The Institute of Catalysis was founded in the 1970s. The enrollment of postgraduate students started since 1964 and PhD students since 1995. The institute was selected as one of the key disciplines of Zhejiang Province in 1984, and was upgraded to establish the Key Laboratory for Applied Chemistry of Zhejiang Province in 1992. In the year of 2007, it was approved as a national key discipline. After more than 40 years, successively led by Dr. Jin Songshou, Dr. Zheng Xiaoming, and Dr. Wang Yong, the Institute of Catalysis has become a productive, engaging and multidisciplinary research base with distinctive research directions, advanced hardware facilities and faculties in all ages.
At present, the Institute of Catalysis has 26 members that include 9 professors and 8 associate professors, along with multiple postdocs and staffs.
The main research fields of the Institute of Catalysis:
1. Catalysis for energy-related chemistry, focusing on the discovery of heterogeneous catalysts and catalytic processes for applications in energy conversion and storage, including biomass conversion, methane conversion, electrocatalytic processes and etc.
2. Preparation and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts and functionalized porous materials for applications in the green synthesis process of pharmaceutical, pesticide and fine chemical industry.
3. Development of biocatalysts that are efficient and robust through protein engineering and rational design for applications in the synthesis of value-added chemicals.
4. Theoretical and experimental studies on the kinetics and surface chemistry of heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic reactions.
5. Environmental protection catalyst, mainly focusing on the research and development of catalysts and devices for purifying indoor air or degrading harmful exhaust from factory or motor vehicle.
