Professor Dr. Yitao Dai was born in Miluo City, Hunan Province in 1989. He finished the bachelor (Fine Chemical Engineering) and master (Applied Chemistry, Prof. Zhongkui Zhao as supervisor) study at the Dalian University of Technology in 2011 and 2014, respectively. With Prof. Flemming Besenbacher as the main supervisor, he obtained a Ph.D. degree from Aarhus University (Denmark) in April 2018. During his Ph.D. study, he has also stayed in SynCat@Beijing (Prof. Dr. J W (Hans) Niemantsverdriet and Prof. Jian Xu as the directors), Synfuels China Technology Co. Ltd. (Prof. Yongwang Li as CEO) for the project collaboration with Prof. Ren Su and Prof. Xiaodong Wen as the project leaders. Later, from May 2018 to May 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Heterogenous Catalysis (Prof. Ferdi Schüth as the director) in Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung (Germany) with Priv.-Doz. Dr. Harun Tüysüz as the host supervisor. He has been awarded Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in June 2019. From August 2021 until the present, he joined the Suzhou Institute for Advanced Research / School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

 

As the first/co-first author and corresponding author, he has published papers in several top journals such as Nature Communications, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, and Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. So far, he has published 33 high-level scientific papers with an H-index of 24. He is awarded as Nanoscale 2023 Emerging Investigator. He has been invited as a Youth Editor in the journals of The Innovation and Chinese Chemical Letters. He has given a Keynote talk at the 4th UK catalysis conference in Jan. 2018. As the invited speaker, he has given talks in the 11th international mesostructured materials symposium and the annual meeting of the chemical industry and engineering society of China in Sep. 2021.

He has built the E_X-nanocatalysis research group (E_XNano-RG) in 2021. Facing the national strategic goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality", with the green manufacturing of high-value organic chemicals (precursors and intermediates such as dyes, pharmaceuticals, and polymers), and the elimination of white polymer pollutants (polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride, etc.) as the main tasks, we design and develop high-efficiency heterogeneous catalytic systems under different energy fields (solar energy Esolar, thermal energy Eheat, mechanical energy Emech, and electric energy Eelec). By building novel catalytic systems with multi-energy fields coupled, we can efficiently and selectively convert multiple energies (heat, solar, electrical, and mechanical energy, etc.) into specific chemical energy (high-value organic chemicals) to achieve energy conservation, the reduction of CO₂ emission, green chemistry, and sustainable development.

E_XNano-RG always warmly welcome talented and excellent doctoral and master's students (with physical chemistry, materials chemistry, organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and other different disciplines of background) to join us!!!

Are you interested in starting the next stage of your scientific career at a high-level lab for catalysis research with a collaborative atmosphere and state-of-the-art facilities? Just send an email (yitaodai@ustc.edu.cn) and apply for a position as a postdoctoral associate in EXNano-RG!!!

Let's travel together in the new world of catalysis and explore novel techniques for energy utilization!

Publications

2022

1.    Duan, M.; Hu, C.; Duan, D.; Chen, R.; Wang, C.; Wu, D.; Xia, T.; Liu, H.; Dai, Y.*; Long, R.*; Song, L.; Xiong, Y.*. Ppm-level Cu dopant on ultrathin Pd nanosheets/TiO₂ for highly enhanced photocatalytic alcoholysis of epoxides. Appl. Catal., B. 2022, 307, 121211 (IF=24.319)

2.      Dai, Y.* and Xiong, Y.*. Control of selectivity in organic synthesis via heterogeneous photocatalysis under visible light. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: e9120006 (invited Review article)

3.     Xia, T.; Gong, W.; Chen, Y.; Duan, M.; Ma, J.; Cui, X.; Dai, Y.; Gao, C.;* Xiong, Y.*. Sunlight-Driven Highly Selective Catalytic Oxidation of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural Towards Tunable Products. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, 61, e202204225 (IF=16.823)

4.      Gao, M. Y.; Bai, H.; Cui, X.;* Liu, S.; Ling, S.; Kong, T.; Bai, B.; Hu, C.; Dai, Y.; Zhao, Y.; Zhang, L.;* Zhang, J.; Xiong, Y.*. Precisely Tailoring Heterometallic Polyoxotitanium Clusters for the Efficient and Selective Photocatalytic Oxidation of Hydrocarbons. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2022, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202215540 (IF=16.823)

 

Before joining USTC

1.      Dai, Y., Li, C., Shen, Y., Lim, T., Xu, J., Niemantsverdriet, J. W. H., Li, Y., Besenbacher, F., Lock, N.* & Su, R.*. Light-tuned selective photosynthesis of azo-/azoxy-aromatics using graphitic C₃N₄. Nat. Commun., 2018, 9, 60, 1-7 (IF=14.919)

2.      Dai, Y., Li, C., Shen, Y., Zhu, S., Wu, L., Xu, J., Skibsted, J., Li, Y., Niemantsverdriet, J. W. H., Besenbacher, F., Lock, N. & Su, R.*. Efficient Solar-Driven Hydrogen Transfer by Bismuth Based Photocatalyst with Engineered Basic Sites. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140 (48), 16711-16719 (IF=15.419)

3.       Dai, Y.⁺, Ren, P.⁺, Li, Y., Lv, D., Shen, Y., Li, Y., Niemantsverdriet, J. W. H., Besenbacher, F., Xiang, H., Hao, W., Lock, N., Wen, X. & Su, R.*. Solid Base Bi₂₄O₃₁Br₁₀(OH)_δ with Active Lattice Oxygen for the Efficient Photo-Oxidation of Primary Alcohols to Aldehydes. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58 (19), 6265-6270 (IF=15.336)

4.      Dai, Y., Poidevin, C., Ochoa-Hernández, C., A. Auer, A. & Tüysüz, H.*. A Supported Bismuth Halide Perovskite Photocatalyst for Selective Aliphatic and Aromatic C-H Bond Activation. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59, 5788 (IF=15.336)

5.      Dai, Y., Tüysüz, H.*. Lead-Free Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ Perovskite as Photocatalyst for Ring-Opening Reactions of Epoxides. ChemSusChem, 2019, 12, 2587-2592 (IF=8.928)

6.      Dai, Y., Tüysüz, H.*. Rapid Acidic Media Growth of Cs₃Bi₂Br₉ Halide Perovskite Platelets for Photocatalytic Toluene Oxidation. Sol. RRL, 2021, 2100265 (IF=8.582)

7.      Dai, Y., Bu, Q., Sooriyagoda, R., Pavlic, O., Lim, T., Shen, Y., Mamakhel, A., Wang, X., Li, Y., Niemantsverdriet, H., Iversen, B. B., Besenbacher, F., Xie, T., Leiw, J. P., Bristow, A. D., Lock, N. & Su, R*. Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production by Modulating Recombination Modes and Proton Adsorption Energy. J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2019, 10 (18), 5381-5386 (IF=6.475)

8.      Stegmann, N., Dai, Y., Nürenberg, E., and Schmidt, W.*. From 1D to 3D Graphitic Carbon Nitride (Melon): A Bottom-Up Route via Crystalline Microporous Templates. Inorg. Chem., 2021, 60, 24, 18957-18963 (IF=5.165)

9.      Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G., Guo, X. & Wang, G. Facile simultaneous defect production and O,N-doping of carbon nanotubes with unexpected catalytic performance for clean and energy-saving production of styrene. Green Chem., 2015, 17, 3723-3727. (frontispiece) (IF=10.182)

10.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G. & Wang, G. Explosive Decomposition of a Melamine-Cyanuric Acid Supramolecular Assembly for Fabricating Defect-Rich Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes with Significantly Promoted Catalysis. Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 8004- 8009. (back cover) (IF=5.236)

11.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G., Guo, X. & Wang, G. Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube by a facile two-step approach as an efficient catalyst for ethylbenzene direct dehydrogenation. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2015, 18895-18899. (back cover) (IF=3.676)

12.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G. & Wang, G. Efficient Tuning of Microstructure and Surface Chemistry of Nanocarbon Catalysts for Ethylbenzene Direct Dehydrogenation. AIChE Journal, 2015, 2543-2561 (IF=3.993)

13.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G., Guo, X. & Wang, G. Increased active sites and their accessibility of N-doped carbon nanotube carbocatalyst with remarkably enhanced catalytic performance in direct dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene. RSC Adv., 2015, 53095-53099. (IF=3.361)

14.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., A Facile Approach to Fabricate N-Doped Mesoporous Graphene/Nanodiamond Hybrid Nanocomposite with Synergistically Enhanced Catalysis. ChemCatChem, 2015, 1070-1077. (inside cover) (IF=5.686)

15.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Ge, G. & Wang, G. Guanidine Nitrate Enhanced Catalysis of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotube for Metal-Free Styrene Production via Direct Dehydrogenation. ChemCatChem, 2015, 1135-1144. (IF=5.686)

16.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., & Ge, G. Nitrogen-doped nanotubes-decorated activated carbon-based hybrid nanoarchitecture as superior catalyst for direct dehydrogenation. Catal. Sci. Technol., 2015, 1548-1557. (IF=6.119)

17.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Lin, J. & Wang, G. Highly-Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Nitride with Ultrahigh Surface Area and Pore Volume as a Superior Dehydrogenation Catalyst. Chem. Mater., 2014, 26 (10), 3151-3161. (IF=9.811)

18.    Zhao, Z.* & Dai, Y., Nanodiamond/carbon nitride hybrid nanoarchitecture as an efficient metal-free catalyst for oxidant- and steam-free dehydrogenation. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2014, 2, 13442-13451. (IF=12.732)

19.    Zhao, Z.*, Dai, Y., Bao, T., Li, R. & Wang, G. Direct alkenylation of aromatics with phenylacetylene over supported H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ catalysts as a clean and highly efficient approach to producing α-arylstyrenes. J. Catal., 2012, 288, 44-53. (IF=7.920)

 

Book chapters

1.       Dai, Y., Lee, J. & Tüysüz, H.《Halide Perovskites for Photonics》Book chapter 2 "Preparation and Physicochemical Properties of Nanostructured Halide Perovskites"; 美国AIP Publishing; 2021

 

Patents

1.       Dai, Y., Su, R., Besenbacher, F. & Lock, N. Photocatalytic Synthesis of Azo and/or Azoxy Compounds. Danish Patent, PA 2017 70161