Nanocatalysis leverages materials with dimensions on the nanometer scale to drive catalytic processes. These materials exhibit unique properties, driven by their high surface area-to-volume ratio and nano/quantum size effects. However, nanocatalytic processes are still limited by inefficient energy conversion, poor catalyst-reactant interactions especially at dilute concentration, and weak intrinsic catalytic activities. Here, we are interested in exploring novel nanocatalytic designs, spanning from individual particles to ensembles, to realize efficient photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photoelectrocatalysis. These emerging designs hold tremendous promise for transforming energy and environmental technologies, providing sustainable solutions to pressing societal challenges such as energy resource depletion, climate change, and pollution. Our group employs three primary approaches to achieve efficient nanocatalysis.

Material properties are usually modulated and enhanced by controlling their chemical, physical, and structural characteristics. However, these conventional material-based approaches have limitations, capping material performance. Here, our focus in on integrating functional molecules onto material surfaces to explore their impact on interactions with the surrounding chemical environment (e.g., water hydrogen bonding network if immersed in water). Our unique approach manipulates material-environment interactions directly at the point-of-contact, promising a performance boost beyond intrinsic material properties. We envision the parallel advancement in (1) functional surface chemistry and (2) materials engineering is crucial for accelerating progress in various applications, such as photothermal steam generation and green chemical fuel production.