Professor Tao Zhang received his PhD in 1989 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). After one year in University of Birmingham as a post-doctoral fellow, he joined DICP again where he was promoted to a full professor in 1995. He has been the director-general of DICP for 10 years (2007-2016). He was also the vice president of CAS (2016-2023).
His research interests are mainly focused on Single-Atom Catalysis and Catalytic Conversion of Biomass. He discovered a new process from cellulose to ethylene glycol in 2008 and has accomplished a pilot demonstration (1000 ton/year) in 2023. Particularlly, in 2011，he coined the new concept “Single-Atom Catalysis” (Nature Chemistry, 2011, 3, 634), which is now one of the hot research frontiers in chemistry. He has won many important awards, such as Tan Kah Kee Science Award (2026), Humboldt Research Award (2026), China Catalysis Achievement Award (2025), Citation Laureates award (2025), Future Science Prize (2024), Tang Aoqing Award (2024) of Chinese Chemical Society (CCS), Advance of Catalysis Award of the Asian-Pacific Association of Catalysis Societies (2023), Distinguished Award of CCS-Sinopec (2022), ChinaNano Award (2018), and National Invention Prize (2008). Prof. Tao Zhang is the author or co-author of more than 600 peer-reviewed publications and 150 patents (H-index 130 and more than 80,000 citations).
He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Catalysis, Associate Editor of JACS, Co-Chair of the Editorial Advisory Board of Chemistry-A European Journal, Editorial Board Members of Applied Catalysis B, Green Chemistry, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, ChemPhysChem and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. He was elected as academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013, fellow of TWAS in 2018, and international fellow of Canadian Engineering Academy.