CITATION OF NOMINEE: PROFESSOR OMOTAYO ADEMOLA AROTIBA
FOR THE 2025 FELLOWSHIP OF THE NIGERIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE
Omotayo Arotiba is a full Professor of Physical Chemistry and the Director of the Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He is the current Chair of the South African Chemical Institute Electrochemistry division and the Regional Representative of the International Society of Electrochemistry. Prof Arotiba is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and a Fellow of the Chemical Society of Nigeria. He is undoubtedly a pioneering African researcher and a global leader in semiconductor heterojunctions for photoelectrocatalytic water treatment. Other groundbreaking research includes using exfoliated graphite and dendrimers in sensor design. He is among the most cited electrochemists in South Africa.
He is interested in developing photo-electrochemical water treatment technologies; electrochemical sensors & biosensors; and materials electrochemistry for energy. He has supervised 20 PhDs and 25 MSc (18 with distinction) and has mentored young academics, some of whom are now professors. He has authored over 184 publications in journals of international repute and has a Google Scholar h-index of 50 with over 8940 citations. He has attracted more than 1 million USD in grants since joining UJ.
He has delivered keynote and plenary lectures at local and international conferences organised by the Chemical Society of Nigeria, the American Chemical Society, the ISE, etc. He is an editor/guest editor for top electrochemistry journals and has collaborated with leading universities in the UK, China, Japan, France, Germany, Nigeria, etc. He was awarded UJ Vice-Chancellor Best Researcher of the Year (2021) and was listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier.
As a Patriot, he has made immense contributions to chemistry and postgraduate studies in Nigeria through doctoral training of Nigerian academics, organising research workshops, hosting of researchers (staff exchange) at his laboratory, staff mentorship and professorial visits.