Petra de Jongh (Materials Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University) is one of the world’s leading scientists in the design and assembly of nanomaterials for catalysis and energy storage and conversion. Her expertise in the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials for energy applications will be indispensable for ANION in the development and testing of suitable model materials. Petra de Jongh is specialized in the understanding of particle size and interface effects, for instance showing how the creation of large specific interface areas in nanocomposites lead to orders of magnitude increase in performance as solid state battery electrolyte, a finding that inspired many groups to explore the same type of strategy.
Since her start at Utrecht in 2004, De Jongh has supervised 16 successfully defended PhD theses, one of which won the KNCV award for the best Dutch thesis, and she presently (co)supervises 13 PhD students. Petra de Jongh is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences KNAW and has been recognized for her work by NWO-Vidi (2006) and Vici (2013) grants, the ERC Consolidator Grant (2015), and the US DOE EFRC-CALCD Innovation Award (2012). She participates in leading national and international research consortia, including BATTERY NL and RELEASE at the national level, and the European Horizon programs AMBHER and CONDOR. International leadership by Petra de Jongh is illustrated by her membership of the scientific advisory board of the Helmholtz Center Berlin, membership (since 2018 vice-chair) of the evaluation committee for EU FET proposals and membership of the Editorial Board of ChemCatChem (since 2017). Petra de Jongh was visiting professor at the Max Planck Institute for Kohlenforschung, Mulheim (Germany) in 2018 and Invited Visiting Professor at the Sorbonne Université Paris in 2013. Active collaboration with industrial partners has led to 16 patent applications with Johnson Matthey, Shell, BP, and Total. De Jongh is an elected member of ARC-CBBC, and member of the program committee of the Fund New Chemical Innovation (TKI-NCI), the largest private-public funding 6 in the field of Chemistry in the Netherlands (2015-2018). She is leader of the materials research line in the RELEASE electrochemical energy storage consortium which started in 2020.