Following the development of functional catalysts and electrodes in the field of electro chemical energy conversion and storage during his PhD studies, Dr Lixue Jiang has fostered a passion for innovative green hydrogen production and carbon dioxide conversion technologies validating the scale up of emerging renewable energy integration pathways.

 

Lixue's work encompasses ARENA-funded projects establishing a prototype biomass reforming system capable of generating renewable hydrogen and value-added chemicals from a waste biomass stream and sunlight. This particular system comprised of three primary components: a waste biomass concentrator, a solar-thermal biomass pre-treatment reactor, and a flow electrolysis cell. Successful commissioning of the ARENA project led to new opportunity towards recycling and clean energy and subsequent funding through the Federal Government Trailblazer Universities Program to advance the biomass reforming prototype towards commercial application. Additionally, the prototype concept has been adapted into a current collaborative project which utilises renewable energy to drive CO2 conversion into fuels and chemicals, closing the carbon loops and extending the scope of renewable Power-to-X to achieve a circular economy.

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Lixue is currently working on the development of innovative waste-to-hydrogen technologies via solar-thermal photocatalysis and solar-thermal electrocatalysis: ​

 

1. A second-generation prototype as a proof of concept has been constructed with self-contained modular unit which uses sunlight and an organic waste stream feedstock to produce green hydrogen, purified water, and value-added chemicals.

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2. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 powered by renewable energy represents a promising way to generate sustainable carbon-containing fuels, chemical feedstock, and solvents.

 

Together, his research works to demonstrate hydrogen from waste technology to be a commercially viable means for waste valorisation that would attract remote communities or individuals as the target customer base. The successful implementation of the current CO2 conversion project will provide a solid foundation for reducing Australia's reliance on fossil raw materials, enhancing national energy security, as well as positioning Australia as an innovator in green chemistry.

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Research Area Expertise and Themes:

Hydrogen Production; Techno-economic Analysis and Value Chain

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Selected publications:

• Lixue Jiang*, Jian Pan, Qiyuan Li, Han Chen & Shujie Zhou et al. 2022, ‘A holistic green system coupling hydrogen production with wastewater valorisation’, EcoMat, vol. 4, no. 6, doi:10.1002/eom2.12254.

• Qiyuan Li*, Lixue Jiang*, Gan Huang, Da-Wei Wang & Jack Shepherd et al. 2023, ‘A ternary system exploiting the full solar spectrum to generate renewable hydrogen from a waste biomass feedstock’, Energy & Environmental Science, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 3497–3513, doi:10.1039/d3ee00603d.

• Lixue Jiang*, Xiaoxuan Luo & Da-Wei Wang 2022, ‘A review on system and materials for aqueous flexible metal–air batteries’, Carbon Energy, vol. 5, no. 3, doi:10.1002/cey2.284.

• Lixue Jiang*, Mengyang Dong, Yuhai Dou, Shan Chen & Porun Liu et al. 2020, ‘Manganese oxides transformed from orthorhombic phase to birnessite with enhanced electrochemical performance as supercapacitor electrodes’, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 8, no. 7, pp. 3746–3753, doi:10.1039/c9ta12297d.

• Karolina Kordek*, Lixue Jiang*, Kaicai Fan, Zhengju Zhu & Li Xu et al. 2018, ‘Two‐Step Activated Carbon Cloth with Oxygen‐Rich Functional Groups as a High‐Performance Additive‐Free Air Electrode for Flexible Zinc–Air Batteries’, Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 9, no. 4, doi:10.1002/aenm.201802936.