Professor Lianzhou Wang specialises in functional nanomaterials for solar energy conversion and energy storage applications

Professor Wang has an international reputation in the characterisation and application of semiconductor nanomaterials for use in renewable energy conversion/storage systems, including photocatalysts for solar fuel productions, rechargeable lithium batteries, and new generation solar cells.  One of his recent research highlights was the certified world-record efficiency (16.6%) of quantum dot solar cells achieved by his team, which was recognised in the highly influential Best Research-Cell Efficiencies chart.

​​Professor Lianzhou Wang is ARC Laureate Fellow and Senior Group Leader of Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), Professor in School of Chemical Engineering, Director of Nanomaterials Centre (Nanomac), The University of Queensland (UQ). Prof. Wang has contributed 3 edited books, 14 edited book chapters, more than 450 journal publications (including top ranking journals such as Nature Energy, Chem. Rev., Chem Soc. Rev., Nature Commmun, Angew. Chem., Adv. Mater., J. Am Chem. Soc., etc.), 17 patents and delivered over 100 plenary/keynote/invited presentations. He also won some prestigious Fellowships/awards including STA Fellowship of Japan, ARC QEII Fellowship of 2006, UQ Research Excellence Award of 2008, a, Scopus Young Researcher Award of 2011, ARC Future Fellowship of 2012, UQ Research Supervision Award of 2018, ARC Laureate Fellowship of 2019, and Research Excellence Award in Chemical Engineering of 2019. He is the fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and was named in the list of the Clarivate' Highly Cited Researchers (2019, 2020, ESI Top 1% cited).

Industry Engagement & Collaborations

Professor Wang has rich knowledge and expertise in designing and delivering targeted research outcomes for Industry. Starting with a patented technology at National Institute for Material Science, Japan, Wang and collaborators have applied the titania based nanosheets to the cosmetic industry of Japan for UV-blocking. He has since then established long-term collaborations with industry partners that include Dow Chemical, BlueScope, Baosteel Company, Printed Energy, Very Small Particle Company, Pure Battery Technologies and Hebei Steel & Iron Group. The industry-partnered engagement fosters R&D in the renewable energies sector, including solar-driven photocatalysis, next-generation flexible electronics and integrated devices, and rechargeable batteries

​Professor Wang has built strong international links and nurtured long term research collaborations with a number of world leaders in material science and chemistry fields from Japan, China, USA, and Europe.

    Key Publications

    MM Hao, Y Bai, P. Meredith, and LZ Wang et al, Ligand-assisted cation exchange engineering for high-efficiency colloidal Cs1-xFAxPbI3 quantum dot solar cells with reduced phase segregation, Nature Energy, 2020 5, 79-88. (highlighted as Front cover, world record solar cell efficiency).

    M Xiao, L Zhang, B Luo, MQ Lyu, ZL Wang, HM Huang, SC Wang, A Du, LZ Wang, Molten Salt Mediated Synthesis of Atomic Ni Co‐catalyst on TiO2 for Improved Photocatalytic H2 Evolution, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202001148.

    YX Hu, YY Pan, ZL Wang, T Lin, B Luo, H Hu, F Fan, G Liu, LZ Wang, Lattice distortion induced internal electric field in TiO2 photoelectrode for efficient charge separation and transfer. Nature Commun, 112129 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15993-4.

    S. Wang, G. Liu, LZ Wang, Crystal facet engineering of photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical water splitting, Chemical Reviews, 2019, 119, 5192-5247.

    Z. Wang, X. Mao, P. Chen, M. Xiao, S. A. Monny, S. Wang, M. Konarova, A. Du, LZ Wang, Understanding the roles of oxygen vacancies in hematite-based photoelectrochemical processes, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2019, 58, 1030-1034

    Full list of publications available at UQ eSpace

    Funding

    I​n the last 15 years' time at UQ, Professor Wang has succeeded in winning 25 competitive ARC grants, two CSIRO Flagship Cluster projects, five CRC programs, and a number of industry funds. Some of recent ARC funds are listed below