Duanxue

Professor Duan Xue was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2007. At present, he serves as the Chair of the Academic Committees of several State Key Laboratories, a vice-president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, an editorial board member of Structure and Bonding and other academic positions. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has published over 400 research papers in leading SCI international journals in chemical engineering, chemistry, and materials and has been recognized as a Highly Cited Chinese Researcher for many years. He has established a portfolio of independent IP represented by the award of over 60 Chinese invention patents and five US patents. These innovations have made significant contributions to technological progress in the respective industries, which have been recognized by the award of two National Scientific and Technological Innovation Prizes (Second Class), one National Scientific and Technological Progress Prize (Second Class), and more than ten provincial and ministerial level awards for scientific and technological achievements.

Over the past 30 years, Prof. Duan has established a distinctive research program covering Intercalation Assembly and Resource Utilization, and carried out systematic basic research on many key scientific issues. He has proposed many innovative concepts, such as the principle of correlating the degree of deformation of the constituent octahedral metal sites with the structure of intercalated materials, the coupling of multiphase catalytic reaction enthalpy and heat transfer, in situ ultrastable mineralization, high-efficiency and low-cost green hydrogen generation, and industrial carbonate mineral hydrorefining. He has developed many novel synthetic methods, including a rotating liquid film reactor. separation of nucleation and aging steps (SNAS), coupling of reaction and separation, and autoclave-free hydrothermal synthesis for co- precipitation reaction systems. These have been used to fabricate a wide range of functional materials, including UV barrier materials, smoke suppression materials, and environmental remediation materials. The fundamental ideas developed in the laboratory have been successfully scaled up in over 20 technology transfer incubators in Zhejiang, Qinghai, Shandong, and Gansu. More than 30 industrial production lines have been constructed for the  manufacture of materials employing the effective utilization of salt lake resources, as well as automotive fine chemicals, mesoporous adsorption materials, and soil remediation materials.

Prof. Duan has established an interdisciplinary research team that includes members undertaking basic chemistry research and chemical engineering and built up a research base that combines scientific research, technology transfer, and international cooperation. A large number of his former students and co-workers have become key personnel in higher education institutions, research institutes, and large enterprises, with many of them receiving funding from key national programs to support young scholars, such as Outstanding Youth, Yangtze River, Youqing, and Qingchang. He has led and completed several major strategic consulting projects, including The Strategic Development of the Chemical Engineering Discipline, Comprehensive Utilization of Qinghai Salt Lake Resources, Suggestions for Restricting the Use of Toxic and Hazardous Substances in Plastic Products, and  Sustainable Utilization of Metal Resources for Energy Storage Technology in China. These have been commended by national leaders. Prof. Duan has received many honors, including the National Outstanding Young and middle-aged Expert, the China Youth Science and Technology Award, the National May Day Labor Medal, the National Outstanding Professional and Technical Talent Award, and the Distinguished Professor of the Yangtze River Scholar Award. He has previously served as a member of the Chemical Discipline Evaluation Group of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee for Chemistry of the National Natural Science Foundation, a member of the National Chemical Safety Production Expert Group, Director of the Academic Committee of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, and was the first Director of the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering.