Dr. Chuancheng Duan

Associate Professor (Tenured), Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, Tel. (720) 648-7886, Email: c.duan@utah.edu, cduan@chemeng.utah.edu

Group website Materials Research Lab for Sustainable Energy

(a) Professional Preparation

Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China, Materials Science, B.S., 2013                   

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, Materials Science, Ph.D., 2018

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, Materials Science, Postdoc, 2018–2019

(b) Appointments

2024 – Present   Associate Professor with tenure, University of Utah

2025 – Present   Consultant for Oak Ridge National Lab (2-year contract)

2024 – 2024     Associate Professor with tenure, Kansas State University, (Approved on 03/01/2024)                                      

2020 – 2024            Assistant Professor, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

2022 – 2024            Consultant for Nissan Motor Corporation

2018 – 2019            Postdoctoral Researcher, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

2013 – 2018            Graduate Assistant, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

(c) Demonstrated experience of leading multi-million-dollar projects

Dr. Duan’s research lab has received multiple grants totaling over $7.0 M from various organizations, including the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and industry partners. Dr. Duan is currently leading or has led four DOE-funded projects, one NASA-funded project, and four industrially sponsored projects. Dr. Duan is also serving as the Co-PI for multiple projects funded by DOE and DOD.

(d) Honors and awards

U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory Early Career Program (ECP) Award, 2024. (https://www.price.utah.edu/2024/09/20/chuancheng-duan-receives-army-early-career-program-award-for-research-on-fuel-cells)

2024 Colorado School of Mines Young Alum Award, 2024 (https://weare.mines.edu/s/840/19/interior.aspx?sid=840&gid=1&pgid=465)

The 7th International Society for Solid State Ionics Young Scientist Award (YSA) Finalist, 2024. (https://www.nanoge.org/SSI24/program/program)

The Electrochemical Society High-Temperature Energy, Materials, & Processes Division J. Bruce Wagner, Jr. Young Investigator Award, 2023. (https://www.electrochem.org/htm-wagner-award)

2023 of the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering Outstanding Assistant Professor Award (https://www.k-state.edu/today/announcement/?id=92053).

2023 the Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence in Chemical Engineering (https://che.k-state.edu/about/people/faculty/duan/).

Materials Today Energy Rising Star Award, 2022 (https://www.materialstoday.com/energy/news/2022-materials-today-energy-rising-star-award/).

Rath Research Award, 2018 (https://www.minesnewsroom.com/news/mines-honors-spring-2018-masters-phd-graduates).

The American Ceramic Society Ross Coffin Purdy Award, 2017 (https://ceramics.org/awards/ross-coffin-purdy-award/, https://ceramics.org/category/acers-awards-and-honors/page/18/?post_type=awards

)

The American Ceramic Society Graduate Excellence in Materials Science (GEMS) Award, 2017 (https://ceramics.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/BSD-Annual-Report-2017_2018.pdf).

Colorado School of Mines John M.Poate Young Investigator Fellowship, 2013.

(e) Representative Publications (*corresponding author)

1.    Liu, F., Deng, H., Diercks, D., Kumar, P., Jabbar, M. H. A., Gumeci, C., ... & Duan, C*. (2023). Lowering the operating temperature of protonic ceramic electrochemical cells to< 450° C. Nature Energy, 1-13.

2.    Liu, F., Deng, H., Ding, H., Kazempoor, P., Liu, B., & Duan, C*. (2023). Process-intensified protonic ceramic fuel cells for power generation, chemical production, and greenhouse gas mitigation. Joule, 7(6), 1308-1332.

3.    Duan, C*. (2021). Selective CO2 electrohydrogenation. Nature Catalysis, 4(4), 264-265.

4.    LIU, Fan; Deng, Hao; Duan, C* (2024), Synergistic effects of in-situ exsolved Ni-Ru bimetallic catalyst on high-performance and durable direct-methane solid oxide fuel cells. Journal of the American Chemical Society.

5.    Liu, F., Diercks, D., Kumar, P., Seong, A., Jabbar, M. H. A., Gumeci, C., ... & Duan, C. (2025). Redesigning protonic ceramic electrochemical cells to lower the operating temperature. Science Advances, 11(2), eadq2507.

6.    Liu, F., Ding, D., & Duan, C*. (2023). Protonic ceramic electrochemical cells for synthesizing sustainable chemicals and fuels. Advanced Science, 10(8), 2206478.

7.    Liu, F., & Duan, C*. (2023). Planar protonic ceramic electrolysis cells for H2 production and CO2 conversion. In High-Temperature Electrolysis: From fundamentals to applications (pp. 14-1). Bristol, UK: IOP Publishing. Chicago.         

8.    Liu, F., & Duan, C*. (2022). Rationally designed negative electrode for selective CO2-to-CO conversion in protonic ceramic electrochemical cells. Nano Energy, 102, 107722.

9.    Liu, F., Duan, C*.. (2022). Enhanced CO2 methanation activity of Sm0.25Ce0.75O2-δ–Ni by modulating the chelating agents-to-metal cation ratio and tuning metal–support interactions. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14(11), 13295-13304.

10. Duan, C*., Huang, J., Sullivan, N., & O'Hayre, R. (2020). Proton-conducting oxides for energy conversion and storage. Applied Physics Reviews, 7(1), 011314.

11. Duan, C*., Kee, R., Zhu, H., Sullivan, N., Zhu, L., Bian, L., ... & O’Hayre, R. (2019). Highly efficient reversible protonic ceramic electrochemical cells for power generation and fuel production. Nature Energy, 4 (3), 230-240.

12. Duan, C*., Kee, R. J., Zhu, H., Karakaya, C., Chen, Y., Ricote, S., ... & Sullivan, N. P. (2018). Highly durable, coking and sulfur tolerant, fuel-flexible protonic ceramic fuel cells. Nature, 557 (7704), 217.

13. Duan, C., Tong, J., Shang, M., Nikodemski, S., Sanders, M., Ricote, S., ... & O’Hayre, R. (2015). Readily processed protonic ceramic fuel cells with high performance at low temperatures. Science, 349 (6254), 1321-1326.