being named the recipient of the 2026 Schrödinger Medal by the World Association of Theoretical and Computational Chemists (WATOC).

The award recognizes Professor Gagliardi’s groundbreaking work in multireference quantum theory and its transformative impact on catalysis and sustainability research. Her theoretical and computational methods have enabled scientists to predict and design advanced catalytic systems with unprecedented accuracy, accelerating the development of cleaner and more energy-efficient industrial processes.

As director of CD4DC, Gagliardi has helped shape a research vision where high-fidelity quantum simulations guide catalyst innovation for decarbonization. Her work demonstrates how advances in theoretical chemistry can directly support scalable climate solutions.

Presented during the 100th anniversary of the Schrödinger equation, the medal places Gagliardi among the most influential scientists in the history of computational chemistry.

The entire CD4DC community congratulates Professor Gagliardi on this remarkable international recognition.

Read the full announcement here.

A recent C&EN article highlights new research demonstrating a catalyst that converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) to methanol at significantly lower temperatures than conventional systems. The work involves CD4DC Principal Investigators Joseph Hupp, Rachel Getman, and Karena Chapman.

By embedding uniform platinum clusters within a metal-organic framework (NU-1000), the team achieved efficient CO₂ hydrogenation at 180 °C with high stability and selectivity over extended operation.

This work underscores the importance of well-defined catalytic sites and MOF-based architectures for advancing energy-efficient carbon recycling technologies.

Read the article here.

Omar Farha has been named a 2025 Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the highest professional distinction awarded exclusively to academic inventors.

NAI Fellowship recognizes individuals who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation through inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and social welfare.

Farha is among 169 newly elected fellows in the 2025 class, representing 127 research universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutions worldwide. Collectively, this year’s class holds more than 5,300 issued U.S. patents and includes recipients of the Nobel Prize, National Medals of Science and Technology and Innovation, and members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Congratulations, Omar, on this well-deserved honor!

Read more here.

On the same day that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for groundbreaking work on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), the Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center (CD4DC) gathered for its 2025 All-Hands Meeting on October 8 at the University of Chicago’s David Rubenstein Forum. The timing was especially meaningful for the CD4DC community, as the center’s research is deeply connected to the field of MOFs, and several affiliated scientists have collaborated with the newly named Nobel laureate.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, CD4DC unites researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Stony Brook University, Ohio State University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.

This year’s meeting opened with reflections on the Nobel recognition and its connection to the center’s mission to design catalysts for modern energy processes. Throughout the day, Principal Investigators, Senior Scientists, and early-career researchers presented updates on collaborative projects and shared advances in catalytic systems for hydrogen production, carbon management, and chemical transformations.

Under the leadership of Professor Laura Gagliardi, CD4DC continues to strengthen collaboration between experimental and computational teams to accelerate discovery. The 2025 meeting underscored how collective scientific effort drives the innovation needed for the future of energy.

Aniruddha Seal, Matthew Hennefarth, Professors Laura Gagliardi and Andrew Ferguson, and Professor Michele Parrinello (Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa) and his group have developed a workflow to train machine-learned potentials beyond Kohn-Sham DFT. At its core is WASP – the Weighted Active Space Protocol — an algorithm that assigns consistent active spaces across diverse geometries, enabling multireference-quality machine learned potentials (MLP) and overcoming a long-standing barrier to incorporating multireference electronic structure in MLPs.

Discover more about this breakthrough and related research here.

Professor Anderson of the University of Chicago has been awarded the Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator by the American Chemical Society.

This honor recognizes his pioneering work in synthetic inorganic chemistry, where his team designs molecules with unconventional structures. His research, including a synthetic system that mimics natural enzymes, provides critical insights into chemical reactions and catalysis, with important implications for energy and materials science.

We celebrate Professor Anderson’s remarkable contributions to chemistry and his innovative approach to advancing the field!

Learn more about his work here.

CD4DC researchers have developed an innovative catalyst design that could significantly improve the safety and efficiency of hydrogen storage and transport. By incorporating metal–sulfur active sites into metal–organic frameworks, the team has enhanced the performance of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs)—a promising technology that stores hydrogen in a stable, non-volatile liquid form. This advancement brings us closer to practical, safer hydrogen fuel solutions compatible with existing infrastructure.

Learn more about this exciting research and its potential impact here.

Congratulations to Professor Matthew Neurock of the University of Minnesota, who has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Herman Pines Award in Catalysis, presented by the Catalysis Club of Chicago.

Professor Neurock is honored for his pioneering contributions to catalysis research, particularly in applying molecular-level theory to complex catalytic systems. The award will be presented at the Club’s Spring Symposium in May 2025.

For more details visit the Catalysis Club of Chicago website.

We are thrilled to recognize the outstanding contributions of our poster competition winners at the CD4DC 2024 All-Hands Meeting. From left to right, they are congratulated by Professors Laura Gagliardi and Jenny G. Vitillo:

Jan Hoffman (Stony Brook University)
Dana Sanchez (Stony Brook University)
Haomiao Xie (Northwestern University)
Huy Nguyen (University of Minnesota)
Hilal Daglar (University of Chicago)

Congratulations to all! Your work is driving the future of clean energy.