About

Chao Wang is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University and the director of the Nano Energy Laboratory. He also serves as the director of the department's master’s admissions. His research interests are primarily in carbon dioxide capture and conversion, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, and heterogeneous catalysis for green chemical engineering. Wang emphasizes the importance of building sustainability through efficient and environmentally friendly energy conversion, storage schemes, and chemical transformations. His group focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and functionalization of new nanomaterials with tailored atomic structures to enhance catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability, as well as designing and engineering electro- and thermo-chemical processes at high energy efficiencies with reduced carbon footprints. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2004 and his doctorate from Brown University in 2009. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Argonne National Laboratory, he joined Johns Hopkins University in 2012 as an assistant professor.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Organic chemistry
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Chemical engineering
• Data science
• Metallurgy
• Thermodynamics
• Physics
• Engineering physics

Selected publications

• Data associated with the publication: Cold quad-modal nanocomplex for precise and quantitative in vivo stem cell tracking

  Research Data Repository, Duke University · 2026-04-01

  datasetOpen access

  The datasets within correspond to the Science Advances article titled “Cold Quad-Modal Nanocomplex for Precise and Quantitative In Vivo Stem Cell Tracking”. The data are organized in terms of the corresponding Figure number within the paper: <a href = "https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202523758">https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202523758</a>

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• Methane pyrolysis-enabled production of high-value carbon fibres

  Nature Sustainability · 2026-04-16

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• Hybrid ion-electron conducting electrodes for long-term electrophysiological monitoring and sign language detection

  Chemical Engineering Journal · 2025-08-28 · 3 citations

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• Enhancing perovskite photovoltaics performance through interfacial defects passivation and carrier dynamics management with ammonium sulfonate-based passivation molecule

  Surfaces and Interfaces · 2025-11-17

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• Accelerated production of active oxygen species in MOFs-based porous ionic liquids: Greatly enhancing catalytic oxidation

  Separation and Purification Technology · 2025-04-29 · 8 citations

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• Anti-aging agent with multi-active sites triggering micro-leveling effect for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells

  Chemical Engineering Journal · 2025-08-18 · 1 citations

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• Interfacial charge transfer engineering in S-ZIF-L@MIL-53/NF heterostructures for enhanced oxygen evolution kinetics

  Applied Physics Letters · 2025-09-15

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  The development of cost-effective and efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for advancing sustainable hydrogen production via water electrolysis. Herein, an innovative synthesis technique has been developed to fabricate leaf-like ZIF-L architectures on vertically aligned MIL-53 nanoarrays. This approach integrates in situ-grown MIL-53(Fe) nanosheets with sulfur-modified ZIF-L (S-ZIF-L), synergistically enhancing interfacial charge transfer dynamics while optimizing active site accessibility. The S-ZIF-L@MIL-53/NF catalyst demonstrates exceptional OER performance in an alkaline medium, achieving an ultralow overpotential of 336 mV at 500 mA cm−2. Remarkably, it exhibits robust stability for 300 h at 350 mA cm−2. In situ characterization reveals the coexistence of adsorbate evolution and lattice oxygen-mediated mechanisms, which collectively govern intermediate adsorption energetics and reaction kinetics. The sulfur-doping-induced morphological modulation and oxygen vacancy enrichment further contribute to enhanced electronic conductivity and catalytic activity. This work establishes a high-performance electrocatalytic platform through metal–organic framework heterojunction engineering and defect control, providing fundamental insights into interfacial charge transfer processes for sustainable energy technologies.

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• Updating mechanism of time-dependent biochar gasification rate: Insights into ash-induced effects

  Chemical Engineering Journal · 2025-10-15 · 3 citations

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• Synergistic enhancement of anti-scaling performance in epoxy resin coatings via the incorporation of modified hexagonal boron nitride and nano-copper oxide

  Progress in Organic Coatings · 2025-07-03 · 3 citations

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• Effect of Gd on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Backward Extruded Mg-7Sn Alloy

  Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering · 2025-07-18

  articleSenior author

  Background: The mechanical properties of magnesium alloys (Mg) significantly deteriorate at high temperatures, which has become a critical bottleneck limiting their further development and application. In this study, different contents of the rare earth (RE) element Gadolinium (Gd) were added to the backward extruded Mg-7Sn alloys and investigated the relationship between the microstructure and mechanical properties. This research may serve as a basis for developing new magnesium alloys with combined mechanical properties suitable for both room and hightemperature applications, expanding their use in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and electronics. Objective: This study aims to address this limitation by incorporating different contents of the RE element Gd into backward extruded Mg-7Sn alloys. The focus is to investigate the relationship between microstructure evolution and mechanical properties. This study provides an important scientific basis for the development of new magnesium alloys with comprehensive mechanical properties at both room and high temperatures. By systematically studying the changes of Gd addition and alloy properties, we are able to provide strong guidance for subsequent material design and application, and promote the technological progress and industrialization of magnesium alloys. Methods: Pure magnesium (Mg) is placed in a graphite crucible and heated to 720 °C before adding the alloying elements pure tin (Sn) and gadolinium (Gd). The Mg-7Sn-xGd (x= 3, 5, 8 wt.%) alloys were backward extruded at 350 °C with an extrusion ratio of 16: 1. The microstructure evolution has been studied in detail using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction technique. The tensile experiments were carried out on an AG-X tensile testing machine at a tensile rate of 1.5 mm/min with a test temperature of 25, 150, 200, and 250 °C, respectively. Results: The backward extruded Mg-7Sn-xGd alloy has α-Mg phase, Mg2Sn phase, and MgSnGd phase. The content of the MgSnGd phase, which is unevenly distributed along the extrusion direction, increases with the increase of the Gd content. The average grain diameters of the alloys with increasing Gd content are 17.3, 19.7, and 14.8 µm, respectively. Conclusion: The addition of Gd causes a gradual decrease in both strength and elongation as its content increases. This effect of the rare earth element Gd on the mechanical properties of the alloys is attributed to the morphology and quantity of the second phase.

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Recent grants

• Enhancing CO2 Reduction by Controlling the Ensemble of Active Sites

  NSF · $457k · 2019–2023

• INFEWS N/P/H2O: Collaborative Research: Catalytic Dephosphorylation Using Ceria Nanocrystals

  NSF · $300k · 2017–2020

• DMREF/Collaborative Research: Design of Multifunctional Catalytic Interfaces from First Principles

  NSF · $288k · 2014–2019

• SusChEM: Strained Core/Shell Nanoparticles with Non-precious Metal Core and Precious Metal Shell

  NSF · $300k · 2014–2017

• Interplay of Mass Transport and Chemical Kinetics in the Electroreduction CO2

  NSF · $300k · 2018–2021

Frequent coauthors

• Shouheng Sun

  Brown University

  111 shared

• Xinhe Bao

  Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics

  58 shared

• Nenad M. Marković

  Argonne National Laboratory

  55 shared

• Vojislav R. Stamenković

  53 shared

• Rongtan Li

  Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics

  52 shared

• Qiang Fu

  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  47 shared

• Dongguo Li

  34 shared

• Hideo Daimon

  31 shared

Education

• PhD, Engineering Division

  Brown University

  2009

• BSc, Physics

  University of Science and Technology of China

  2004

Awards & honors

• ARPA-E Project to Advance High-Density Energy Storage