Personal Information:
Affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences
Designation: Professor
E-mail:taozhang@dicp.ac.cn
Office phone: +86-411-84379678
Fax: +86-411-84691570
Homepage:http://www.taozhang.dicp.ac.cn
Post code: 116023
Education
B.S., Chemistry, 1978-1982, Shaanxi University of Technology, China
M.S., Catalysis, 1983-1986, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ph.D., Catalysis, 1986-1989, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academic Experience
Professor, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1995.10-present
Vice President, Chinese Academy of Sciences,2016.12-2023.09
Director, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences,2007.02-2016.12
Vice Director, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1998.11-2007.02
Associate Professor, DICP, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1989.10-1995.9
Visiting Scholar, School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, UK, 1989.09-1990.10
Awards
Future Science Prize on Physical Science, 2024
Chinese Chemical Society Tang Ao-Chin Award on Chemistry, 2024
Distinguished Award of Chinese Chemical Society-China Petroleum&Chemical Corporation, 2023
Advance of Catalysis Award of Asian-Pacific Association of Catalysis Societies, 2023
International Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, 2020
ChinaNano Award, 2019
Fellow of The Third World Academy of Sciences, 2018
Science China Materials Innovation Award, 2018
ExxonMobil Chair Professor of NUS, Singapore, 2018
Science and Technology Progress Award of HLHL Foundation, Hong Kong, 2016
Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2013
Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012
Distinguished Award of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2010
Zhou Guang Zhao Foundation Award for Applied Science, 2009
Excellent Young Scientist Award of Chinese Catalysis Society, 2008
National Award of Technology Invention (Second Grade), 2008, 2006, 2005 Outstanding Young Scientists award from NSF China, 2003
Academic Contribution
Zhang not only revolutionarily proposed but also validated a new concept of “single-atom catalysis”(Nat. Chem., 2011, 3, 634; Acc. Chem. Res., 2013, 1740,;Nat. Rev. Chem., 2018, 65).Such groundbreaking ideal has been in part demonstrated by the unprecedented catalytic activity of single atoms e.g. Pt dispersed on FeOx. The subsequent research outcomes from Zhang further proved this conceptual advance compared with the widely-used nanostructured catalysts in both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis.(Nature Commun., 2016, 55, 16054). This new frontier in catalysis promises a more economical and greener chemical process and is predicted to be the next generation of catalysts, stimulating nearly over 1,200 new reports on the Web of Science since 2011. TheChemical & Engineering Newshighlighted Zhang’s work for 4 times over the past 5 years (2011, I31, 10; 2012, I11, 10; 2016, I28, 6; 2016, I39, 26) and selected his discovery(Chem. Sci. 2016, 7, 5758)on non-noble metal single-atom catalysts as one of the top 10 researches in 2016 (http://yearinreview.cenmag.org/top-research-of-2016/) as it is believed to address global issues not only related to energy generations, chemical conversions but also environment protection. “Single-atom catalysis” was also elected as the 40 Major Scientific and Technological Progresses of the CAS in the past 40 years.
Zhang pioneered non-precious tungsten carbide catalysts for efficient cellulose conversion to ethylene glycol (EG), which opened a new route for biomass conversion to valuable chemicals(Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47, 8510),resulting into the high yield of 76% of EG. This IP, following filing a patent (ZL201010125806.5), already transferred to a bio-enterprise (ZHONGKE BIO-EG Co.) to build a thousand-ton-scale pilot plant for the bio-EG production. Complementary to this, Zhang also developed an effective strategy for the chemo-selective C-O cleavage of lignin by W2C/AC, which exhibits promising potential for the substitution of noble metal in selective cleavage of lignin major aryl ether bonds without destroying the aromatic rings(Energy Env. Sci., 2012, 6383;Chem. Rev., 2015, 11559).Such catalysts enable the society to utilize biomass as a valuable resource, reducing the dependence on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emission.
In addition, Zhang has made other advances in developing new catalytic materialsfor gas purification, such as zeolite-based and solid acid-based de-NOx catalysts, preferential CO oxidation catalysts, and highly efficient deoxidants. A long list of industrial processes, e.g. SINOPEC, have benefitted from Zhang’s work.
Representative Publications:
1. Heterogeneous Single-atom Catalysis, Nat. Rev. Chem., 2018, 2, 65-81
2. Discriminating Catalytically Active FeNx Species of Atomically Dispersed Fe-C-C Catalyst for Selective Oxidation of the C-CH Bond, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2017, 139, 10790-10798
3. Single-atom Dispersed Co-N-C catalyst: Structure Identification and Performance for Hydrogenative Coupling of Nitroarenes, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 5758-5764
4. Catalytic Transformation of Lignin for the Production of Chemicals and Fuels, Chem. Rev., 2015, 115, 11559-11624.
5. FeOx-supported Platinum Single-atom and Pseudo-single-atom Catalysts for Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Functionalized Nitroarenes, Nat. Commun., 2014, 5, 5634.
6. Remarkable Performance of Ir1/FeOx Single-atom Catalyst in Water Gas Shift Reaction, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2013, 135, 15314-15317.
7. Single-Atom Catalysts: A New Frontier in Heterogeneous Catalysis, Acc. Chem. Res., 2013, 46, 1740-1748
8. One-pot Conversion ofCelluloseto Ethylene Glycol with Multifunctional Tungsten-based Catalysts, Acc. Chem. Res., 2013, 46, 1377-1386.
9. Single-atom Catalysis of CO Oxidation using Pt-1/FeOx, Nat. Chem., 2011, 3, 634-641.
10. Direct Catalytic Conversion of Cellulose into Ethylene Glycol Using Nickel-Promoted Tungsten Carbide Catalysts, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47, 8510-8513
