Yao Zhang is an associate professor at the School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Xuzhou University of Technology. Zhang received a PhD in Engineering from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in January 2022. The research focuses on polyoxometalates and related functional materials for energy conversion, environmental applications and energy storage.
Research interests
- Polyoxometalates and functional materials: synthesis of new polyoxometalates and the application-oriented design of polyoxometalate-based electrocatalysts and their derivatives.
- Electrocatalysis and hydrogen production: effects of morphology, crystalline phase, doping and electronic structure on hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and urea oxidation, including overall water splitting and urea-assisted hydrogen production.
- Energy storage and structure–property relationships: materials for energy and environmental applications, including the use of polyoxometalate-based systems in supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries.
Education and appointment
- January 2022 | University of Chinese Academy of Sciences: PhD in Engineering.
- Current appointment | School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Xuzhou University of Technology: Associate Professor.
Research project as principal investigator
Heterogeneous properties of polyoxometalates anchored through imide covalent bonds for electrolytic hydrogen evolution
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Young Scientists Fund. Grant 22301257; Principal Investigator. Awarded in 2023, with a project period of January 2024–December 2026.
Industry collaboration
Jiangsu Science and Technology Vice President programme, 2024: selected under record FZ20240563, with Xuzhou University of Technology as the sending institution and 江苏锡沂高新材料产业技术研究院有限公司 as the partner company. This records a placement for technical collaboration with industry. The programme title is a descriptive translation, and the company name retains its Chinese legal form. Provincial placement notice, record FZ20240563.
Selected patents
The following entries represent distinct patents and retain the recorded inventor order. Granted patents and published applications are identified separately; the patent holder or applicant is Xuzhou University of Technology in each case. Inventor names are retained in their Chinese legal forms. English titles are descriptive translations.
- An imidazolium ionic-liquid-assisted method for preparing lignin-carbon-based metal composites and their application to electrochemical oxygen evolution. Grant publication CN116493004B; filed 2023-04-20, grant published 2023-10-13. Inventors: 杨华美、庄文昌、李靖、宋明、张瑶. Yao Zhang is the fifth-listed inventor.
- Preparation of a Pd-loaded, walnut-shell-doped carbon nitride catalyst by deposition–precipitation and its application to hydrogen production from formic acid decomposition. Application 202510463396.1, filed 2025-04-14; application publication CN120394058A, published 2025-08-01. This entry cites the published application record. Inventors: 卫帅、王鹏、刘园园、梁慧、韩燕玲、何昌春、张瑶、郑忠伟、宋明、庄文昌、谭文轶. Yao Zhang is the seventh-listed inventor.
Academic exchange and recognition
On 20 September 2023, Zhang took part in the school's doctoral research salon on developing doctoral research into a National Natural Science Foundation of China project. The presentation discussed finding research questions and preparing a successful application through work on polyoxometalates for electrolytic hydrogen evolution.
The assessment-results notice published in 2024 for Xuzhou's 2022–2023 outstanding academic papers in the natural sciences lists a first prize for the study of phosphorus and molybdenum co-doping from polyoxometalates to modulate Ni₃S₂ nanoforests for urea oxidation. The notice lists “张瑶、郭浩然、宋明等” (Yao Zhang, Haoran Guo, Ming Song and others). This corresponds to the 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry A paper below, for which Zhang is the first and a corresponding author. Xuzhou science association notice, first-prize entry 9, page 3.
Selected publications
These five papers cover polyoxometalate-based materials, electrocatalytic hydrogen production, oxygen evolution, urea oxidation and a review of energy-storage applications. Published English titles and complete author order are retained. The publication byline is Yao Zhang.
1. Materials Chemistry Frontiers · 2024
Yao Zhang; Yanyan Li; Haoran Guo; Yunqiao Guo; Rui Song.
Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 8(3), 732–768 (2024). Yao Zhang: First author; review article.
Reviews polyoxometalate-based materials and their derivatives for electrocatalysis, supercapacitors and rechargeable batteries, linking structural design to energy conversion and storage.
2. New Journal of Chemistry · 2024
Huamei Yang; Ziqin Chen; Kai Luo; Mengjun Yu; Yao Zhang.
New Journal of Chemistry, 48(19), 8690–8701 (2024). Yao Zhang: Corresponding author; last author.
Investigates ionic-liquid-induced surface modification and electrochemical reconstruction of nickel foams for the oxygen evolution reaction.
3. Journal of Materials Chemistry A · 2023
Yao Zhang; Haoran Guo; Ming Song; Limei Sun; Rui Song.
Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 11(7), 3584–3593 (2023). Yao Zhang: First and corresponding author.
Uses phosphorus and molybdenum co-doping from polyoxometalates to tune the morphology and electronic structure of Ni₃S₂ nanoforests for urea oxidation, combining experiments with theoretical calculations.
4. Journal of Materials Chemistry A · 2022
Yanyan Li; Haoran Guo; Yao Zhang; Haotian Zhang; Jiayang Zhao; Rui Song.
Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 10(36), 18989–18999 (2022). Yao Zhang: Co-author; third of six authors.
Combines hollow molybdenum-doped nickel sulfide nanoarrays with nickel–iron layered double hydroxides for hydrogen evolution, oxygen evolution and overall water splitting.
5. Materials Chemistry Frontiers · 2022
Yao Zhang; Haoran Guo; Xinpan Li; Wenlu Ren; Rui Song.
Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 6(11), 1477–1486 (2022). Yao Zhang: First author.
Studies how mixed NiMoO₄ phases and a 1D–2D–3D hierarchical structure work together in urea oxidation and its use in assisted hydrogen production.
Academic contact
Published correspondence email: zhangyao@xzit.edu.cn.