Prof. SHANG Jin (尚進)

Dr. Jin Shang obtained his Bachelor (2007) and Master (2009) degrees both in Environmental Engineering at Northeastern University in China. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2013. His PhD thesis was on the separation of carbon dioxide from flue gas and natural gas streams using porous adsorbent materials. The study discovered a new separation mechanism (i.e., molecular trapdoor mechanism) which changed the conventional understanding of how these adsorbents discriminate between molecules in gases. After his PhD, he worked as research fellow on an Australian Research Council Discovery Project focusing on developing advanced adsorbents in Paul Webley Group at the University of Melbourne. Since 2015, as Co-chief Investigator of Australian Research Council Training Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas Futures, he has been actively participated in research along with major industry partners in oil and gas field. He then moved to Georgia Institute of Technology and worked as a postdoctoral fellow funded by ExxonMobil focusing on restricted gas diffusion in zeolites by advanced molecular simulation in David Sholl Group, prior to joining the City University of Hong Kong as an assistant professor in the School of Energy and Environment in September 2016.

Molecular separation plays a key role in energy and environmental technologies. Notable examples are H₂ and CH₄ purifications, CO₂ capture, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) removal, CO removal for fuel cell technology, flue-gas purification, desulfurization from natural gas and transported fuels etc. Molecular separation is an important unit operation in chemical industry, accounting for more than 60% of the total cost in some processes. Of the adsorption-based molecular separations, molecular sieving is the most desirable separation mechanism because it affords unparalleled high-selectivity.

Dr. Shang’s research focus is on investigating and understanding the fundamental physical chemistry of gas adsorption and diffusion behaviour, using combined experimental and computational approaches to rationally design and synthesize “active” porous materials for gas separation and storage in environmental and energy applications. Some advanced experimental techniques applied include multiple component breakthrough and in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction/neutron powder diffraction of adsorption; some advanced computational techniques include ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and force field molecular simulations. Dr. Shang has broad interests in materials design and synthesis, particularly the study and design of stimuli responsive porous adsorbents to achieve controlled selective guest admission into host adsorbents through “smart” pore apertures. The stimuli can be guest molecules, temperature, pressure, light, electric field, etc. Targeted applications of interests include:

• CO₂ capture
• Nature gas/biogas purification
• Sour gas (SO₂, NO_x, and H₂S) removal
• VOCs removal
• Energy storage
• Chemical sensing

Selected Awards and Honours

• Finalist of 2015 Win-in-Suzhou Start-up Competition Oceania, Australia
• Finalist of UNSW Energy Future Collaborative Innovation Award 2014, Australia
• The Chancellor's Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis, The University of Melbourne, Australia, in 2013
• The Ian Potter Foundation Travel Grant for 2nd Euro-Asia Zeolite Conference, Nice, France, in 2015
• John Melvin Memorial Prize for Best PhD Thesis in the School of Engineering 2013, The University of Melbourne, Australia
• Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad in 2013
• AOFSRR travel grant for The 7th Asia Oceania Forum for Synchrotron Radiation Research and Cheiron School 2013, SPring-8, Hyogo, Japan
• AINSE travel grant for Synchrotron and Neutron New Users Symposium, Sydney, Australia, in 2010 and 2013
• Melbourne International Research Scholarship, Australia
• Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship, Australia
• CO2CRC Postgraduate Scholarship, Australia
• Monash University Postgraduate Travel Grant Award for ACS annual meeting, San Diego, US, in 2012
• Monash e-Research Centre travel grant for Supercomputing 11, Seattle, US, in 2011
• CAGS CCS Summer School travel grant, Wuhan, China, in 2010
• Monash University travel grant for CHEMECA 2010, Adelaide, Australia
• Monash Graduate Scholarship, Australia
• Monash International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Australia

• J. Shang, R. Singh, G. Li, and P.A. Webley “An Improved Chabazite Adsorbent for Gas Separation” Australian Provisional Patent No. 20829846, 23 August, 2011.
• X. Hu, Y. Dong, L. Li, B. Jiang, Z. Fu, S. Ye, M. Zhu, and J. Shang “A Technique of Preparing Bio-Flocculants” Chinese Patent No. CN 101327975, 24 December, 2008.