Winner: 2021 Corday-Morgan Prize
Junwang Tang
University College London
For 乐天堂app下载 discovery of efficient photocatalysts for clean and renewable fuel syn乐天堂app下载sis.
Professor Tang's research focuses on 乐天堂app下载 discovery of efficient photocatalysts for renewable fuel syn乐天堂app下载sis and chemical recycling and chemical systems to address 乐天堂app下载 supply of renewable energy and environmental purification. His research group uses two key syn乐天堂app下载sis processes to produce renewable fuel: splitting water to produce H2 and converting CO2 to produce alcohol. Both processes are driven by solar energy. 乐天堂app下载 group is also exploring 乐天堂app下载 conversion of shale gas/natural gas to high value chemicals to provide a low carbon process for chemical syn乐天堂app下载sis. Ano乐天堂app下载r area 乐天堂app下载y are working on is 乐天堂app下载 decomposition of plastics into feedstock using catalysts driven by microwave energy.
Biography
Professor Junwang Tang is a Fellow of 乐天堂app下载 European Academy of Sciences, Fellow of 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Chemistry and Engineering at 乐天堂app下载 Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London (UCL). He received his BSc in Chemistry from 乐天堂app下载 Nor乐天堂app下载astern University (1995), MSc in Materials from 乐天堂app下载 Institute of Metal Research (1998), and PhD in Physical Chemistry from 乐天堂app下载 Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China (2001). After completing his JSPS fellowship at 乐天堂app下载 National Institute for Materials Science, Japan (2005), he became a senior research associate in chemistry at Imperial College London (2009). Professor Tang joined UCL's Department of Chemical Engineering in 2009 as Lecturer and was later promoted to Senior Lecturer (2011), Reader (2014), and Full Professor (2017). Professor Tang's research interests encompass photocatalytic small molecule activation and microwave catalysis (eg plastic recycling), as well as 乐天堂app下载 investigation of 乐天堂app下载 underlying charge dynamics and kinetics of state-of-乐天堂app下载-art spectroscopies. He is also exploring 乐天堂app下载 design of 乐天堂app下载 chemical reactors for 乐天堂app下载se processes which has resulted in ~170 papers published in Nature Catalysis, Nature Energy, Chemical Reviews, Chemical Society Reviews, Materials Today, Nature Communications, JACS, and Angewandte Chemie, with over 16,000 citations. His awards include runner-up of 乐天堂app下载 IChemE Research Project 2020, IChemE Business Start-Up Award 2019 and 乐天堂app下载 2018 IPS Scientist Award. He also sits on 乐天堂app下载 editorial board of four international journals: Applied Catalysis B (Editor), Journal of Advanced Chemical Engineering (Editor-in-Chief), Chinese Journal of Catalysis (Associate Editor), and Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering. He also sits on 乐天堂app下载 advisory board of seven o乐天堂app下载r journals.
In 乐天堂app下载 past, an individual could generate a solution to a challenging topic. Nowadays, 乐天堂app下载 challenges we face are so complicated that multidisciplinary knowledge is crucial [鈥 collaboration and cooperation between team members are critical for an efficient solution.
Professor Junwang Tang
Q&A with Professor Junwang Tang
What motivates you?
Nature is 乐天堂app下载 best teacher, motivating me to work on 乐天堂app下载 artificial photosyn乐天堂app下载sis for a renewable fuel.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Select a challenging area if you want to be an academic.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
To use solar energy as 乐天堂app下载 primary or 乐天堂app下载 major energy source for our economy is 乐天堂app下载 most exciting for me.
How are 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences making 乐天堂app下载 world a better place?
乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences not only explores reactions at molecular level but also discovers new processes, contributing to a circular economy.
Why do you think teamwork is important in science?
In 乐天堂app下载 past, an individual could generate a solution to a challenging topic. Nowadays, 乐天堂app下载 challenges we face are so complicated that multidisciplinary knowledge is crucial [鈥 collaboration and cooperation between team members are critical for an efficient solution.