2017 Laureate Profile: Professor Shizhang Qiao

 

Professor Shizhang Qiao

Administering Organisation: The University of Adelaide
Discipline Area: Engineering, Information and Computing Sciences

Fellowship project summary

Solar-driven sustainable production of fuels and chemicals (FL170100154)

This project aims to address the efficient and sustainable production of fuels and chemicals using abundant sources like water, carbon dioxide and sunlight by an integrated reaction system. Through understanding molecular design principles and material engineering, this project expects to develop a range of novel electrocatalysts featuring high activity, efficiency, selectivity and stability for carbon dioxide reduction and hydrogen evolution reactions. These new catalysts will facilitate a hybrid reaction cell as artificial leaf mimics by associating photocatalysis and electrocatalysis processes. The expected outcome of this project is of great importance for solar fuel generation and carbon dioxide utilisation, which are the key energy and environmental challenges facing Australia and the world today. This will provide benefits such as an innovative system of solar energy transformation that will lead to the production of fuels and key chemicals in an efficient, selective and sustainable form, ultimately bringing environmental benefits through much smaller greenhouse gas emissions.

Australian Research Council funding: $2,683,730

About Professor Qiao

Professor Shizhang Qiao is Chair of Nanotechnology within the School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Adelaide. Professor Qiao’s research expertise is in nanomaterials and nanoporous materials for new energy technologies, such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A, a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Scientist and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Professor Qiao’s research achievements have been recognised through numerous awards, including an ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (2014–16), Emerging Researcher Award (2013, Energy and Fuel Division of the American Chemical Society) and the prestigious ExxonMobil Award (2016).

Find out more about Professor Qiao and his research by visiting his profile page on The University of Adelaide website.

For further information about this funding scheme, please visit the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme page on the ARC website.