Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) Seminar Series
Friday, April 3, 2026 | 12-1pm CT
Ryan Hall, 4003 | 2190 Campus Drive (Virtual Option via Zoom)
Join the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) for the Seminar Series. Hear from a postdoctoral scholar during a presentation. This month's speaker is Haotian Wang.
About the Presentation
Speaker: Haotian Wang
Title: "Electrolyzers and Electrolysis Beyond Molecular Transformations"
Abstract:
Electrolyzers have been refined to reach a minimized gap between the electrodes, exemplified by the “zero gap” membrane electrode assembly in water electrolyzers. In this talk I will discuss the design and development of the Porous Solid Electrolyte (PSE) reactor, where this gap is re-opened to fully leverage ionic transport for broader applications beyond molecular transformations in electrolysis.
Bio:
Dr. Haotian Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University. He serves the inaugural Dean Fellow for Sustainability in the School of Engineering and Computing. He obtained his PhD degree in the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford University in 2016 and his Bachelor of Science in Physics at the University of Science and Technology of China in 2011. In 2016 he received the Rowland Fellowship and began his independent research career at Harvard as a principal investigator. He was awarded the 2025 Welch Foundation Norman Hackerman Award, 2024 Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering Rising Star Award, 2021 Sloan Fellow, 2020 Packard Fellow, 2019 CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30, highly cited researchers, etc. He serves as the associate editor of Nano Letters. He is the cofounder and chief scientist of Solidec, a carbon capture and chemicals and fuels production company. His research group has been focused on developing novel nanomaterials for energy and environmental applications including energy storage, chemical/fuel generation, and water treatment.
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The mission of the Center for Catalysis and Surface Science (CCSS) is to promote interdisciplinary research fundamental to the discovery, synthesis, and understanding of catalysts and catalytic reactions essential to modern society. As a part of the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy, CCSS applies fundamental advances in catalysis science towards applications in alternative fuels, abatement of harmful emissions, resource recovery concepts, new processing routes, and many other strategies towards making chemicals more sustainable.
Jim Puricelli
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