Daniel G. Nocera

PATTERSON ROCKWOOD PROFESSOR OF ENERGY | dnocera@fas.harvard.edu

Daniel G. Nocera is the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University. He moved to Harvard in 2013 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy and was Director of the Solar Revolutions Project and Director of the MIT Solar Frontiers Center. Nocera is recognized for his discoveries in renewable energy, originating new paradigms that have defined the field of solar energy conversion and storage. Nocera created the field of proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) at a mechanistic level by making the first measurements that temporally resolved the movement of an electron coupled to a proton. On this experimental foundation, he provided the first theory of PCET. With PCET as a guiding framework, he invented the Artificial Leaf and the Bionic Leaf. The Artificial Leaf comprises Si coated with catalysts to capture the direct solar process of photosynthesis – the use of sunlight to split water to hydrogen and oxygen from neutral water, at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The Bionic Leaf comprises a bio-engineered organism interfaced with the catalysts of the Artificial Leaf to capture the dark process of photosynthesis – the combination of carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce biomass and liquid fuels. The integration of the light and dark processes of the Artificial Leaf and the Bionic Leaf, respectively, allowed Nocera to develop a complete artificial photosynthesis — sunlight + air + water to biomass and liquid fuels — that is ten times more efficient than natural photosynthesis for the best growing plants. Extending this approach, Nocera has achieved a renewable and distributed Haber-Bosch synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen in air by coupling solar-based water splitting to a nitrogen and carbon fixing bioorganism to produce a living biofertilizer, resulting in increased crop yields and early harvests. In the latest field trial for leafy vegetables (90% chemical replacement of urea or ammonium nitrate), use of the biofertilizer on a 400-acre farm mitigated 153 metric tons (urea)/283 metric tons (ammonium nitrate) of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere, and in berry trial, the use of the biofertilizer (90% replacement of urea or ammonium nitrate) on a single 400-acre farm led to a carbon dioxide savings of 403(urea)/708(nitrate) metric tons (if urea or ammonium nitrate was used, respectively). Additionally, the living biofertilizer avoids nitrogen runoff and thus has an important future role in sustainable farming. These science discoveries set the stage for the large scale and distributed deployment of solar energy fuels and food production using only sunlight, air and any water source. With such simple natural inputs, these discoveries are particularly useful to the poor, where large infrastructures for fuel and food production are not tenable.

Complementing his interest in solar energy conversion, Nocera has pioneered the implementation of PCET in radical enzymology, explored photo-/electro- redox catalysis mechanisms for applications in organic synthesis, and designed layered antiferromagnets to explore exotic states arising from highly correlated spins, creating the spin ½ quantum spin liquid on a kagomé lattice, a long-sought prize in condensed matter physics. His group has also created nanocrystal sensors for the metabolic profiling of tumors, a technique used by clinicians to develop new cancer drug therapies. Afield from chemistry, Nocera invented the Molecular Tagging Velocimetry to make simultaneous, multipoint velocity measurements of highly three-dimensional turbulent flows. This fluid physics technique has been employed by the engineering community to solve long-standing and important problems that had previously escaped characterization.

Nocera’s research contributions have been recognized by several awards, some of which include the Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy, Italgas Prize, IAPS Award, Burghausen Prize, and the United Nation’s Science and Technology Award and from the American Chemical Society the Inorganic Chemistry, Harrison Howe, Kosolapoff and Remsen Awards. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He was named as 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time Magazine and was 11th on the New Statesman’s list on the same topic.

Nocera has been tireless in advancing the energy agenda within scientific and public arenas. Notably, he founded the Gordon Research Conference on Solar Fuels, was a member of the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Committee for the United States and contributed to several DOE energy research roadmaps. Nocera also has a rich experience in promulgating the science and engineering in the general public as a frequent guest on TV and radio and is regularly featured in print. Among many projects, he developed the pilot that was used to launch the PBS NOVA show, ScienceNow, which was a regularly scheduled science program on PBS, designed three permanent exhibits on energy for the MIT Museum, London Museum of Science and the Boston Museum of Science and his feature in Leonardo DiCaprio’s film, “Ice on Fire”, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May 2019 and released internationally in June 2019. His latest projects include filmings for WGBH (PBS) Science for the Public and for Spanish National Public TV (RTVE) El Cazador de Cerebros.

Nocera has taught from the undergraduate freshman to the graduate level in chemistry and he has also taught graduate level courses in physics. His teaching has been recognized with several university teaching awards including the School of Science Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at MIT. Nocera instituted the third student affiliate chapter of the National Organization of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers in the United States and he has published on successful programs that he has developed for enhancing the performance of under-represented students in chemistry at the university level. 

Before joining Harvard, Nocera began his career at Michigan State University, where he was a University Distinguished Professor and then in 1997 joined the faculty of MIT where he was the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy. He earned his B.S. degree at Rutgers University and his Ph.D. at Caltech. Nocera has mentored 180 Ph.D. graduate and postdoctoral students, 79 of which have assumed faculty positions, published over 500 papers, given over 1100 invited talks and 135 named lectureships. Nocera founded Sun Catalytix, a company committed to developing energy storage technologies for the widespread implementation of renewable energy; the coordination chemistry flow battery technology invented by Sun Catalytix is now commercialized by Lockheed Martin and under the venture, GridStar Flow and allows for large grid scale storage for the widespread adoption of renewable electricity. A second company founded by Nocera, Kula Bio, is focused on the development of a living biofertilizer for renewable and distributed crop production and land restoration.