Ohio State's Shang Zhai Leads Pioneering Research in Clean Energy Solutions

Shang Zhai, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a joint appointment in the School of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University, is spearheading innovative research in materials and processes for clean energy and CO₂ emission reduction. Since joining Ohio State in 2022, Zhai has also held a courtesy appointment with the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, reflecting his interdisciplinary approach to addressing global energy challenges. 

Ohio State’s commercialization team in the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge recently filed a provisional patent application titled “COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR THE CAPTURE OF CARBON DIOXIDE AND/OR THE GENERATION OF SILICA” (Application #63/552,642) to protect the novel idea. Zhai has been collaborating with colleagues across the College of Engineering and College of Arts and Sciences in the university to develop and refine this innovation. 

This invention transforms CO₂ and silicate materials such as iron/steel slags and several silicate minerals into stable and non-soluble carbonates, while producing pure silica and clean hydrogen without greenhouse gas emission. Additionally, the produced silica and carbonate materials can serve as supplementary cementitious materials. The mild reaction condition for the invented CO₂ capture and permanent storage process is between room temperature and 100°C and at the atmospheric pressure. The CO₂ capturing can utilize either a point source at percent-level CO₂ concentration or do direct air capture from about 400ppm CO₂ concentration, and the capture ratio is well above 67%.  Meanwhile, the hydrogen production reaction in the proposed process can be sped up by the medium temperature waste heat from standard iron/steel making. "This type of research is crucial because current industrial and daily processes rely heavily on fossil fuels, which generate significant greenhouse gas emissions, including CO₂," explained Kyle Shank, a graduate research assistant and PhD student working with Zhai. "Our goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce valuable products such as clean hydrogen and supplementary cementitious materials."  

Zhai's team benefits significantly from the mentorship of L.S. Fan, a respected researcher at Ohio State. "Fan brings extensive experience in both laboratory research and industrial applications, helping us understand how our technology can be scaled up and applied in real-world settings," Zhai said. 

Zhai's academic journey began with a BEng in Building Technology from Tsinghua University, China, in 2014. He then pursued a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University under the mentorship of Professor Arun Majumdar, with a minor in Materials Science and Engineering co-advised by Professor William Chueh. His doctoral dissertation focused on enhancing the efficiency of thermochemical water and CO₂ splitting using ferrites. Zhai's innovative strategies led to a fivefold increase in splitting capacity, challenging conventional wisdom and establishing critical metrics for cost-competitive, carbon-free hydrogen production. His postdoctoral research at Stanford University focused on catalyst regeneration and solid carbon separation in methane pyrolysis to produce high value carbon nanotubes and clean hydrogen.