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School of Earth Sciences

Jennifer Wilcox

Title:Assistant Professor
Primary Affiliation:Department of Energy Resources Engineering
Other Affiliations:E-IPER
Office Location:Green Earth Sci.  092
Research Group:CEC LAB
Phone:650-724-9449
E-mail:wilcoxj@stanford.edu

Research

With a background in kinetics, catalysis, and chemical modeling, I investigate technologies associated with making energy production from carbonized sources cleaner. Investigations include understanding the transport and fate of heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, and selenium) released from coal combustion or gasification processes using quantum mechanical-based modeling coupled with direct experimental measurements using a custom-built electron ionization quadrupole mass spectrometer. Additional research efforts include sorbent testing for carbon capture, adsorption studies of CO2 on coal and gas shales, and membrane design for N2 and H2 separations.

Teaching

I co-teach courses on carbon capture and sequestration, introduction to petroleum engineering, and energy processes. I also teach a course on chemical kinetics modeling from first principles. 

Professional Activities

Assistant professor of chemical engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2004-08); NSF CAREER Award on arsenic and selenium speciation in coal combustion flue gas; Army Young Investigator Award on inorganic membrane modeling for H2 Separation; Lead Coordinator of Workshop on Carbon Capture (June) and Carbon Capture Tutorial (October) for GCEP (2011); Co-chair: Membrane Transport, Annual NAMS Conference (2011-present); Co-chair, "Hydrogen from Coal" and "Mercury Control," Pittsburgh International Coal Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa (2007); invited panel speaker, DOE-NETL, "Mercury Control Technology Conference, Mercury Measurements," Pittsburgh (2007).

Education

  • 2004 | Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Arizona
  • 2004 | M.A., Physical Chemistry, University of Arizona
  • 1998 | B.A., Mathematics, Pre-Med, Wellesley College

Professional Experience

  • 2010 – Present | Affiliate Faculty, Emmet Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University
  • 2008 – Present | Assistant Professor, Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University
  • 2004 – 2008 | Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Honors & Awards

  • 2010 | Best Paper Award, "Trace Metal Emissions from Coal Combustion," Geological Society of America
  • 2009 | Frederick E. Terman Fellowship
  • 2009 | University of Arizona Advances Junior Scientist Award
  • 2007 | ARO Young Investigator Award, Membrane Design for Optimal Hydrogen Separation
  • 2006 | Selected to represent NSF as a “New Face in Engineering for 2006” for National Engineer’s Week, featured in USA Today
  • 2006 | ACS PRF Young Investigator Award, Heterogeneous Kinetics of Mercury in Combustion Flue Gas
  • 2005 | NSF CAREER Award, Arsenic and Selenium Speciation in Combustion Flue Gas

University Service

  • 2009 - Present | Member, Energy Resources Engineering Department, Graduate Admissions Committee
  • 2009 - Present | Member, Energy Resources Engineering Department, Safety Committee
  • 2009 - Present | Defense Committee Chair in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering (x2), Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering (x6), Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Geophysics departments

Professional Activities

  • 2012 | Invited Speaker: Summer School - Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration, Birmingham, AL
  • 2012 | Invited Moderator: NSF Shale Workshop on Fundamental Interfacial and Transport Phenomena, Washington, D.C.
  • 2012 | Invited Speaker: Seminar at ARPA-E, Washington, D.C.
  • 2012 | Invited Speaker: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, CA
  • 2011 | Invited Speaker: Department of Chemical Engineering, National University of Singapore
  • 2011 | Chulalongkorn University, Held 5-day workshop on Carbon Capture and Sequestration (December), Bangkok, Thailand
  • 2011 | Stanford University, Global Climate Energy Project, Lead Coordinator of Workshop on Carbon Capture (June) and Carbon Capture Tutorial (October)
  • 2011 – Present | Member, North American Membrane Society (NAMS)
  • 2011 – Present | Co-chair: Membrane Transport, Annual NAMS Conference
  • 2010 | Invited Speaker: Department of Process and Mechanical Engineering, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2010 | Invited Speaker: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
  • 2010 | Invited Speaker: Department of Chemical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 2010 | Invited Speaker: Department of Material Science Engineering, Stanford University, CA
  • 2010 | Invited Speaker: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Montana, MT
  • 2010 – Present | Advisory Board Member, C12 Energy
  • 2010 – Present | Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Coal Geology
  • 2009 – Present | Editorial Board Member, Journal of Coal and Gasification Byproducts
  • 2010 – Present | Member, Air & Waste Management Association
  • 2009 | Invited Speaker: Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, CA
  • 2009 | Invited Speaker: Chevron, Novel Catalysis for Clean Energy Conversion, Richmond, CA
  • 2009 | Invited Speaker: Midwest Thermodynamics and Statistical Conference, Detroit, MI
  • 2009 | Invited Speaker: Electric Power Research Institute, Workshop on Fundamental Challenges on CO2 Capture, Chicago, IL
  • 2009 | Invited Speaker: School of Engineering Advances Junior Scientist Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
  • 2008 | Invited Speaker, Department of Physics, Technical University of Munich, Germany
  • 2008 | Invited Speaker: Lockheed Martin, Novel Catalysis for Coal-to-Electricity Conversions, Palo Alto, CA
  • 2008 | Invited Speaker: Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York City, New York
  • 2008 | Invited Speaker: Corning Inc., Mercury Oxidation Catalysts and Sorbents on Coal Flue Gas, Corning, New York
  • 2008 – Present | Co-chair: Reaction Path Analysis, Annual AIChE Conference
  • 2008 | Invited Speaker: SUNRISE Lecture Series, Minimizing Environmental Impacts of Coal-based Energy Generation, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks
  • 2007 – Present | Co-chair: Membrane Separation Techniques, Annual AIChE Conference
  • 2007 | Co-chair: Hydrogen from Coal and Environmental Control Technologies, International Pittsburgh Coal Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa
  • 2007 | Invited Speaker: National University of Singapore, Department of Chemical Engineering, Singapore
  • 2007 | Invited Panel Speaker: DOE Mercury Control Technology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA
  • 2007 – Present | Member, American Chemical Society
  • 2006 | Invited Speaker, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV
  • 2006 | Invited Speaker: Aerodyne Research Inc., Direct Measurements of Mercury in Simlated Combustion Flue Gas, Billerica, MA
  • 2006 | Invited Speaker: Chulalongkorn University, Center of Excellence in Particle Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
  • 2006 | Invited Speaker: Istanbul Technical University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2005 | Invited Speaker, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
  • 2005 | Invited Speaker, Environmental Protection Agency, Modeling Trace Metal Emissions from Combustion Combustion, Research Triangle Park, NC
  • 2005 | Invited Speaker: Department of Energy, Theoretical Modeling of Mercury Oxidation Kinetics, Pittsburgh, PA
  • 2000 – Present | Member, American Institute for Chemical Engineers

Courses Taught

  • 2012 (Winter) | EE/Energy 293B Fundamentals of Energy Process [Enrolled 39]
  • 2012 (Winter) | Energy 252 Chemical Kinetics Modeling [Enrolled 5]
  • 2012 (Winter) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 2]
  • 2012 (Winter) | Energy 365 Special Res Energy Resources Eng [Enrolled 1]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 802 TGR Dissertation [Enrolled 2]
  • 2011 (Fall) | Energy 120 Fundamentals of Petroleum Engineering [Enrolled 18]
  • 2011 (Fall) | Energy 153/253 Carbon Capture and Sequestration [Enrolled 18]
  • 2011 (Fall) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 252 Chemical Kinetics Modeling [Enrolled 11]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 360 Adv Energy Resources Engr [Enrolled 2]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 361 Mstrs Res Energy Resources Eng [Enrolled 1]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 801 TGR Project [Enrolled 1]
  • 2011 (Spring) | Energy 802 TGR Dissertation [Enrolled 2]
  • 2011 (Winter) | EE/Energy 293B Fundamentals of Energy Process [Enrolled 45]
  • 2011 (Winter) | Energy 360 Adv Energy Resources Engr [Enrolled 1]
  • 2011 (Winter) | Energy 361 Mstrs Res Energy Resources Eng [Enrolled 3]
  • 2011 (Winter) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2010 (Fall) | Energy 120 Fundamentals of Petroleum Engineering [Enrolled 10]
  • 2010 (Fall) | Energy 153/253 Carbon Capture and Sequestration [Enrolled 18]
  • 2010 (Fall) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2010 (Fall) | Energy 801 TGR Project [Enrolled 1]
  • 2010 (Fall) | Energy 802 TGR Dissertation [Enrolled 2]
  • 2010 (Summer) | Energy 355 PhD Industry Training [Enrolled 2]
  • 2010 (Summer) | Energy 361 Mstrs Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 1]
  • 2010 (Summer) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 2]
  • 2010 (Spring) | Energy 252 Chemical Kinetics and Modeling [Enrolled 10]
  • 2010 (Spring) | Energy 360 Adv Energy Resources Engr [Enrolled 1]
  • 2010 (Spring) | Energy 361 Mstr Res Energy Resources Eng [Enrolled 2]
  • 2010 (Spring) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 6]
  • 2010 (Winter) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 6]
  • 2009 (Fall) | Energy 120 Fundamentals of Petroleum Engineering [Enrolled 25]
  • 2009 (Fall) | Energy 153/253 Carbon Capture and Sequestration [Enrolled 27]
  • 2009 (Fall) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 5]
  • 2009 (Summer) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 2]
  • 2009 (Spring) | Energy 252 Chemical Kinetics and Modeling [Enrolled 16]
  • 2009 (Spring) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 5]
  • 2009 (Winter) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 5]
  • 2008 (Fall) | Energy 120 Fundamentals of Petroleum Engineering [Enrolled 19]
  • 2008 (Fall) | Energy 153/253 Carbon Capture and Sequestration [Enrolled 18]
  • 2008 (Fall) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2008 (Fall) | Energy 365 Special Resrch Petroleum Engr [Enrolled 1]
  • 2008 (Summer) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]
  • 2008 (Spring) | Energy 363 Doc Res Pet Engr [Enrolled 4]

Publications

  • 2012 | J. Wilcox, Carbon Capture, Springer Publishing; ISBN: 978-1-4614-2214-3.
  • 2012*+| A.S. Negreira, J. Wilcox, DFT Study of Hg Oxidation Across Vanadia-Titania SCR catalyst, Phys. Rev. B, in Review.
  • 2012*+| Y. Liu, J. Wilcox, Molecular Simulation Studies of CO2 Adsorption from CO2/N2, CO2/CH4, and CO2/H2O Mixtures by Carbon for CCS Applications, Environ. Sci. Technol., in Review. (Invited on a special issue titled, "Environmental and Geochemical Aspects of Carbon Sequestration")
  • 2012*+| A. Kirchofer, A. Brandt, S. Krevor, V. Prigiobbe, J. Wilcox, Impact of alkalinity sources on the life-cycle energy efficiency of mineral carbonation technologies, Energy Environ. Sci. Accepted.
  • 2012*+| Y. Liu, J. Wilcox, Molecular Simulation of CO2 Adsorption in Micro- and Mesoporous Carbons with Surface Heterogeneity, Int. J. Coal Geol. In Press. (Invited)
  • 2012*| D.-H. Lim, S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, Mercury Adsorption on Defective Gold Surfaces, Environ. Sci. Technol. In Press.
  • 2012*+| E. Sasmaz, A. Kirchofer, A.D. Jew, A. Saha, D.N. Abram, T.F. Jaramillo, J. Wilcox, Mercury Chemistry on Brominated Activated Carbon, Fuel In Press.
  • 2012*| M. Firouzi, J. Wilcox, Modeling of CO2 transport and storage in porous carbon-based systems, Micropor. Mesopor. Mat. In Press.
  • 2012*+| Y. Liu, J. Wilcox, Effects of Surface Heterogeneity on the Adsorption of CO2 in Microporous Carbons, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46(3), 1940-1947.
  • 2012*| D.-H. Lim, J. Wilcox, Mechanisms of Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Defective Graphene-Supported Pt Nanoparticles from First-Principles, J. Phys. Chem. C, 116(5), 3653-3660.
  • 2012*| T. Charinpanitkul, P. Nartpochananon, T. Satitpitakun, J. Wilcox, T. Seto, Y. Otani, Facile synthesis of tetrapodal ZnO nanopartciels by modified French process and its photoluminescence, J. Ind. Eng. Chem., 18, 469-473.
  • 2011*+| J. Wilcox, E. Rupp, D.H. Lim, S. Ying, A.S. Negreira, A. Kirchofer, F. Feng, K. Lee, Mercury adsorption and oxidation in coal combustion and gasification processes, Int. J. Coal. Geol., 90-91, 4-20. (Invited Review)
  • 2011*| K.Z. House, A.C. Baclig, M. Ranjan, E.A. van Nierop, J. Wilcox, H.J. Herzog, An Economic and Energetic Analysis of Capturing CO2 from the Air, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 108(51), 20428-20433.
  • 2011*| D.-H. Lim, J. Wilcox, DFT-based Study on Oxygen Adsorption on Defective Graphene-Supported Pt Nanoparticles, J. Phys. Chem. C, 115, 22742-22747.
  • 2011*| T. Charinpanitkul, P. Lorturn, W. Ratismith, N. Variya-empikul, G. Tumcharern, J. Wilcox, Hydrothermal synthesis of titanate nanoparticle/carbon nanotube hybridized material for dye sensitized solar cell application, Mater. Res. Bull., 46(10), 1604-1609.
  • 2011*| S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, G.E., Brown, Jr., Density functional theory investigation of the interaction of water with α-Al2O3 and α-Fe2O3 (1-102) surfaces: Implications for surface reactivity, Phys. Rev. B, 83, 125407.
  • 2011*+| J. Wilcox, E. Sasmaz, A. Kirchofer, S.-S. Lee, Heterogeneous Mercury Reaction Chemistry on Activated Carbon, J. Air & Waste Manage. Assoc., 61, 395-403.
  • 2011*+| P. Rochana, J. Wilcox, A theoretical study of CO adsorption on FeCo(100) and the effect of alloying, Surf. Sci., 605, 681-688.
  • 2011*+| A.S. Negreira, S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, Surface reactivity of V2O5(001): Effects of vacancies, protonation, hydroxylation, and chlorination, Phys. Rev. B, 83, 045423.
  • 2011*+| Y. Liu, J. Wilcox, CO2 Adsorption on Carbon Models of Organic Constituents of Gas Shale and Coal, Environ. Sci. Technol., 45(2), 809.
  • 2011*+| Y. Scherson, S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, B. Cantwell, Surface Structure and Reactivity of Rhodium Oxide (Rh2O3), J. Phys. Chem. C, 115, 11036-11044.
  • 2011*+| D.H. Lim, A.S. Negreira, J. Wilcox, Density Functional Theory Studies on the Interaction of Defective Graphene-Supported Fe and Al Nanoparticles, J. Phys. Chem. C, 115, 8961-8970.
  • 2011*| J. Wilcox, A Kinetic Investigation of Unimolecular Reactions Involving Trace Metals at Postcombustion Flue Gas Conditions, Environ. Chem., 8(2), 207-212.
  • 2011*+| J. Wilcox, T. Okano, Ab initio-based Mercury Oxidation Kinetics via Bromine at Postcombustion Flue Gas Conditions, Energy & Fuels, 25(4), 1348-1356.
  • 2011*| R., Socolow, M. Desmond, R. Aines, J. Blackstock, O. Bolland, T. Kaarsberg, N. Lewis, M. Mazzotti, A. Pfeffer, K. Sawyer, J. Siirola, B. Smit, and J. Wilcox, Direct Air Capture of CO2 with Chemicals, A Technology Assessment by the APS Panel on Public Affairs.
  • 2010*| S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, A density functional theory study of the charge state of hydrogen in metal hydrides, J. Phys. Chem. C, 114(24), 10978-10985.
  • 2010*| J.C. Hower, C.L. Senior, E.M. Suuburg, R.H. Hurt, J. Wilcox, E.S. Olson, Mercury capture by native fly ash carbons in coal-fired power plants, Prog. Energy and Combust. Sci., 36, 510-529.
  • 2010*+| E. Ozdogan, J. Wilcox, Investigation of H2 and H2S Adsorption on Nb- and Cu-doped Pd Surfaces, J. Phys. Chem. B, 114, 12851-12858.
  • 2009*+| E. Sasmaz, S. Aboud, J. Wilcox, Hg Binding on Pd Binary Alloys and Overlays, J. Phys. Chem. C, 113(18), 7813-7820.
  • 2009*| J. Wilcox, A Kinetic Investigation of High-Temperature Mercury Oxidation by Chlorine, J. Phys. Chem. A, 113, 6633-6639.
  • 2009*+| B. Padak, J. Wilcox, Understanding Mercury Binding on Activated Carbon, Carbon, 47(12), 2855-2864.
  • 2008*+| M.T. Monahan-Pendergast, M. Przybylek, M. Lindblad, and J. Wilcox, Theoretical Predictions of Arsenic and Selenium Species Under Atmospheric Conditions, Atmospheric Environment, 42(10), 2349-2357.
  • 2008*+| E. Sasmaz, J. Wilcox, Mercury Species and SO2 Adsorption on CaO(100), J. Phys. Chem. C., 112(42), 16484-16490.
  • 2008*+| S. Aboud, E. Sasmaz, and J. Wilcox, Mercury Adsorption on PdAu, PdAg, and PdCu Alloys, Main Group Chemistry, 7(3), 205.
  • 2007*+| A. Lewis, N. Kazantzis, I. Fishtik, and J. Wilcox, Integrating Process Safety with Molecular Modeling-Based Risk Assessment of Chemicals within the REACH Regulatory Framework: Benefits and Future Challenges, J. Haz. Mater., 142(3), 592.
  • 2006*| S. Sonwane, J. Wilcox, and Y.H. Ma, Achieving Optimum Hydrogen Permeability in PdAg and PdAu Alloys, J. Chem. Phys., 125(18), 184714.
  • 2006*| S. Sonwane, J. Wilcox, and Y.H. Ma, Solubility of Hydrogen in PdAg and PdAu Binary Alloys Using Density Functional Theory, J. Phys. Chem. B, 110(48), 24549.
  • 2006*+| B. Padak, M. Brunetti, A. Lewis, and J. Wilcox, Mercury Adsorption on Activated Carbon, Environmental Progress, quarterly publication of AIChE, 25(4), 319.
  • 2006*+| D. Urban and J. Wilcox, A Theoretical Study of the Kinetics of the Reactions Se + O2 → SeO + O and As + HCl → AsCl + H, J. Phys. Chem. A, 110(28), 8797-8801.
  • 2006*+| D. Urban and J. Wilcox, A Theoretical Study of Properties and Reactions Involving Arsenic and Selenium Compounds Present in Coal Combustion Flue Gases, J. Phys. Chem. A, 110(17), 5847-5852.
  • 2006*| J. Wilcox, Incorporating Computational Chemistry into the Chemical Engineering Curriculum, Chem. Eng. Educ., 40(4), 1.
  • 2005*+| I. Fishtik, D. Urban, and J. Wilcox, The Effect of Stoichiometry on Ab Initio-based Thermochemistry Predictions, Chem. Phys. Lett. 417, 185-189.
  • 2004*| J. Wilcox and P. Blowers, Decomposition of Mercuric Chloride and Application to Combustion Flue Gases, Environ. Chem., 1-6.
  • 2004*| J. Wilcox, D.C.J. Marsden and P. Blowers, Evaluation of Basis Sets and Theoretical Methods for Estimating Rate Constants of Mercury Oxidation Reactions Involving Chlorine, Fuel Proc. Technol. 85, 391-400.
  • 2004*| J. Wilcox A. and P. Blowers, Correction and Improvement of Mercury Speciation Kinetics Estimates from Quantum Chemical Calculations, J. Mol. Struct. (Theochem) 674, 275-278.
  • 2003*| J. Wilcox, J. Robles, D.C.J. Marsden, and P. Blowers, Theoretically predicted rate constants for mercury oxidation by hydrogen chloride in coal combustion flue gases, Environ. Sci. Technol. 37(18), 4199-4204.

Advisee Degrees

  • 2012 | Yangyang Liu: Fundamental Investigations of Gas Adsorption in Micro and Mesopores, Ph.D., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • 2011 | Bihter Padak: Direct Mercury Measurements in Coal-Fired Flue Gas Emissions, Ph.D., University of South Carolina
  • 2011 | Erdem Sasmaz: Mercury Adsorption and Oxidation Catalysis, Ph.D., University of South Carolina
  • 2011 | Keith Mosher: Predicting Methane Adsorption in Carbon-Slit Pores using GCMC, M.S., One Block Off the Grid
  • 2011 | Ondra Sestak: Measuring Mercury Oxidation on Precious-Metal Catalysts, M.S., Shell
  • 2008 | Terumi Okano: Homogeneous Mercury Oxidation via Bromine, M.S., Dow Chemical Company
  • 2006 | David Urban: Theoretical Predictions of Gas-Phase Arsenic and Selenium Kinetic, M.S., Exxon-Mobil

Advisee Publications

  • 2010*| S. Niksa, B. Padak, B. Krishnakumar, C. V. Naik, Process Chemistry of Br Addition to Utility Flue Gas for Hg Emissions Control, Energy Fuels, 24(2), 1020-1029. 
  • 2009*| A.S. Rangwala, V. Raghavanb, J.E. Sipec, T. Okano, A New Property Evaluation Scheme for Mass Transfer Analysis in Fire Problems, Fire Safety Journal, 44(4), 652-658.  

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