Dr. Jiarui Yang has joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at City University of Hong Kong as a Presidential Assistant Professor. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tsinghua University. Before joining the MSE, he was a Global Research Assistant Professor at CityU. Dr. Yang’s research is centered on the design and development of sustainable electrocatalytic systems, with a particular focus on organocatalysts, single-atom catalysts, and hybrid materials for halogen-related reactions, green chemical production, and energy conversion. In the past five years, Dr. Yang has published some papers as first or corresponding author, including Science (2), Nature, Nat. Synth., Nat. Commun., Angew. Chem. Int. Edit., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Adv. Mater., and Sci. Adv., among others. Dr. Yang has also received the 2026 Asia Forbes 30 Under 30, the 2025 Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize, and the 2025 IUPAC-Solvay Award for Young Chemists. He has also been listed among the world’s Top 2% of Scientists for four consecutive years (2023–2026), and his research was recognized as one of China's Major Scientific and Technological Breakthroughs in 2023.
Awards and Achievements
- Sep 2026 “MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (TR 35) Asia” MIT Technology Review.
- Jul 2026 “Forbes 30 under 30, Asia” Forbes.
- Sep 2025 “Dimitris N. Chorafas Prize (Globally 30)” Dimitris N. Chorafas Funding.
- Apr 2025 “IUPAC-Solvay Award for Young Chemists” International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC.
- Dec 2024 “2024 China's Emerging Technology Figures” Chinese Association for Science and Technology.
- Oct 2024 “World's Top 2% of scientists” Stanford University.
- Oct 2023 “World's Top 2% of scientists” Stanford University.
- Apr 2024 “Carbon Future Young Investigator Award” Carbon Future.
- Dec 2023 “China's major scientific, technological and engineering breakthrough” China.
- Nov 2023 “Nano Research Energy Young Star Award” Nano Research.
- Aug 2023 “Young Chemistry Award by Chinese Chemical Society” Chinese Chemical Society. 10 in China).
Patents
- Jiarui Yang, Wen-hao Li, Dingsheng Wang, A non-metallic molecular catalyst for anode of chlor-alkali industry and its preparation method, China Patent No. 202310552668.6, 2023.
- Jianglan Shui, Jiarui Yang, A noble metal ruthenium single-atom catalyst for chlor-alkali industry anode and its preparation met, China Patent No. CN 111001426 A, 2020.
Journal
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Apr 2026). Bromine-mediated electrochemical propane dehydrogenation by self-assembled ionic liquid-SnO2 hollow spheres. Science. 392 (6793). 87 - 92.
- Jiawei Zhao, , Yang, Jiarui*. & Lou, (David) Xiong Wen* et al. (May 2025). Surface Transformation in Lanthanum Nickelate for Enhanced Oxygen Evolution Catalysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. .
- Zhao, Tianyou. , Yang, Jiarui*. , Wen-hao, Li*. & Dingsheng, Wang*. (Mar 2025). From lab-scale to industrialization: atomically M–N–C catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Energy Environ. Sci. .
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (May 2024). A Simple Organo-Electrocatalysis System for the Chlor-Related Industry. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 63(32). e202406883 .
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Jan 2024). Organocatalyst Supported by a Single-Atom Support Accelerates both Electrodes used in the Chlor-Alkali Industry via Modification of Non-Covalent Interactions. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 63(8). e202314382 .
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Nov 2023). Accelerating the Hydrogen Production via Modifying the Fermi Surface. Nano Lett. 23(23). 11368 - 11375.
- Zheng, Xiaobo. & Yang, Jiarui et al. (Oct 2023). Ir-Sn pair-site triggers key oxygen radical intermediate for efficient acidic water oxidation. Sci. Adv. 9(42). eadi8025 (Equal contribution) .
- Li, Wen-hao. & Yang, Jiarui et al. (Oct 2023). Long-range interaction on diatomic catalysts boosting electrocatalysis. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 134(52). e202213318 (Equal contribution) .
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (May 2023). CO2-mediated organocatalytic chlorine evolution under industrial conditions. Nature.
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Nov 2022). Accurate synthesis and industrial production of single-atom catalysts. Chem Catal. 2. 2111 - 2113.
- Li, Wen-hao. & Yang, Jiarui et al. (Sep 2022). Striding the threshold of an atom era of organic synthesis by single-atom catalysis. Chem. 8. 119 - 140 (Equal contribution).
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Feb 2022). Regulating the Tip Effect on Single-Atom and Cluster Catalysts: Forming Reversible Oxygen Species with High Efficiency in Chlorine Evolution Reaction. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 134(16). e202200366 .
- Li, Wen-hao. & Yang, Jiarui et al. (Sep 2021). Creating High Regioselectivity by Electronic Metal–Support Interaction of a Single-Atomic-Site Catalyst. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 143. 15453 - 15461 (Equal contribution).
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Jun 2021). The Electronic Metal-Support Interaction Directing the Design of Single Atomic Site Catalysts: Achieving High Efficiency Towards Hydrogen Evolution. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 133(35). 19233 - 19239.
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Apr 2021). Machine learning: The trends of developing high-efficiency single-atom materials. Chem. Catal. 1. 24 - 26.
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Jan 2021). Electronic Metal-Support Interaction of Single-Atom Catalysts and Applications in Electrocatalysis. Adv. Mater. 32. 2003300 .
- Yang, Jiarui et al. (Sep 2020). Single-atom materials: small structures determine macroproperties. Small Struct. 2(2). 2000051 .
Research interests
- Construct efficient organic molecule catalytic systems for the electrochemical processes
- Underly the structure-activity relationship between single-atom/cluster/nanoparticle catalysts and electrochemical reactions
- Develop new catalytic systems for the industrial processes
Last update date :
15 Oct 2026
