Title: Electrocatalytic Synthesis of Chemicals

Speaker: Tenured Associate Professor Haohong Duan (Tsinghua University)

Time: October 31, 2026 (Saturday), 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Venue: Room 105 of the Shaw Engineering Building

Organizer: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Developing electrocatalytic approaches for synthesizing highvalueadded chemicals represents a green and lowcarbon production mode, featuring renewableenergydriven operation, mild reaction conditions, and utilization of water molecules as hydrogen and oxygen sources. The speaker has developed a series of electrocatalytic organic synthesis, biomass conversion and wasteplastic conversion reactions to realize the green synthesis of diverse highvalueadded chemicals. Oxidation reactions have been coupled with watersplittingbased hydrogen production to reduce energy consumption for hydrogen generation. Carrying out fundamental research (catalyst design, mechanistic investigation) and engineering research (reactor development, reactionsystem integration) is of great significance for advancing the green synthesis of chemicals and achieving the dualcarbon goals.

Biography

Haohong Duan is a Tenured Associate Professor and doctoral supervisor in the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University. He is a member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party, recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Principal Investigator of the NSFC Innovative Research Group (Category B), and Chief Scientist of the National Key R&D Program. He received his bachelor’s degree from Peking University in 2009 and his PhD in chemistry from Tsinghua University in 2014. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford from 2015 to 2018, and joined the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University in 2019. He is the recipient of the Qingshan Science and Technology Award. His research covers fundamental and appliedfundamental studies of electrocatalysis. He has developed reaction systems that couple watersplitting hydrogen production with the selective oxidation of chemical feedstocks, biomass and waste plastics, which bears practical significance for the green synthesis of green hydrogen and highvalue chemicals.

As the corresponding author, he has published more than 100 papers in international journals including Nat. Catal. and Nat. Synth., and edited one English monograph. He was awarded the FirstClass Prize for Science and Technology Progress from China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation (first completer). He serves as a member of the Green Chemistry Committee of the Chinese Chemical Society, advisory board member of Chemical Science, invited editorial board member of Chinese Science Bulletin / Science Bulletin, and youth editorial board member of journals such as Science ChinaChemistry.

Announced by School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Note: Cancelled for some reason.