• Introduction
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Funding
  • Publications
  • Awards
  • Honor Reward
  • Admission
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Sun Zhenyu

Professor

Department： College of Chemical Engineering

Fields: Electrocatalysis for CO2 reduction reaction, N2 reduction reaction as well as design of electrolytes for redox flow batteries

Email: sunzy@mail.buct.edu.cn

Office: Chemical Engineering Building A501

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5788-9339

DBLP:

10 Visits

Introduction

1. EDUCATION

2003-2006       Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry under Prof. Buxing Han (Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry), Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

1999-2002       M.S. in Material Sciences under Prof. Lu Qi, Tianjin Polytechnic University, China

1995-1999       B.S. in Polymer Science and Engineering, Tianjin Polytechnic University, China

                        

2. EMPLOYMENT

2015-present  Full Professor, Director of Department of Materials and Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China

2014-2015      Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. S. C. Edman Tsang, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, U.K.

2011-2014      Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Wolfgang Schuhmann and Prof. Martin Muhler, Analytical Chemistry - Center for Electrochemical Sciences (CES), Heterogene Katalyse am Lehrstuhl für Technische Chemie, Ruhr Univ. Bochum, Germany

2009-2011      Associate Professor, Laboratory of Colloid, Interface and Thermodynamics, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2006-2008      Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Jonathan N. Coleman, Department of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland

3. ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

2017               Secretary of the “Joint NSFC-RSC Symposium on Sustainable Chemistry and Process” held in Beijing, Nov. 4-5

2021                Secretary of the “Chemical Engineering Frontiers Forum of 2021 Chemical Engineering Society Annual Meeting” held in Shenyang, Sep. 4-5

2023                Secretary of the “Chemical Engineering Frontiers Forum of 2023 Chemical Engineering Society Annual Meeting” held in Guangzhou, Nov. 27-29

 

4. EDITOR ACTIVITIES

2024   Editorial board member of Sustainable Chemistry for Energy Materials

2023   Associate Editor of RSC Sustainability

2023   Academic Editor of The Innovation Materials

2021   Editorial board member of Chinese Journal of Catalysis

2021   Editorial board member of Coatings

2022   Editorial board member of Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica

2021   Youth editorial board member of The Innovation

2021   Youth editorial board member of Nano Research

2021   Youth editorial board member of SmartMat

2021   Youth editorial board member of Rare Metals

2021   Youth editorial board member of Tungsten

2023    Guest Editor of the special issue “Sustainable CO2 Conversion and Utilization” for Next Sustainability

2023   Guest Editor of the special issue “Two-Dimensional (2D) Materials for Energy Applications” for iScience

2023   Guest Editor of the special issue “Electro- and Photocatalytic N2 Reduction to NH3” for Rare Metals

2022   Guest Editor of the special issue “Surface and Interface Engineering for CO2 reduction” for Chemistry–An Asian Journal

2022   Guest Editor of the special issue “CO2 Capture and Chemistry” for Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry

2021   Guest Editor of the special issue “CO2 Catalysis” for the Journal of Experimental Nanoscience

2020   Guest Editor of the special issue “Bifunctional Electrocatalysis” for ChemElectroChem

2020   Guest Editor of the special issue “CO2 Reduction” for Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica

 

5. REVIEWING ACTIVITIES

-       Chinese National Natural Science Foundation

-       Chile National Science Foundation

-       Swiss National Science Foundation

-       Alexander Humboldt Foundation

-       French Frontier Research in Chemistry (FRC) Foundation

-       Beijing Natural Science Foundation

-       Khalifa University of Science and Technology Funding

-       Reviewing over 800 papers for scientific journals, including e.g., Nature, Nat. Energy, Nat. Synthesis, Nat. Commun., Chem. Rev., Chem. Soc. Rev., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Chem, Adv. Mater., JACS Au, Adv. Energy Mater., Joule, etc.




Education Work Experience

Social Position

Social Activities

Research

1) Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction including design and synthesis of efficient electrocataysts, investigation of structure-activity relationship, and reaction pathways; 

2) Electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction including design and synthesis of efficient electrocataysts, investigation of structure-activity relationship, and reaction pathways; 

3) Fe-based redox flow batteries including design of new electrolytes and optimization of battery performance.

Teaching

For undergraduates:

The Basics of Catalytic Chemistry; 

Photo-/electrocatalysis in green chemical processes; 

Frontiers in Renewable Energy Technology towards Carbon Neutrality; 

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes; 

Hot topics in Energy and Chemical Engineering.


For graduates:

Professional English for postgraduates.


Postgraduates

Funding

The National Key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFC2105900);

the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22372007, 22208020, 21972010);

the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. JD2310, ZY2317, and buctrc202226);

the State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites (oic-202301007).


Vertical Project

Horizontal Project

Publications

Zhenyu Sun published over 180 papers in peer-reviewed journals with a sum of times cited over 25800, as well as 7 book chapters. Some selected publications are as below:

1) Hernandez, Y.; Nicolosi, V.; Lotya, M.; Blighe, F. M.; Sun, Z. Y.; De, S.; McGovern, I. T.; Holland, B.; Byrne, M.; Gun'Ko, Y. K.; Boland, J. J.; Niraj, P.; Duesberg, G.; Krishnamurthy, S.; Goodhue, R.; Hutchison, J.; Scardaci, V.; Ferrari, A. C.; Coleman, J. N.* “High-yield production of graphene by liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite”, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2008, 3, 563–568. 

2) Tao, H. C.; Fan, Q.; Ma, T.; Liu, S. Z.; Gysling H.; Texter, J.;* Guo, F.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Two-dimensional materials for energy conversion and storage”, Prog. Mater. Sci. 2020, 111, 100637. 

3) Sun, Z. Y.; Talreja, N.; Tao, H. C.; Texter, J.; Muhler, M.;* Strunk, J.; Chen, J. F.* “Catalysis of carbon dioxide photoreduction on nanosheets: Fundamentals and challenges”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2018, 57, 7610–7627. 

4) Jiang, Y.; Sung, Y.; Choi, C.; Bang, G. J.; Hong, S.; Tan, X.; Wu, T.-S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Xiong, P.; LI M. M.-J.; Hao, L.; Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Single-atom molybdenum-N3 sites for selective hydrogenation of CO2 to CO”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, 61, e202203836.

5) Shen, H.; Choi, C.; Masa, J.; Li, X.; Qiu, J.; Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Electrochemical ammonia synthesis: Mechanistic understanding and catalyst design”, Chem 2021, 7, 1708–1754. 

6) Shen, H.; Sun, Z. Y.* “A miracle metal@zeolite for selective conversion of syngas to ethanol”, Chem 2020, 6, 544–551.

7) Tao, H. C.; Choi, C.; Ding, L. X.; Jiang, Z.; Han, Z. S.; Jia, M. W.; Fan, Q.; Gao, Y. N.; Wang, H. H.* Robertson, A. W.; Hong, S.; Jung, Y.* Liu, S. Z.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Nitrogen fixation by Ru single-atom electrocatalytic reduction”, Chem 2019, 5, 204–214. 

8) Sun, Z. Y.;* Ma, T.; Tao, H. C.; Fan, Q.; Han, B. X.* “Fundamentals and challenges of electrochemical CO2 reduction using two-dimensional materials”, Chem 2017, 3, 560–587. 

9) Sun, Z. Y.; Yuan, H. Q.; Liu, Z. M.;* Han, B. X.; Zhang, X. R.* “A highly efficient chemical sensor material for H2S: a-Fe2O3 nanotubes fabricated by carbon nanotube templates”, Adv. Mater. 2005, 17, 2993–2997. 

10)  Sun, Z. Y.; Liu, Z. M.;* Han, B. X.;* Wang, Y.; Du, J. M.; Xie, Z. L.; Han, G. J. “Fabrication of ruthenium-carbon nanotube nanocomposites in supercritical water”, Adv. Mater. 2005, 17, 928–932. 

11)  Zhao, Z.; Park, J.; Choi, C.; Hong, S.; Hui, X.; Zhang, H.; Lo, T. W. B.; Robertson, A. W., Lv, Z.; Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Engineering vacancy and hydrophobicity of two-dimensional TaTe2 for efficient and stable electrocatalytic N2 reduction”, The Innovation 2022, 3, 100190.

12) Tao, H.; Sun, X.; Back, S.; Han, Z.; Zhu, Q.; Robertson, A. W.; Ma, T.; Fan, Q.; Han, B. X.;* Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Doping palladium with tellurium for the highly selective electrocatalytic reduction of aqueous CO2 to CO”, Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 483–487.

13) Jia, M.; Choi, C.; Wu, T.-S.; Ma, C.; Kang, P.; Tao, H.; Fan, Q.; Hong, S.; Liu, S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Jung, Y.;* Qiu, J.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Carbon-supported Ni nanoparticles for efficient CO2 electroreduction”, Chem. Sci. 2018, 9, 8775–8780. 

14) Fan, Q.; Hou, P. F.; Choi, C.; Wu, T. S.; Hong, S.; Li, F.; Soo, Y. L.; Kang, P.;* Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Activation of Ni particles into single Ni-N atoms for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2”, Adv. Energy Mater. 2020, 10, 1903068. 

15) Yao, Z.; Liu, S.; Liu, H.; Ruan, Y.; Hong, S.; Wu, T.-S.; Hao, L.; Soo, Y.-L.; Xiong, P.; Li, M. M.-J.; Robertson, A. W.; Xia, Q.; Ding, L.-X.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Pre-adsorbed H-assisted N2 activation on single-atom cadmium-O5 decorated In2O3 for efficient NH3 electrosynthesis”, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023, 33, 2209843.

16)  Zhu, K.; Li, X.; Choi, J.; Choi, C.; Hong, S.; Tan, X.;* Wu, T. -S.; Soo, Y. -L.; Hao, L.; Robertson, A. W.; Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Single-atom cadmium-N4 sites for rechargeable Li–CO2 batteries with high capacity and ultra-long lifetime”, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023, 33, 2213841.

17) Lv, Z.; Hao, L.; Yao, Z.; Li, W.; Robertson, A. W.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Rigorous assessment of Cl−-based anolytes on electrochemical ammonia synthesis”, Adv. Sci. 2022, 9, 2204205.

18) Sun, Z. Y.;* Fan, Q.; Zhang, M. L.; Liu, S. Z.; Tao, H. C.; Texter, J.* “Supercritical fluid-facilitated exfoliation and processing of 2D materials”, Adv. Sci. 2019, 6, 1901084. 

19) Li, W.; Li, L.; Xia, Q.; Hong, S.; Wang, L.; Yao, Z.; Wu, T.-S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Zhang, H.; Lo, T. W. B., Robertson, A. W.; Liu, Q.* Hao, L.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Lowering C−C coupling barriers for efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction to C2H4 by jointly engineering single Bi atoms and oxygen vacancies on CuO”, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2022, 318, 121823. 

20) Li, F.; Gu Ho G.; Choi, C.; Kolla, P.;*, Hong, S.; Wu, T.-S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Masa, J.; Mukerjee, S.; Jung, Y.;* Qiu, J.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Highly stable two-dimensional bismuth metal-organic frameworks for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2”, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2020, 277, 119241. 

21) Han, Z.; Choi, C.; Hong, S.; Wu, T. -S.; Soo, Y. -L.; Jung, Y.;* Qiu, J.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Activated TiO2 with tuned vacancy for efficient electrochemical nitrogen reduction”, Appl. Catal. B Environ. 2019, 257, 117896. 

22) Zhao Z.; Choi C.; Hong S.; Shen H.; Yan C.;* Masa, J.; Jung Y.;* Qiu, J.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Surface-engineered oxidized two-dimensional Sb for efficient visible light-driven N2 fixation”, Nano Energy 2020, 78, 105368.

23) Zhang, M. L.; Choi, C.; Huo, R. P.; Gu, G. H.; Hong, S.; Yan, C.; Xu, S. Y.; Robertson, A. W.; Qiu, J. S.;* Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Reduced graphene oxides with engineered defects enable efficient electrochemical reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia in wide pH range”, Nano Energy 2020, 68, 104323. 

24) Sun, Z. Y.;* Huo, R. P.; Choi, C.; Hong, S.; Wu, T. S.; Qiu, J. S.;* Yan, C.; Han, Z. S.; Liu, Y. C.; Soo, Y. L.; Jung, Y.* “Oxygen vacancy enables electrochemical N2 fixation over WO3 with tailored structure”, Nano Energy 2019, 62, 869–875. 

25) Chu, S.; Yan, X.; Choi, C.; Hong, S.; Robertson, A. W.; Masa, J.; Han, B. X.; Jung, Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Stabilization of Cu+ by tuning a CuO–CeO2 interface for selective electrochemical CO2 reduction to ethylene”, Green Chem. 2020, 22, 6540–6546.

26) Zhang, Y.; Dong, N.; Tao, H.; Yan, C.; Huang, J.; Liu, T.; Robertson, A. W.; Texter, J.; Wang, J.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Exfoliation of stable 2D black phosphorus for device fabrication”, Chem. Mater. 2017, 29, 6445−6456. 

27) Tao, H.; Gao, Y.; Talreja, N.; Guo, F.; Texter, J.;* Yan, C.; Sun, Z. Y.*“Two-dimensional nanosheets for electrocatalysis in energy generation and conversion”, J. Mater. Chem. A 2017, 5, 7257–7284. 

28) Gao, Y.; Yang, Y.; Hao, L.; Hong, S.; Tan, X.;* Wu, T.-S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Robertson, A. W.; Yang, Q.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Single Nb atom modified anatase TiO2(110) for efficient electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction”, Chem Catal. 2022, 2, 2275.

29) Chu, S.; Kang, C.; Park, W.; Han, Y.; Hong, S.; Hao, L.; Zhang, H.; Lo, T. W. B.; Robertson, A. W.; Jung, Y.;* Han, B.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Single atom and defect engineering of CuO for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2 to C2H4”, SmartMat. 2022, 3, 194.

30) Lv, Z.; Liu, X.; Li, W.; Wu, T. -S.; Hong, S.; Ruan, Y.; Soo, Y. -L.; Hao, L.; Xu, L.; Robertson, A. W.; Xiong, P.; Li, M. M.-J.; Ding, L. -X.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Simultaneously enhancing adsorbed hydrogen and dinitrogen to enable efficient electrochemical NH3 synthesis on Sm(OH)3”, Small Struct. 2023, 2300158.

31) Ruan, Y.; He, Z. -H.; Liu, Z. -T.; Wang, W.; Hao, L.; Xu, L.; Robertson, A. W.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Emerging two-dimensional materials for the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction to yield ammonia”, J. Mater. Chem. A 2023, 11, 22590.

32) Han, Y.; An, S.; Zhan, X.; Hao, L.; Xu, L.; Hong, S.; Park, D.; Chen, Y.; Xu, Y.; Zhao, J.; Tan, X.;* Robertson, A. W.; Jung Y.;* Sun, Z. Y.* “Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO with almost 100% faradaic efficiency using oxygen-vacancy enriched two-dimensional MgO”, CCS Chem. 2024, https://doi.org/10.31635/ccschem.023.202303128.

33) Xu, L.; Tan, X.;* He, Z. -H.; Hao, L.; Wang, W.; Liu, Z. -T.; Robertson, A. W.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Emerging green catalytic synthesis of biomolecules from CO2 and/or nitrogenous small molecules”, Matter 2024, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2023.10.025. 

34) Yao, Z.; Cheng, H.; Xu, Y.; Zhan, X.; Hong, S.; Tan, X.*; Wu, T.-S.; Xiong, P.; Soo, Y.-L.; Li, M. M.-J.; Sun. Z. Y.* et al. “Hydrogen radical-boosted electrocatalytic CO2 reduction using Ni-partnered heteroatomic pairs”, Nat. Commun. 2024, https://10.1038/s41467-024-53529-2.

35) Zhan, X.; Zhang, L.; Choi, J.; Tan, X.; Hong, S.; Wu, T.-S.; Xiong, P.; Soo, Y.-L.; Hao, L.; Li, M. M.-J.; Sun. Z. Y.* et al. “A universal synthesis of single-atom catalysts via operando bond formation driven by electricity”，Adv. Sci. 2024, https://10.1002/advs.202401814.

36) Zhan, X.; Fan, X.; Li, W.; Tan, X.; Robertson, A. W.; Muhammad, U.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Coupled metal atomic pairs for synergistic electrocatalytic CO2 reduction”, Matter 2024, https://10.1016/j.matt.2024.09.013.

37) Yang, J.; Wei, W.; Zhou, C.; Yan, H.; Che, H.; Hao, L.; Tan, X.; Robertson, A. W.; Wu, T.-S.; Soo, Y.-L.; Sun Z. Y.* et al. “High-stable all-iron redox flow battery with innovative anolyte based on steric hindrance regulation” ，Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, https://10.1002/anie.202414452.

38) Li, X.; Kang, W.; Fan, X.; Tan, X.; Masa, J.; Robertson, A. W.; Jung, Y.; Han, B.; Texter, J.; Cheng, Y.; Sun Z. Y.* et al. “Electrochemical CO2 reduction to liquid fuels: Mechanistic pathways and surface/interface engineering of catalysts and electrolytes” , The Innovation 2025, https://https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2025.100807.

39) Taimoor, S.; Fan, X.; Li, X.; Zhang, X.; Xu, M.; Tan, X.; Robertson, A. W.; Solangi, N. H.; Sun, Z. Y.* “Emerging paired diatomic sites toward synergistic NH3 synthesis”, J. Mater. Chem. A 2025, https://10.1039/d5ta00369e.

40) Chen, Y.; Choi, J.; Liang, F.; Tan, X.; Chen, Y.; Yang, J.; Hong, S.; Zhang, X.; Robertson, A. W.; Jung, Y.; Sun, Z. Y.* et al. “Synergistic catalysis between In single atoms and In nanoparticles for highly selective electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formate with high current densities”，Chem. Sci. 2025, https://10.1039/d5sc01580d.

Awards

2025     One of the “Highly Cited Chinese Researchers” released by Elsevier in 2024

2024     One of the “Highly Cited Chinese Researchers” released by Elsevier in 2023

2023  One of the “Highly Cited Chinese Researchers” released by Elsevier in 2022

2022      One of the “Highly Cited Chinese Researchers” released by Elsevier in 2021

2020      One of the China's 100 most influential international papers in 2019

2019, 2020       One of 2018, 2019 top 1% highly cited Chinese authors by RSC in the field of Physical Chemistry

2015       Early career grant from UK Catalysis Conference 2015

2012       Alexander Humboldt fellowship (for Experienced Researcher)

2006       Chinese PhD Researcher Representative Award for the attendance of the 56th Nobel Laureate Conference in Chemistry held in Lindau, Germany


patent

Honor Reward

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