Christoph Janiak is a distinguished German chemist and internationally recognized authority in the field of inorganic materials science. He currently serves as Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Chair of Nanoporous and Nanoscale Materials at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, where he leads the Institute for Bioinorganic Chemistry and Catalysis. Born in Berlin on March 7, 1961, Janiak completed his chemistry studies at the Technical University of Berlin, earning his diploma in 1984 before obtaining a Master of Science from the University of Oklahoma. Following his doctoral degree in 1987, he pursued postdoctoral research at Cornell University and BASF AG, culminating in his habilitation at TU Berlin and subsequent appointment as Professor at the University of Freiburg in 1998, before moving to Düsseldorf in 2010.
Professor Janiak has made seminal contributions to the development and application of metal-organic frameworks, particularly in the areas of gas storage, separation, and catalysis, with his research garnering over 49,000 citations. His work on aluminum fumarate MOFs for sorption-based heat transformation represents a significant advancement in sustainable thermal energy applications, with his 2014 paper becoming one of the most influential studies in the field. Janiak's systematic approach to fine-tuning MOF pore metrics has enabled enhanced SO2 capture capabilities, addressing critical environmental challenges in industrial gas purification. His laboratory has pioneered methodologies for the ultrafast synthesis of bimetallic metal-organic frameworks, substantially accelerating production processes while maintaining structural integrity for applications in the oxygen evolution reaction.
Beyond his research achievements, Janiak has significantly shaped the field through his editorial leadership as a member of the advisory boards for prestigious journals including ChemistryOpen, Zeitschrift für anorganische und allgemeine Chemie, and Inorganica Chimica Acta. He is widely recognized for his comprehensive textbooks on inorganic chemistry, co-authored with Erwin Riedel, which have become standard references for students and researchers across German-speaking academic institutions. Professor Janiak actively mentors the next generation of chemists, supervising numerous doctoral candidates and fostering international collaborations that advance the global understanding of nanoporous materials. His current research focuses on developing next-generation MOF materials with precisely engineered pore architectures for targeted applications in carbon capture, drug delivery, and sustainable catalysis, continuing to drive innovation at the intersection of fundamental chemistry and practical engineering solutions.
