Dr Yong Zhao

Dr Yong Zhao

Lecturer (DECRA Fellow)

School of Engineering

Career Summary

Biography

Dr. Yong Zhao is a Lecturer in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His research focuses on the electrochemical conversion and engineering of small molecules such as CO₂, CO, O₂, N₂, and H₂, with a particular emphasis on the design of energy-efficient catalysts, electrode interfaces, and integrated reaction systems. His group aims to address critical challenges in the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity, water, and carbon- or nitrogen-based feedstocks.

Dr. Zhao earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Wollongong in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Gordon Wallace. He then conducted postdoctoral research from 2019 to 2022 at the University of New South Wales, the University of Sydney, and the University of Toronto, where he broadened his expertise in electrocatalysis and reaction engineering. Following his postdoctoral training, he joined the CSIRO Energy Centre as a Research Scientist, where he established the electrocatalysis laboratory and led multiple projects focused on integrated CO₂ capture and electrochemical conversion.

Dr. Zhao has published 70 peer-reviewed articles in high-impact journals such as Nat. Synth., Nat. Energy, Nat. Catal., Chem. Soc. Rev., Joule, Angew. Chem., Adv. Mater., and Energy Environ. Sci. His contributions have been recognized through several prestigious awards, including the ARC DECRA Fellowship (2025) and the International Hydrogen Research Collaboration Fellowship (Round 3), the latter of which he respectfully declined due to strategic considerations. He is an Associated Investigator within the ARC Centre of Excellence for Green Electrochemical Transformation of Carbon Dioxide (GETCO2). He also serves on the Young Editorial Boards of Carbon Energy, Carbon Neutralization, Nano Research, ChemPhyMater, and the Journal of Electrochemistry.

Dr. Zhao welcomes highly motivated students and researchers with backgrounds in electrochemistry, materials chemistry, spectroscopy, chemical engineering, materials engineering, and device engineering. Opportunities are available for postgraduate research students and visiting researchers. Interested candidates are encouraged to contact Dr. Zhao directly via email.


Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wollongong

Keywords

  • CO2 reduction
  • COFs
  • Electrocatalysis
  • Energy storage
  • Nanocrystals
  • Polymers

Languages

  • Mandarin (Mother)
  • English (Fluent)

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
400404 Electrochemical energy storage and conversion 40
401807 Nanomaterials 30
401605 Functional materials 30

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title Organisation / Department
Lecturer (DECRA Fellow) University of Newcastle
School of Engineering
Australia

Academic appointment

Dates Title Organisation / Department
13/8/2021 - 30/12/2022 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Toronto
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Canada
5/4/2021 - 26/7/2021 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Sydney
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Australia
6/5/2019 - 1/3/2021 Postdoctoral Fellow University of New South Wales
School of Chemistry
Australia
19/2/2019 - 30/4/2019 Research Assistant University of Wollongong
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute
Australia

Professional appointment

Dates Title Organisation / Department
16/1/2023 - 27/6/2025 Research Scientist CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Energy

Awards

Award

Year Award
2024 Metrohm-EDRACI Young Electrochemist Award (finalist)
Metrohm Australia & New Zealand

Member

Year Award
2024 Young Editorial Board of ChemPhyMater
KeAi Publishing
2024 Young Editorial Board of Carbon Energy
John Wiley and Sons
2024 Young Editorial Board of Carbon Neutralization
John Wiley and Sons
2023 Young Editorial Board of Nano Research
Tsinghua University Press

Teaching

Code Course Role Duration
CHEM3410 Energy and Materials – Electrocatalysis
College of Engineering, Science, & Environment (CESE), The University of Newcastle
Guest Lecturer 10/9/2024 - 11/9/2024
SQ015139EH Introduction to Electrocatalysis
Shandong University
Summer School Lecturer 10/7/2023 - 14/7/2023
Edit

Publications

For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.


Journal article (73 outputs)

Year Citation Altmetrics Link
2026 Wang C, Qi M, Zheng Z, Zheng X, Li S, Li P, Ma T, Johannessen B, Cao Y, Yi J, Yu H, Zeng J, Zhao Y, 'Efficient CO electrosynthesis in hydroxide-mediated reactive capture systems through catalyst and microenvironment design', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 383 (2026)
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2025.126068
2025 Song Q, Li F, Xu A, Zhang C, Xie Y, Mao J, Zhang Y, Zhao Y, 'Proton-Tuned Surface Chemistry Promotes Multicarbon Formation in Acidic CO2Electroreduction', Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 16, 10499-10505 (2025)
DOI 10.1021/acs.jpclett.5c02529
2025 Yang W, Zhao Y, Chen Y, Ren H, Sun J, Shi Z, Jin X, Zhang Z, Wang X, 'Constraining CO2 Coverage on Copper Promotes CO2 Electroreduction to Multi-carbon Products in Strong Acid', Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 64 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/anie.202422082
2025 Qi M, Zachman MJ, Li Y, Zeng Y, Hwang S, Liang J, Lyons M, Zhao Q, Mao Y, Shao Y, Feng Z, Wang Z, Zhao Y, Wu G, 'Highly dense atomic Fe-Ni dual metal sites for efficient CO2 to CO electrolyzers at industrial current densities', Energy and Environmental Science, 18, 5643-5656 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d5ee01081k
2025 Zhang C, Chen C, Mao J, Wang D, Luan P, Song Q, Xie Y, Wang Y, Zhao Y, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, 'Boosting syngas production in photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction through organic molecule interaction with copper photoanodes', Nano Research, 18 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.26599/NR.2025.94907306
2025 Wang C, Jiang K, Yu H, Li S, Zhao Y, Zheng Z, Liu H, Xia X, Zhao P, Li Y, Liu H, Yang S, Yang Y, Zhang W, Zheng H, Li F, Li K, 'Review of electrochemical carbon dioxide capture towards practical application', Next Materials, 8 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.nxmate.2025.100660
2025 Shayesteh Zeraati A, Li F, Alkayyali T, Dorakhan R, Shirzadi E, Arabyarmohammadi F, O’Brien CP, Gabardo CM, Kong J, Ozden A, Zargartalebi M, Zhao Y, Fan L, Papangelakis P, Kim D, Park S, Miao RK, Edwards JP, Young D, Ip AH, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Carbon- and energy-efficient ethanol electrosynthesis via interfacial cation enrichment', Nature Synthesis, 4, 75-83 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s44160-024-00662-x
2025 Xu Y, Lee CY, Zhao Y, Yang Y, Wang X, Chen Z, Wagner K, Pang WK, Wallace GG, Wang C, 'Modulating the Cu (111) facet for selective CO2 electroreduction via tuning the oxidation state of polyaniline', Green Chemistry, 27, 11825-11834 (2025)
DOI 10.1039/d5gc02285a
2025 Li P, Mao Y, Shin H, Yang Q, Cheng X, Li Y, Li K, Yu H, Mulder R, Pang WK, Jin H, Zhao Y, Zheng Z, Finch E, Hearn K, Jia B, Waterhouse GIN, Wang Z, Ma T, 'Tandem amine scrubbing and CO2 electrolysis via direct piperazine carbamate reduction', Nature Energy (2025)
DOI 10.1038/s41560-025-01869-8
2025 Yang W, Zhao Y, Chen Y, Ren H, Sun J, Shi Z, Jin X, Zhang Z, Wang X, 'Constraining CO2 Coverage on Copper Promotes CO2 Electroreduction to Multi-carbon Products in Strong Acid', Angewandte Chemie, 137 (2025)
DOI 10.1002/ange.202422082
2025 Miao RK, Fan M, Wang N, Zhao Y, Li F, Liu M, Arabyarmohammadi F, Liang Y, Ni W, Xie K, Chen Y, Sun P, Huang JE, Wu J, Kim J, O’Brien CP, Xiao YC, Guo Z, Papangelakis P, Shayesteh Zeraati A, Xu Y, Dinh CT, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'CO electrolysers with 51% energy efficiency towards C2+ using porous separators', Nature Energy (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41560-025-01846-1
2025 Sun Q, Jia C, Lu H, Yang M, Liu R, Villamanca DM, Zhao Y, Zhao C, 'Ampere-level electroreduction of CO2 and CO', Chemical Society Reviews, 54, 6973-7016 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d4cs00863d
2025 Sun J, Yang W, Yu B, Liu Y, Zhao Y, Cheng G, Zhang Z, 'Mechanistic understanding of the antimony-bismuth alloy promoted electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formate', Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 13, 5661-5669 (2025) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d4ta08653h
2024 Xu Y, Zhao Y, Kochubei A, Lee CY, Wagner P, Chen Z, Jiang Y, Yan W, Wallace GG, Wang C, 'Copper/Polyaniline Interfaces Confined CO2 Electroreduction for Selective Hydrocarbon Production', Chemsuschem, 17 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/cssc.202400209
2024 Zhao Y, Shi Z, Li F, Jia C, Sun Q, Su Z, Zhao C, 'Deciphering Mesopore-Augmented CO2 Electroreduction over Atomically Dispersed Fe-N-doped Carbon Catalysts', ACS Catalysis, 14, 3926-3932 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acscatal.3c05144
2024 Liu S, Zhang J, Li F, Edwards JP, Xiao YC, Kim D, Papangelakis P, Kim J, Elder D, De Luna P, Fan M, Lee G, Miao RK, Ghosh T, Yan Y, Chen Y, Zhao Y, Guo Z, Tian C, Li P, Xu Y, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Direct air capture of CO2via cyclic viologen electrocatalysis', Energy and Environmental Science, 17, 1266-1278 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d3ee03024e
2024 Xiao YC, Sun SS, Zhao Y, Miao RK, Fan M, Lee G, Chen Y, Gabardo CM, Yu Y, Qiu C, Guo Z, Wang X, Papangelakis P, Huang JE, Li F, O’Brien CP, Kim J, Han K, Corbett PJ, Howe JY, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Reactive capture of CO2 via amino acid', Nature Communications, 15 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-51908-3
2024 Chen Y, Li XY, Chen Z, Ozden A, Huang JE, Ou P, Dong J, Zhang J, Tian C, Lee BH, Wang X, Liu S, Qu Q, Wang S, Xu Y, Miao RK, Zhao Y, Liu Y, Qiu C, Abed J, Liu H, Shin H, Wang D, Li Y, Sinton D, Sargent EH, 'Efficient multicarbon formation in acidic CO2 reduction via tandem electrocatalysis', Nature Nanotechnology, 19, 311-318 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41565-023-01543-8
2024 Pan W, Yuan J, Wang P, Wang J, Zhao Y, Wang G, Yu H, Wen Z, 'Efficient ultra-low voltage electrolysis of CO2 coupling with hydrazine oxidation degradation', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 351 (2024) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2024.124011
2023 Sun Q, Zhao Y, Tan X, Jia C, Su Z, Meyer Q, Ahmed MI, Zhao C, 'Atomically Dispersed Cu-Au Alloy for Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Monoxide to Acetate', ACS CATALYSIS, 13, 5689-5696 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acscatal.2c06145
Citations Scopus - 3Web of Science - 19
Co-authors Muhammadibrar Ahmed
2023 Vijayakumar A, Zhao Y, Wang K, Chao Y, Chen H, Wang C, Wallace GG, 'A Nitrogen-Doped Porous Carbon Supported Copper Catalyst from a Scalable One-Step Method for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction', Chemelectrochem, 10 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/celc.202200817
2023 Zhao Y, Hao L, Ozden A, Liu S, Miao RK, Ou P, Alkayyali T, Zhang S, Ning J, Liang Y, Xu Y, Fan M, Chen Y, Huang JE, Xie K, Zhang J, O’Brien CP, Li F, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Conversion of CO2 to multicarbon products in strong acid by controlling the catalyst microenvironment', Nature Synthesis, 2, 403-412 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s44160-022-00234-x
2023 Xu Y, Liu S, Edwards JP, Xiao YC, Zhao Y, Miao RK, Fan M, Chen Y, Huang JE, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Regeneration of direct air CO2 capture liquid via alternating electrocatalysis', Joule, 7, 2107-2117 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.joule.2023.07.011
2023 Xiao YC, Gabardo CM, Liu S, Lee G, Zhao Y, O’Brien CP, Miao RK, Xu Y, Edwards JP, Fan M, Huang JE, Li J, Papangelakis P, Alkayyali T, Rasouli AS, Zhang J, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Direct carbonate electrolysis into pure syngas', Ees Catalysis, 1, 54-61 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d2ey00046f
2023 Fan M, Miao RK, Ou P, Xu Y, Lin ZY, Lee TJ, Hung SF, Xie K, Huang JE, Ni W, Li J, Zhao Y, Ozden A, O’Brien CP, Chen Y, Xiao YC, Liu S, Wicks J, Wang X, Abed J, Shirzadi E, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Single-site decorated copper enables energy- and carbon-efficient CO2 methanation in acidic conditions', Nature Communications, 14 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-38935-2
2023 Miao RK, Wang N, Hung SF, Huang WY, Zhang J, Zhao Y, Ou P, Wang S, Edwards JP, Tian C, Han J, Xu Y, Fan M, Huang JE, Xiao YC, Ip AH, Liang H, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Electrified Cement Production via Anion-Mediated Electrochemical Calcium Extraction', ACS Energy Letters, 8, 4694-4701 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c01668
2023 Gui J, Li L, Yu B, Wang D, Yang B, Gu Q, Zhao Y, Zhu Y, Zhang Y, 'Modulation of the Coordination Environment of Copper for Stable CO2 Electroreduction with Tunable Selectivity', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 15, 25516-25523 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acsami.3c02859
2023 Liang Y, Zhao J, Yang Y, Hung SF, Li J, Zhang S, Zhao Y, Zhang A, Wang C, Appadoo D, Zhang L, Geng Z, Li F, Zeng J, 'Stabilizing copper sites in coordination polymers toward efficient electrochemical C-C coupling', Nature Communications, 14 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-35993-4
2023 Jia C, Zhao Y, Song S, Sun Q, Meyer Q, Liu S, Shen Y, Zhao C, 'Highly Ordered Hierarchical Porous Single-Atom Fe Catalyst with Promoted Mass Transfer for Efficient Electroreduction of CO2', Advanced Energy Materials, 13 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/aenm.202302007
2023 Lee G, Rasouli AS, Lee BH, Zhang J, Won DH, Xiao YC, Edwards JP, Lee MG, Jung ED, Arabyarmohammadi F, Liu H, Grigioni I, Abed J, Alkayyali T, Liu S, Xie K, Miao RK, Park S, Dorakhan R, Zhao Y, O'Brien CP, Chen Z, Sinton D, Sargent E, 'CO2 electroreduction to multicarbon products from carbonate capture liquid', Joule, 7, 1277-1288 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.joule.2023.05.003
2023 Fan M, Huang JE, Miao RK, Mao Y, Ou P, Li F, Li XY, Cao Y, Zhang Z, Zhang J, Yan Y, Ozden A, Ni W, Wang Y, Zhao Y, Chen Z, Khatir B, O’Brien CP, Xu Y, Xiao YC, Waterhouse GIN, Golovin K, Wang Z, Sargent EH, Sinton D, 'Cationic-group-functionalized electrocatalysts enable stable acidic CO2 electrolysis', Nature Catalysis, 6, 763-772 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1038/s41929-023-01003-5
2023 Tian C, Li XY, Nelson VE, Ou P, Zhou D, Chen Y, Zhang J, Huang JE, Wang N, Yu J, Liu H, Liu C, Yang Y, Peng T, Zhao Y, Lee BH, Wang S, Shirzadi E, Chen Z, Miao RK, Sinton D, Sargent EH, 'Paired Electrosynthesis of H2 and Acetic Acid at A/cm2 Current Densities', ACS Energy Letters, 8, 4096-4103 (2023) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acsenergylett.3c01327
2022 Sun Q, Jia C, Zhao Y, Zhao C, 'Single atom-based catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction', Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 43, 1547-1597 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/S1872-2067(21)64000-7
2022 Wei Q, Qin J, Jia G, Zhao Y, Guo Z, Cheng G, Ma W, Yang W, Zhang Z, 'Dealloying-Derived Nanoporous Bismuth for Selective CO2Electroreduction to Formate', Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 13, 9058-9065 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c02570
2022 Yang W, Si C, Zhao Y, Wei Q, Jia G, Cheng G, Qin J, Zhang Z, 'Activating inert antimony for selective CO2 electroreduction to formate via bimetallic interactions', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 316 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2022.121619
2022 Xia T, Yang Y, Song Q, Luo M, Xue M, Ostrikov K, Zhao Y, Li F, 'In situ characterisation for nanoscale structure-performance studies in electrocatalysis', Nanoscale Horizons, 8, 146-157 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d2nh00447j
2022 Sun Q, Zhao Y, Ren W, Zhao C, 'Electroreduction of low concentration CO2 at atomically dispersed Ni-N-C catalysts with nanoconfined ionic liquids', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 304 (2022) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120963
2021 Jia C, Li S, Zhao Y, Hocking RK, Ren W, Chen X, Su Z, Yang W, Wang Y, Zheng S, Pan F, Zhao C, 'Nitrogen Vacancy Induced Coordinative Reconstruction of Single-Atom Ni Catalyst for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction', ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, 31 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/adfm.202107072
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 136
Co-authors Sam Chen
2021 Jia C, Tan X, Zhao Y, Ren W, Li Y, Su Z, Smith SC, Zhao C, 'Sulfur-Dopant-Promoted Electroreduction of CO2 over Coordinatively Unsaturated Ni-N2 Moieties', Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 60, 23342-23348 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/anie.202109373
2021 Vijayakumar A, Zhao Y, Wang K, Chao Y, Chen Z, Wang C, Wallace GG, 'The length dependent selectivity on aligned Cu nanowires for C1 products from CO2 Electroreduction', Electrochimica Acta, 394 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.139099
2021 Sun Q, Ren W, Zhao Y, Zhao C, 'Gram-scale synthesis of single-atom metal-N-CNT catalysts for highly efficient CO2electroreduction', Chemical Communications, 57, 1514-1517 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/d0cc07263j
2021 Zhang X, Liu C, Zhao Y, Li L, Chen Y, Raziq F, Qiao L, Guo SX, Wang C, Wallace GG, Bond AM, Zhang J, 'Atomic nickel cluster decorated defect-rich copper for enhanced C2 product selectivity in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 291 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.120030
2021 Zhao Y, Hao L, Ning J, Zhu H, Vijayakumar A, Wang C, Wallace GG, 'A versatile transition metal ion-binding motif derived from covalent organic framework for efficient CO2 electroreduction', Applied Catalysis B Environmental, 291 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.apcatb.2021.119915
2021 Liu Y, Zhao Y, Zhao Y, Jiang P, 'Cu Decorated Rh/TiO2 Catalyst for Selective Hydrogenation of Phenylacetylene to Styrene', Chemnanomat, 7, 1213-1220 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/cnma.202100286
2021 Song K, Liu J, Dai H, Zhao Y, Sun S, Zhang J, Qin C, Yan P, Guo F, Wang C, Cao Y, Li S, Chen W, 'Atomically dispersed Ni induced by ultrahigh N-doped carbon enables stable sodium storage', Chem, 7, 2684-2694 (2021) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.chempr.2021.06.008
2020 Yang W, Zhao Y, Chen S, Ren W, Chen X, Jia C, Su Z, Wang Y, Zhao C, 'Defective Indium/Indium Oxide Heterostructures for Highly Selective Carbon Dioxide Electrocatalysis', INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 59, 12437-12444 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.0c01544
Citations Scopus - 6Web of Science - 48
Co-authors Sam Chen
2020 Ahmed MI, Liu C, Zhao Y, Ren W, Chen X, Chen S, Zhao C, 'Metal-Sulfur Linkages Achieved by Organic Tethering of Ruthenium Nanocrystals for Enhanced Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction', ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 59, 21465-21469 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/anie.202009435
Citations Scopus - 6Web of Science - 61
Co-authors Muhammadibrar Ahmed, Sam Chen
2020 Zhao Y, Tan X, Yang W, Jia C, Chen X, Ren W, Smith SC, Zhao C, 'Surface Reconstruction of Ultrathin Palladium Nanosheets during Electrocatalytic CO2Reduction', ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 59, 21493-21498 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/anie.202009616
Citations Scopus - 1Web of Science - 123
Co-authors Sam Chen
2020 Ren W, Tan X, Chen X, Zhang G, Zhao K, Yang W, Jia C, Zhao Y, Smith SC, Zhao C, 'Confinement of Ionic Liquids at Single-Ni-Sites Boost Electroreduction of CO2 in Aqueous Electrolytes', ACS CATALYSIS, 10, 13171-13178 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1021/acscatal.0c03873
Citations Scopus - 8Web of Science - 63
Co-authors Sam Chen
2020 Vijayakumar A, Zhao Y, Zou J, Wang K, Lee CY, MacFarlane DR, Wang C, Wallace GG, 'A Self-Assembled CO2 Reduction Electrocatalyst: Posy-Bouquet-Shaped Gold-Polyaniline Core-Shell Nanocomposite', Chemsuschem, 13, 5023-5030 (2020) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/cssc.202001248
2020 Zhao Y, Tan X, Yang W, Jia C, Chen X, Ren W, Smith SC, Zhao C, 'Surface Reconstruction of Ultrathin Palladium Nanosheets during Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction', Angewandte Chemie, 132, 21677-21682 (2020)
DOI 10.1002/ange.202009616
Co-authors Sam Chen
2019 Yang W, Chen S, Ren W, Zhao Y, Chen X, Jia C, Liu J, Zhao C, 'Nanostructured amalgams with tuneable silver-mercury bonding sites for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide into formate and carbon monoxide', JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, 7, 15907-15912 (2019) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c9ta03611c
Citations Scopus - 4Web of Science - 40
Co-authors Sam Chen
2019 Vijayakumar A, Zhao Y, Wang C, Wallace G, 'A Gold-Polyaniline Nanocomposites Catalyst with a Posy Bouquet Structure for Efficient Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2.', ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2019-01, 1579-1579 (2019)
DOI 10.1149/ma2019-01/31/1579
2019 Zhang Y, Zhao Y, Wang C, Wei Z, Yang J, Ma J, 'Zn-Doped Cu(100) facet with efficient catalytic ability for the CO2 electroreduction to ethylene', Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 21, 21341-21348 (2019) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c9cp03692j
2018 Zhao Y, Wang C, Liu Y, MacFarlane DR, Wallace GG, 'Engineering Surface Amine Modifiers of Ultrasmall Gold Nanoparticles Supported on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Improved Electrochemical CO2 Reduction', Advanced Energy Materials, 8 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/aenm.201801400
2018 Ge Y, Wang C, Zhao Y, Liu Y, Chao Y, Zheng T, Wallace GG, 'An Electrosynthesized 3D Porous Molybdenum Sulfide/Graphene Film with Enhanced Electrochemical Performance for Lithium Storage', Small, 14 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/smll.201703096
2018 Ge Y, Pozo-Gonzalo C, Zhao Y, Jia X, Kerr R, Wang C, Howlett PC, Wallace GG, 'Towards thermally stable high performance lithium-ion batteries: The combination of a phosphonium cation ionic liquid and a 3D porous molybdenum disulfide/graphene electrode', Chemical Communications, 54, 5338-5341 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c8cc01460d
2018 Zhao Y, Liang J, Ma J, Wang C, Wallace G, 'Tunable and Efficient Tin Modified Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofibers for CO2 Electroreduction', ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2018-01, 2235-2235 (2018)
DOI 10.1149/ma2018-01/37/2235
2018 Zhao Y, Liang J, Wang C, Ma J, Wallace GG, 'Tunable and Efficient Tin Modified Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanofibers for Electrochemical Reduction of Aqueous Carbon Dioxide', Advanced Energy Materials, 8 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/aenm.201702524
2018 Zhu Z, Yin H, He CT, Al-Mamun M, Liu P, Jiang L, Zhao Y, Wang Y, Yang HG, Tang Z, Wang D, Chen XM, Zhao H, 'Ultrathin Transition Metal Dichalcogenide/3d Metal Hydroxide Hybridized Nanosheets to Enhance Hydrogen Evolution Activity', Advanced Materials, 30 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1002/adma.201801171
2018 Chao Y, Ge Y, Zhao Y, Jiang J, Wang C, Qin C, Vijayakumar A, Yu C, Wallace GG, 'Tuning the structure of three dimensional nanostructured molybdenum disulfide/nitrogen-doped carbon composite for high lithium storage', Electrochimica Acta, 291, 197-205 (2018) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.08.148
2017 Wang Y, Zhang X, Li X, Li X, Zhao Y, Wei H, Liu Y, Jiang P, Liang M, 'Highly dispersed ultrasmall Ni(OH)2 aggregated particles on a conductive support as a supercapacitor electrode with superior performance', Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 490, 252-258 (2017) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.11.072
2017 Lu Z, Chao Y, Ge Y, Foroughi J, Zhao Y, Wang C, Long H, Wallace GG, 'High-performance hybrid carbon nanotube fibers for wearable energy storage', Nanoscale, 9, 5063-5071 (2017) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c7nr00408g
2017 Lee CY, Zhao Y, Wang C, Mitchell DRG, Wallace GG, 'Rapid formation of self-organised Ag nanosheets with high efficiency and selectivity in CO2 electroreduction to CO', Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 1, 1023-1027 (2017) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c7se00069c
2016 Zhao Y, Wang C, Wallace GG, 'Tin nanoparticles decorated copper oxide nanowires for selective electrochemical reduction of aqueous CO2 to CO', Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 4, 10710-10718 (2016) [C1]
DOI 10.1039/c6ta04155h
2016 Li XJ, Song ZW, Zhao Y, Wang Y, Zhao XC, Liang M, Chu WG, Jiang P, Liu Y, 'Vertically porous nickel thin film supported Mn3O4 for enhanced energy storage performance', Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 483, 17-25 (2016) [C1]
DOI 10.1016/j.jcis.2016.08.006
2015 Li XJ, Zhao Y, Chu WG, Wang Y, Li ZJ, Jiang P, Zhao XC, Liang M, Liu Y, 'Vertically aligned carbon nanotube@MnO2 nanosheet arrays grown on carbon cloth for high performance flexible electrodes of supercapacitors', Rsc Advances, 5, 77437-77442 (2015)
DOI 10.1039/c5ra15146e
2015 Zhao Y, Meng Y, Wu H, Wang Y, Wei Z, Li X, Jiang P, 'In situ anchoring uniform MnO2 nanosheets on three-dimensional macroporous graphene thin-films for supercapacitor electrodes', Rsc Advances, 5, 90307-90312 (2015)
DOI 10.1039/c5ra18691a
2014 Zhao Y, Jiang P, 'MnO2 nanosheets grown on the ZnO-nanorod-modified carbon fibers for supercapacitor electrode materials', Colloids and Surfaces A Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 444, 232-239 (2014)
DOI 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2013.12.067
2014 Zhao Y, Meng Y, Jiang P, 'Carbon@MnO2 core-shell nanospheres for flexible high-performance supercapacitor electrode materials', Journal of Power Sources, 259, 219-226 (2014)
DOI 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.02.086
2013 Zhao Y, Jiang P, Xie SS, 'Short communication ZnO-template-mediated synthesis of three-dimensional coral-like MnO2 nanostructure for supercapacitors', Journal of Power Sources, 239, 393-398 (2013)
DOI 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.03.176
2013 Yu A, Zhao Y, Jiang P, Wang ZL, 'A nanogenerator as a self-powered sensor for measuring the vibration spectrum of a drum membrane', Nanotechnology, 24 (2013)
DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/24/5/055501
2012 Wang S-P, Yu B, Cong H-L, Zhao Y, Wang W-W, 'Preparation of Narrowly Dispersed Nanospheres Based on Diazonium-Polystyrene and Their Stable Micropatterns', Integrated Ferroelectrics, 135, 103-109 (2012)
DOI 10.1080/10584587.2012.685414
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Grants and Funding

Summary

Number of grants 4
Total funding $699,479

Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.


20252 grants / $527,731

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)$487,731

Energy and carbon-efficient CO2 electrochemical reduction in strong acid

Funding body: ARC (Australian Research Council)

Funding body ARC (Australian Research Council)
Project Team

Yong Zhao

Scheme Discovery Early Career Research Award
Role Lead
Funding Start 2025
Funding Finish 2028
GNo
Type Of Funding C1200 - Aust Competitive - ARC
Category 1200
UON N

International Hydrogen Research Collaboration Fellowship$40,000

Electrochemical hydrogenation of captured CO2 into methanol using molecular catalyst

Funding body: Australian Government

Funding body Australian Government
Project Team

Yong Zhao

Scheme International Hydrogen Research Collaboration Program
Role Lead
Funding Start 2025
Funding Finish 2025
GNo
Type Of Funding C1500 - Aust Competitive - Commonwealth Other
Category 1500
UON N

20241 grants / $32,784

Australian Synchrotron X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy Beamtime$32,784

Deciphering the coordination structures of atomically dispersed Ni and Co with ultrahigh loading on carbon matrix for integrated CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion

Funding body: ANSTO

Funding body ANSTO
Project Team

Yong Zhao, Zhi Zheng, Cheng Wang, Bernt Johannessen

Scheme Australian Synchrotron Beamline Application
Role Lead
Funding Start 2024
Funding Finish 2024
GNo
Type Of Funding C1500 - Aust Competitive - Commonwealth Other
Category 1500
UON N

20231 grants / $138,964

CSIRO Energy Capital Bids$138,964

Multichannel electrochemical analysis system, gas detection system, and in situ FTIR spectroelectrochemistry system for integrated CO2 capture and electrolysis

Funding body: CSIRO

Funding body CSIRO
Project Team

Yong Zhao

Scheme CSIRO Research Funds
Role Lead
Funding Start 2023
Funding Finish 2024
GNo
Type Of Funding C2120 - Aust Commonwealth - Other
Category 2120
UON N
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Research Supervision

Number of supervisions

Completed5
Current0

Past Supervision

Year Level of Study Research Title Program Supervisor Type
2025 Masters CO2 electroreduction to multicarbon products in acidic media
An international collaboration project based at the Jiangnan University
Chemical Sciences, Jiangnan University Co-Supervisor
2024 PhD Electrolyzer scaling up study for integrated CO2 capture and electrolysis
A visiting student project based at the CSIRO Energy Centre
Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto Co-Supervisor
2024 Honours Polymer-based additives improve CO2 conversion in an integrated system
A visiting student project based at the CSIRO Energy Centre
Chemical Sciences, The University of Newcastle Co-Supervisor
2024 PhD Integrated CO2 capture and electrolysis for CO production
A visiting student project based at the CSIRO Energy Centre
Chemical Sciences, University of Science And Technology of China Co-Supervisor
2023 Masters Conversion of syngas from electrochemical CO2 reduction to fuels
A visiting student project based at the CSIRO Energy Centre
Chemical Engineering, University of Groningen Co-Supervisor
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Research Opportunities

PhD scholarship for electrochemical CO2 capture and conversion

This project aims to develop novel catalysts and reaction systems for energy-efficient electrochemical conversion of captured CO2 into liquid fuels.

PHD

School of Engineering

3/11/2025 - 6/11/2028

https://www.newcastle.edu.au/study/research/phd-scholarships/phd-scholarships/electrochemical-co2-capture-and-conversion

Contact

Doctor Yong Zhao
University of Newcastle
School of Engineering
yong.zhao@newcastle.edu.au

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Dr Yong Zhao

Position

Lecturer (DECRA Fellow)
School of Engineering
College of Engineering, Science and Environment

Contact Details

Email yong.zhao@newcastle.edu.au
Phone 0249216078
Mobile 0452180711
Link Twitter
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