Dr. Xuebing ZHAO obtained his B.En and doctorate in June 2004 and 2009 respectively. He performed his Post-doctoral work from July 2009 to June 2011 and February 2014 to March 2015 at Tsinghua University and University of Wisconsin-Madison, respectively. He became an Assistant Professor in Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University in July 2011. His current researches focus on the biorefining of lignocellulosic biomass to produce biofuels and chemicals via chemical and biological approaches, especially on biomass recalcitrance and its molecular mechanism, process development and fundamentals of biomass pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification of cellulosic substrates with corresponding process intensifications, process simulation for economic evaluation, and novel direct biomass fuel cell technology. He has published two monographs and more than 140 peer-reviewed papers in international journals with more than 12000 citations and an H-index of 53 (Google Scholar). Dr. Zhao is also an editorial board member of Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, Journal of Energy Chemistry, Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts etc. He was awarded the Liu Shuli Education Award (2019), Hou De-bang Chemical Science and Technology Youth Award (2017) etc.

2000~2004 B.Sc, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

2004~2009 Ph.D, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

2009~2011 Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University

2014~2015 Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Wisconsin–Madison

2011~2016 Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

2017~present Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University

Dr. Zhao’s research interests include a wide range of lignocellulosic biomass conversion to produce biofuels and chemicals via chemical and biological approaches, primarily focusing on the biomass recalcitrance and its molecular mechanisms, process and reaction kinetic modeling of biomass pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and the process intensification, simulation and economic evaluation of the biomass conversion process, and development of direct biomass fuel cell technology. His current research interests are focused on the direct conversion of biomass to electricity for “feeding cars with grass” and electricity-driven biorefining of biomass for production of high added-value products.

1. Yongrong Li, Denghao Ouyang, Xi Liu, Yichen Zhang, Zhiqiang Niu, JY Zhu, Xuejun Pan, Xuebing Zhao*. Self-powered electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen peroxide from air and lignin. Energy & Environmental Science 2025,18 (8):3633-3646.

2. Xi Liu, Yichen Zhang, Yongrong Li, Binhang Yan, Xuebing Zhao*. Facile preparation of 2D nanomaterials by chelating agent-assisted electrodeposition for efficient electrochemical oxidation of biomass-derived aldehydes coupled with CO2 reduction. Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy, 2025, 368:125146

3. Zhiwei Dai, Xi Liu, Nan Liu, Yichen Zhang, Xuebing Zhao*. Upgrading biomass derived furan aldehydes by coupled electrochemical conversion over silver-based electrocatalysts. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 488, 151001

4. Xi Liu, Yifan Wang, Zhiwei Dai, Daihong Gao, Xuebing Zhao*. Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to produce formic acid coupled with oxidative conversion of biomass. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2024, 92: 705-729

5. Nan Liu, Zhiwei Dai, Denghao Ouyang, Bo Li, Xuebing Zhao*. Laccase-Mediated Oxygen Reduction in Liquid Flow Fuel Cells for Efficient Oxidation of Biomass-Derived Aldehydes with Co-Generation of Electricity. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2024, 12(4):1714–1727

6. Daihong Gao, Denghao Ouyang, Xuebing Zhao*. Controllable oxidative depolymerization of lignin to produce aromatic aldehydes and generate electricity under mild conditions with direct biomass fuel cells as flexible reactors. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 479, 147874.

7. Ye Qiang, Xi Liu, Denghao Ouyang, Zhao Jiang, Xuebing Zhao*. Transforming liquid flow fuel cells to controllable reactors for highly-efficient oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid at low temperature. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2024, 90, 621-631.

8. Ye Qiang, Denghao Ouyang, Li You, Dehua Liu, Xuebing Zhao*. Liquid flow fuel cell with an electrodeposition-modified nickel foam anode for efficient oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to produce 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid with co-generation of electricity. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 469, 143832

9. Denghao Ouyang, Daihong Gao, Ye Qiang, Xuebing Zhao*. Highly-efficient conversion of lignin to electricity by nickel foam anode loaded with solid electrocatalysts. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 2023, 328, 122491

10. Li You, Tongxin Liu, Dehua Liu, Xuebing Zhao*. Efficient conversion of glucose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural by synergetic catalysis of enzymes and chemical catalysts towards potential large-scale continuous operation. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023, 459, 141552.

11. Denghao Ouyang, Daihong Gao, Jinpeng Hong, Zhao Jiang, Xuebing Zhao*. Promoting and controlling electron transfer of furfural oxidation efficiently harvest electricity, furoic acid, hydrogen gas and hydrogen peroxide. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 2023, 79, 135-147

12. Daihong Gao, Denghao Ouyang, Xuebing Zhao*. Electro-oxidative depolymerization of lignin for production of value-added chemicals. Green Chemistry. 2022, 24: 8585-8605

13. Denghao Ouyang, Fangqian Wang, Jinpeng Hong, Daihong Gao, Xuebing Zhao^*. Ferricyanide and vanadyl (V) mediated electron transfer for converting lignin to electricity by liquid flow fuel cell with power density reaching 200 mW/cm². Applied Energy 2021, 34: 117927

14. Ziyuan Zhou, Dehua Liu, Xuebing Zhao*. Conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels and chemicals via sugar platform: an updated review on chemistry and mechanisms of acid hydrolysis of lignocellulose. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2021, 146: 111169

15. Denghao Ouyang, Fangqian Wang, Huishan Yang, Xuebing Zhao *. Haze to electricity: efficiently harvesting electric energy from air pollutants by construction of bioinspired electron transport chains in light- and heat-driven liquid flow fuel cells. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2021, 420: 129716

16. Yu-An Chen, Huishan Yang, Denghao Ouyang, Tongxin Liu, Dehua Liu, Xuebing Zhao*. Construction of electron transfer chains with methylene blue and ferric ions for direct conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to electricity in a wide pH range. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 2020, 265:118578

Highly Cited Chinese Researchers (Elsevier) (2020-present)

World’s top 2% scientists named by Stanford University (2020-present)

Tsinghua alumni-Liu Shuli Education Award (2019)

Hou Te-Pang Chemical Science and Technology Youth Award (2017)

“Award for Most Cited Energy Article from China” of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Review (2017)