Dr. Jiao was recently the 2025 ACS ENFL MidCareer Award, recognizing his contributions in electrochemical technologies and contributions to energy storage, chemical manufacturing and sustainability. A news story can be found here [link].

Nitric oxide (NO) emissions pose significant environmental challenges that demand sustainable remediation strategies. In a recent article published in Nature Catalysis, we reported an electrochemical approach to convert NO into salt-free, concentrated nitric acid using a carbon-based catalyst at near-ambient conditions. A news story about this work can be found here [link].

Polymer membrane electrolysers can convert CO2 into valuable products and operate efficiently using renewable electricity. However, challenges related to economic viability, scalability and long-term stability hinder their commercial deployment. In a recent Review article published in Nature Review Clean Technology, we discussed the advantages and limitations of polymer-membrane-based CO2 electrolyser configurations.

At a critical juncture for agriculture and public health, Washington University in St. Louis is launching the Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM), an ambitious initiative that aims to address challenges in agricultural production, food distribution and access to nutritious foods by developing practical, scalable solutions for global impact. The Jiao group is actively pursuing new technologies for healthy food production for everyone. More information about FARM can be found here [link].

In a new perspective paper published in Joule, we propose electro-agriculture as a new approach for future food production. This new approach combines CO2 electrolysis with biological systems to boost food production efficiency. By utilizing acetate generated from CO2 through renewable electricity, electro-agriculture enables the heterotrophic growth of crops, bypassing the efficiency constraints of photosynthesis. This article is highlighted as the cover story.

Professor Feng Jiao is named on the annual Highly Cited Researchers™ 2024 list from Clarivate, placing him among world’s most influential scholars, based on citations.

Comprising nearly 7,000 researchers from around the world, the list is compiled by the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate based on quantitative and qualitative data collected from scholarly publication of papers that ranked in the top 1% by peer citations during the previous decade.

Washington University in St. Louis received the first NSF Engineering Research Center grant in its its history! With a total of $26 million research fund from NSF, CURB will focus on combining electrocatalysis with biological systems to create new routes for sustainable biomanufacturing. Dr. Jiao will serve as the associate director for convergent research.