About

Jillian Goldfarb is an Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University and serves as the Dean's Fellow and Director of Undergraduate Studies for Archaeology. Her research group focuses on addressing critical 'last mile' issues in renewable fuel production, particularly through in situ catalysis during thermochemical conversion of biomass to valorized byproducts. Her work spans fundamental science—leveraging the unique properties of pseudo-equilibrium states to tune hydrothermal biofuels—to large-scale industry collaborations aimed at scaling up pyrolysis biofuel production. She has developed novel concepts for the integrated biorefinery that extend beyond biomass-to-biofuel conversion, including producing biofuel upgrading and pollution prevention materials from residual organic-inorganic residues after thermochemical processes. Dr. Goldfarb's research has been recognized through her NSF CAREER Award, which advanced her work in Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL). Her approach to HTL emphasizes treating it as a reactive process to form supersaturated solutions of aqueous-organic mixtures and separate biocrude, rather than merely exploring process conditions. This thermodynamic perspective aims to improve control over product distributions and reduce the economic and environmental challenges associated with process water treatment, thereby facilitating the transition to renewable energy. Additionally, her work includes designing sustainable materials for water treatment using computational modeling combined with experimental fabrication, such as developing polymer foam scaffolds embedded with photocatalytic nanocomposites for organic pollutant destruction. Dr. Goldfarb is dedicated to public communication and research translation efforts.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Waste management
• Chemical engineering
• Pulp and paper industry
• Environmental science

Selected publications

• Overcoming limitations of hydrothermal carbonization of biomass: secondary char extraction enhances solid fuel and soil amendment applications

  Journal of Physics Energy · 2026-02-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) thermochemically upcycles agro-industrial waste into a two-phase hydrochar (HC) consisting of primary char (PC) and amorphous secondary char (SC). SC limits the use of HC; its furan groups are phytotoxic, and the SC is thermally reactive, making it unsuitable for many direct combustion applications. Apple pomace (AP) was carbonized at 175, 200, and 250 °C, and SC was extracted using an organic solvent. The SC showed particularly high concentrations of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF). While such concentrations may inhibit germination if HC is used as a soil amendment, 5-HMF is an important biorefinery compound and is recoverable via solvent extraction. The resulting extracted hydrochar (called PC) has a higher surface area, fixed carbon content, and increased bioavailability of key nutrients than the as-carbonized HC. The PC is also more thermally stable than HC, particularly at 250 °C carbonization, where the SC contains considerable oxygenated compounds. HTC at 250 °C likely breaks down more lignin in the AP, resulting in more phenols in the SC, which are more reactive. At lower temperatures, we observe more phenols (comprising up to 96% of SC for HTC at 200 °C), which suggests that it may be possible to engineer SC to yield lucrative biorefinery intermediates from high-sugar biomasses such as AP. While the extraction of HC offers the potential to valorize SC as a biofuel, it also yields a more stable PC for use as a soil amendment and solid fuel.

  PublisherDOI

• Pressurized solvent extraction of secondary char from hydrothermal carbonization: sample preparation and analytical strategy shape GC-MS results

  RSC Advances · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  HTC of cellulose, apple pomace, miscanthus, and a representative food waste. Solvent drying and reconstitution had minimal impact on the secondary char composition, except for minor losses of short-chain acids in cellulose-derived samples. Derivatization improved detection of polar compounds, particularly alcohols, though 5-hydroxymethylfurfural became undetectable, likely due to polymerization. Critically, the common practice of using GC-MS peak areas as biofuel concentration proxies may introduce substantial error when comparing relative abundances of compounds and functional groups across samples or studies. Ratios of chromatogram areas should only be used to indicate relative concentration within the same analytical group, not to compare absolute yields across samples or disparate studies. Overall, while sample preparation decisions modestly affect GC-MS analysis of PSE secondary char, data analysis decisions profoundly influence interpretation. We recommend the transition from qualitative peak-area comparisons to quantitative GC-MS methods to ensure accurate characterization of PSE-derived secondary char and thermochemically derived biofuels in general.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tuning Hydrogen versus Methane Production on Sustainable Biochar-Based Cathodes in Microbial Electrolysis Cells by Voltage Control

  ACS Omega · 2026-03-05 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Due to the intermittency of solar and wind energy generation, efficient energy storage solutions are essential to ensure a global transition to renewable energy sources. Bioelectrochemical Power-to-Hydrogen systems are a promising storage pathway, yet their development is limited by high costs and low productivity compared to conventional hydrogen production. Novel, sustainable, and cost-effective materials, such as carbon-based electrodes, can help to overcome these challenges. This study evaluates five cathodes for hydrogen and methane production in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) operated at 600 and 800 mV: stainless steel mesh (SSM), two custom-made biochars derived from olive mill waste (OMW-1, OMW-2), and two commercial carbon-based materials (Carbon Black and Black Pearls). OMW-1 achieved a H2 yield of 257 ± 62 mL L–1 d–1 at 800 mV, showing the potential of noncommercial biochar. CB and SSM performed better, reaching 493 ± 57 and 496 ± 9 mL L–1 d–1 H2, respectively. Cyclic voltammetry and next-generation sequencing revealed that hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria colonization negatively impacted H2 yields. At 600 mV, increased CH4 production was observed for OMW-2, BP, and CB. Energetically, OMW-2 (3.0 ± 0.2 kWh L–1 d–1) performed comparably to CB and BP (both 3.3 kWh L–1 d–1), outperforming SSM at both voltages. These findings support the viability of carbon-based cathodes as sustainable alternatives to metal-based ones with the potential to reduce electrode costs while maintaining or improving energy productivity.

  PublisherDOI

• Sustainability benefits and science knowledge shape consumer preferences for novel smartphone battery technology in the United States

  Energy Research & Social Science · 2026-05-09

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Impact of 29 biorefinery process water-derived compounds on G. oxydans growth

  Journal of environmental chemical engineering · 2026-02-26

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Chemical and biological solutions to the thermodynamic challenges posed by hydrothermal liquefaction process water

  Progress in Energy · 2025-05-22 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Its ability to upconvert myriad wet carbonaceous wastes into biofuels and platform chemicals makes hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) an attractive process to incorporate into a future bioeconomy. However, while HTL is well suited to process feedstocks with high moisture content, it generates a carbon-laden process water (PW). There is considerable research on the state-of-the-field of HTL; the impact of feedstocks and process conditions on products is well established, as are methods to upgrade recovered biocrudes (BCs). However, methods to efficiently separate, recover, and utilize the fugitive carbon in PW are less well understood. We believe this is because of the intrinsic thermodynamic limitations imposed by the PW; PW is a solutropic solution for which liquid–liquid extraction is, depending on the solvent, of minimal utility. Aqueous phase processing and electrocatalytic oxidation could produce high-value products like H 2 for BC upgrading, though issues of catalyst stability and electrode fouling, along with selectivity and efficiency, plague these nascent technologies. The literature is replete with conflicting opinions on the potential to recycle PW in the reactor (some authors find enhancement of hydrochar or BC yield, others no change or a negative impact). The current Edisonian approach to biological treatment (e.g. grow one bacteria on one PW) leaves the field without a clear understanding of the HTL PW compounds that inhibit or promote growth beyond broad classifications. Through this review, we hope to encourage the HTL field to move beyond the current norm of processing singular feedstocks to assess the BC produced and consider the carbon balance of the entire system to develop recovery and valorization pathways for the carbon present in HTL PW.

  PublisherDOI

• CO2 capture performance of alkali-activated mineral sealing material of blended municipal solid waste incinerated bottom ash and granulated blast furnace slag

  Journal of environmental chemical engineering · 2025-03-23 · 9 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Can batch lab-scale studies of slow pyrolysis describe biochar yields and properties upon upscaling to a continuous auger kiln?

  Journal of Cleaner Production · 2025-02-25 · 17 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Spatially Informed Multi-Objective Decision-Making Tool for Retrofitting Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• AI, Rulemaking, and Threats to Scientific Policymaking

  Open Science Framework · 2025-03-05

  otherOpen accessSenior author

  Proposed regulations must first be opened for a period of public notice and comment, which empirical analyses find routinely shape the content of final rules. Advances in generative AI threaten the utility of the notice and comment period and could undermine policy responsiveness in significant and unprecedented ways. Past efforts to sway the regulatory process by inundating officials with comments advocating or opposing a proposed rule were often detected because many comments were identical. Generative AI can easily overcome this limitation. Recent research shows that AI can create advocacy emails at scale that legislators cannot distinguish from communications written by actual constituents, and it can surely create general advocacy comments for/against regulations. However, it remains an open question whether generative AI can create technically sophisticated publicly comments advancing a clear position on highly technical proposed rules – that is, precisely the types of comments that past research has found are most influential.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• BRIGE: Second Generation Sustainability: Pyrolysis and Combustion of Locally-Sourced Biomass-Coal Blends

  NSF · $174k · 2011–2014

• Collaborative Research: Combustion Behavior of Hydrochars from Wet Biomass

  NSF · $334k · 2020–2024

• BRIGE: Second Generation Sustainability: Pyrolysis and Combustion of Locally-Sourced Biomass-Coal Blends

  NSF · $24k · 2013–2014

• EAGER: Development of a Mechanistic Framework Correlating Quantum Dot Surface Chemistry and Subsurface Environmental Fate and Transport

  NSF · $100k · 2015–2017

• Collaborative Research: Integrated Biorefinery for Pyrolysis Biofuels and Biotemplated Nanomaterials

  NSF · $275k · 2019–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Lihui Gao

  China University of Mining and Technology

  61 shared

• Maurizio Volpe

  Università degli Studi di Enna Kore

  32 shared

• Eric M. Suuberg

  Brown University

  28 shared

• Luca Fiori

  25 shared

• Douglas L. Kriner

  Cornell University

  19 shared

• Matteo Pecchi

  Cornell University

  18 shared

• Qiulin Ma

  Zhengzhou University

  17 shared

• Selim Ceylan

  14 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Engineering

  Brown University

  2008

Awards & honors

• NSF CAREER Award