Joule Heating for Materials Manufacturing and Chemical Process
Using Joule heating, pulsed heating, and spatial temperature gradients to enable rapid, selective, and energy-efficient chemical transformations.
Joule Heating · C1 Chemistry · Waste Upcycling
Designing catalytic systems for a sustainable future.
We develop advanced materials, chemical platforms, and electrified chemical processes to transform small molecules, renewable feedstocks, and waste resources into fuels, chemicals, and functional materials.
Research
Key research areas
Heterogeneous Synthesis of Fine Chemicals and Polymers from C1 Sources
Developing catalysts and electrochemical systems for coupling carbon and nitrogen feedstocks into value-added products such as urea and amides.
Functional Upcycling of Inert Plastics through Coupled Processes
By coupling PVC dechlorination with CO₂ activation under photocatalytic conditions, our research aims to produce value-added chemicals such as benzoic acid (C₆H₅COOH) and organic chloride (RCl).
People
Lab members
Our group brings together researchers with backgrounds in catalysis, electrochemistry, materials chemistry, and sustainable chemical engineering.
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator
Dr. Ji Yang (杨寄 博士)
Associate Professor
Frontier Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Profile & Contact Information
Position: Tenure-Track Associate Professor
Email: ji.yang@sjtu.edu.cn
Office: Room 503, Building 4, Zhangjiang Advanced Research Insititute, Shanghai Jiaotong University
Links:
Google Scholar /
ORCID
Education & Research Experience
2025-present: Associate Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2024-2024: Postdoc, Yale University (Advisor: Prof. Liangbing Hu)
2022-2024: Postdoc, University of Maryland (Advisor: Prof. Liangbing Hu)
2021-2022: Postdoc, Colorado State University (Advisor: Prof. Eugene Y.-X. Chen)
2020-2021: Postdoc, Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, Germany (Advisor: Prof. Matthias Beller)
2017-2020: Ph.D., Leibniz Institute for Catalysis, Germany (Advisor: Prof. Matthias Beller)
2014-2017: M.S., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry & ShanghaiTech University (Advisor: Prof. Zheng Huang)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Yinghao Liu (刘滢昊)
Ph.D., Jilin University, 2024
Ph.D. Students
2024 Ph.D. Student
Guangzheng Tian (田广政)
M.S., Shanghai University, 2023
2024 Ph.D. Student
Baoxing Xie (谢宝星)
M.S., University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2024
2025 Ph.D. Student
Menglong Ma (马梦龙)
M.S., Beijing University of Technology, 2024
2025 Ph.D. Student
Jinping Xing (邢金萍)
M.E., East China University of Science and Technology, 2025
2026 Ph.D. Student
Yiming Zhang (张益铭)
M.S., The University of Queensland, 2024
2026 Ph.D. Student
Xiaodong Liu (刘晓栋)
M.S., Shanghai University, 2024
Publications
Selected publications
2026
Membrane Reactors for Ammonia Production: Insights into Ammonia-Separative Membranes, Synthesis Catalysts, and Their Integration
2025
Electrified vapour deposition at ultrahigh temperature and atmospheric pressure for nanomaterials synthesis
2025
2019
2022
2021
Efficient Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation of 1,3-Dienes: Selective Synthesis of Adipates and Other Aliphatic Diesters
2020
Direct and Selective Synthesis of Adipic and Other Dicarboxylic Acids by Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation of Allylic Alcohols
2023
Industrially applied and relevant transformations of 1,3-butadiene using homogeneous catalysts
2022
A general synthesis of aromatic amides via palladium-catalyzed direct aminocarbonylation of aryl chlorides
2021
A General and Highly Selective Palladium-Catalyzed Hydroamidation of 1,3-Diynes
2021
Palladium-Catalyzed Cascade Carbonylation to α,β-Unsaturated Piperidones via Selective Cleavage of Carbon–Carbon Triple Bonds
2021
Palladium-Catalyzed Domino Aminocarbonylation of Alkynols: Direct and Selective Synthesis of Itaconimides
2020
A general platinum-catalyzed alkoxycarbonylation of olefins
2020
Tailored Palladium Catalysts for Selective Synthesis of Conjugated Enynes by Monocarbonylation of 1,3-Diynes
2020
Tuning the Selectivity of Palladium Catalysts for Hydroformylation and Semihydrogenation of Alkynes: Experimental and Mechanistic Studies
2020
Ligand-Controlled Palladium-Catalyzed Carbonylation of Alkynols: Highly Selective Synthesis of α-Methylene-β-Lactones
2019
Ligand controlled cobalt catalyzed regiodivergent 1,2-hydroboration of 1,3-dienes
2019
Pd-Catalyzed Selective Carbonylation of gem-Difluoroalkenes: A Practical Synthesis of Difluoromethylated Esters
2019
Stereoselective Synthesis of Highly Substituted Conjugated Dienes via Pd-Catalyzed Carbonylation of 1,3-Diynes
2018
Palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidative carbonylation of alkynes with amines: a general access to substituted maleimides
2016
Cobalt-Catalyzed Alkyne Hydrosilylation and Sequential Vinylsilane Hydroboration with Markovnikov Selectivity