Wenhao Ren

Wenhao Ren

School of Chemical Engineering

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Dr. Wenhao Ren is an innovative researcher in the fields of nanomaterials, electrocatalysis and battery technologies. He has published over 50 high-quality refereed journal papers, containing 1 ESI Hot papers, 4 ESI Highly Cited papers. These include 15 papers as the first/co-first authors and 2 as the co-corresponding authors in flagship Materials and Chemistry journals including Nat. Commun., Joule, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Nano Lett., Adv. Energy Mater., Adv. Funct. Mater., ACS Catalysis, etc. He has achieved an h-index of 35 and total citations of > 4,500 (Google Scholar). Dr Ren has also been involved in several industrial projects and applied for 2 PCT patents, and 3 Chinese patents as the co-inventor.

  • Appointments
    Date Position Institution name
    2023 - 2026 DECRA Fellow University of Adelaide
    2020 - 2023 Postdoc (Marie Curie Fellow) The École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
    2017 - 2020 Postdoc The University of New South Wales
    2012 - 2017 PhD Wuhan University of Technology

  • Education
    Date Institution name Country Title
    2012 - 2017 Wuhan University of Technology China PhD

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Ren, W., Zhang, H., Chang, M., Chen, N., Ma, W., Gu, J., . . . Hu, X. (2025). Field-enhanced CO electroreduction in membrane electrolyzers at a dehydrated interface. Chem, 11(2), 102352-1-102352-8.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS4
    2025 Lan, M., & Ren, W. (2025). Electrolytic CO₂reduction in membrane electrode assembly: Challenges in (Bi)carbonate, crossover, and stability. Next Materials, 6, 100506-1-100506-7.
    DOI WoS2
    2025 Mabaleha, S. S., Sandaruwani, A., Peng, C., Zou, D., Ren, W., Zhao, C. -X., & Xu, X. (2025). Microfluidic synthesis of MOFs, COFs, and HOFs: Insights and advances. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 165, 101005-1-101005-37.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS4
    2025 Ma, W., Morales-Vidal, J., Tian, J., Liu, M. T., Jin, S., Ren, W., . . . Hu, X. (2025). Encapsulated Co-Ni alloy boosts high-temperature CO₂ electroreduction. Nature, 641(8065), 1156-1161.
    DOI Scopus6 Europe PMC1
    2025 Ren, W., Zheng, Y., & Qiao, S. -Z. (2025). Unraveling the electrolyte-free interface in membrane CO₂ electrolysers. Energy and Environmental Science, 18(15), 7402-7412.
    DOI WoS1
    2023 Ren, W., Ma, W., & Hu, X. (2023). Tailored water and hydroxide transport at a quasi-two-phase interface of membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer for CO electroreduction. Joule, 7(10), 2349-2360.
    DOI Scopus22 WoS24
    2023 Chang, M., Ren, W., Ni, W., Lee, S., & Hu, X. (2023). Ionomers Modify the Selectivity of Cu-Catalyzed Electrochemical CO<inf>2</inf> Reduction. ChemSusChem, 16(5), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus26 WoS22 Europe PMC6
    2022 Ren, W., Xu, A., Chan, K., & Hu, X. (2022). A Cation Concentration Gradient Approach to Tune the Selectivity and Activity of CO<inf>2</inf> Electroreduction. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 61(49), 6 pages.
    DOI Scopus68 WoS64 Europe PMC30
    2022 Xu, W., Zhao, K., Liao, X., Sun, C., He, K., Yuan, Y., . . . Lu, J. (2022). Proton Storage in Metallic H<inf>1.75</inf>MoO<inf>3</inf> Nanobelts through the Grotthuss Mechanism. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144(38), 17407-17415.
    DOI Scopus89 WoS83 Europe PMC38
    2022 Ren, W., Tan, X., Jia, C., Krammer, A., Sun, Q., Qu, J., . . . Zhao, C. (2022). Electronic Regulation of Nickel Single Atoms by Confined Nickel Nanoparticles for Energy-Efficient CO<inf>2</inf> Electroreduction. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 61(26), 5 pages.
    DOI Scopus156 WoS133 Europe PMC43
    2022 Qu, J., Yang, W., Wu, T., Ren, W., Huang, J., Yu, H., . . . Cairney, J. M. (2022). Atom probe specimen preparation methods for nanoparticles. Ultramicroscopy, 233, 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS4 Europe PMC1
    2022 Sun, Q., Zhao, Y., Ren, W., & Zhao, C. (2022). Electroreduction of low concentration CO<inf>2</inf> at atomically dispersed Ni-N-C catalysts with nanoconfined ionic liquids. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 304, 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus58 WoS53
    2022 Zhang, Y., Chen, X., Cen, W., Ren, W., Guo, H., Wu, S., . . . Zhao, C. (2022). Flash-assisted doping graphene for ultrafast potassium transport. Nano Research, 15(5), 4083-4090.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS9
    2021 Ren, W., Tan, X., Qu, J., Li, S., Li, J., Liu, X., . . . Zhao, C. (2021). Isolated copper–tin atomic interfaces tuning electrocatalytic CO<inf>2</inf> conversion. Nature Communications, 12(1), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus179 WoS175 Europe PMC52
    2021 Jia, C., Li, S., Zhao, Y., Hocking, R. K., Ren, W., Chen, X., . . . Zhao, C. (2021). Nitrogen Vacancy Induced Coordinative Reconstruction of Single-Atom Ni Catalyst for Efficient Electrochemical CO<inf>2</inf> Reduction. Advanced Functional Materials, 31(51), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus167 WoS171
    2021 Sun, Q., Ren, W., Zhao, Y., & Zhao, C. (2021). Gram-scale synthesis of single-atom metal-N-CNT catalysts for highly efficient CO<inf>2</inf>electroreduction. Chemical Communications, 57(12), 1514-1517.
    DOI Scopus23 WoS21 Europe PMC6
    2021 Qin, M., Ren, W., Jiang, R., Li, Q., Yao, X., Wang, S., . . . Mai, L. (2021). Highly Crystallized Prussian Blue with Enhanced Kinetics for Highly Efficient Sodium Storage. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13(3), 3999-4007.
    DOI Scopus164 WoS161 Europe PMC46
    2021 Jia, C., Tan, X., Zhao, Y., Ren, W., Li, Y., Su, Z., . . . Zhao, C. (2021). Sulfur-Dopant-Promoted Electroreduction of CO<inf>2</inf> over Coordinatively Unsaturated Ni-N<inf>2</inf> Moieties. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 60(43), 23342-23348.
    DOI Scopus156 WoS152 Europe PMC54
    2021 Su, Z., Chen, J., Ren, W., Guo, H., Jia, C., Yin, S., . . . Zhao, C. (2021). “Water-in-Sugar” Electrolytes Enable Ultrafast and Stable Electrochemical Naked Proton Storage. Small, 17(40), 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus56 WoS58 Europe PMC22
    2020 Peng, X., Guo, H., Ren, W., Su, Z., & Zhao, C. (2020). Vanadium hexacyanoferrate as high-capacity cathode for fast proton storage. Chemical Communications, 56(79), 11803-11806.
    DOI Scopus64 WoS62 Europe PMC20
    2020 Wu, S., Mo, J., Zeng, Y., Wang, Y., Rawal, A., Scott, J., . . . Chen, X. (2020). Shock Exfoliation of Graphene Fluoride in Microwave. Small, 16(12), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS30 Europe PMC7
    2020 Zhao, Y., Tan, X., Yang, W., Jia, C., Chen, X., Ren, W., . . . Zhao, C. (2020). Surface Reconstruction of Ultrathin Palladium Nanosheets during Electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction. Angewandte Chemie, 132(48), 21677-21682.
    DOI
    2020 Guo, H., Goonetilleke, D., Sharma, N., Ren, W., Su, Z., Rawal, A., & Zhao, C. (2020). Two-Phase Electrochemical Proton Transport and Storage in α-MoO<inf>3</inf> for Proton Batteries. Cell Reports Physical Science, 1(10), 16 pages.
    DOI Scopus82 WoS80
    2020 Yang, W., Zhao, Y., Chen, S., Ren, W., Chen, X., Jia, C., . . . Zhao, C. (2020). Defective Indium/Indium Oxide Heterostructures for Highly Selective Carbon Dioxide Electrocatalysis. Inorganic Chemistry, 59(17), 12437-12444.
    DOI Scopus63 WoS61 Europe PMC13
    2020 Ren, W., & Zhao, C. (2020). Paths towards enhanced electrochemical CO<inf>2</inf> reduction. National Science Review, 7(1), 7-9.
    DOI Scopus56 WoS57 Europe PMC13
    2020 Ahmed, M. I., Liu, C., Zhao, Y., Ren, W., Chen, X., Chen, S., & Zhao, C. (2020). Metal–Sulfur Linkages Achieved by Organic Tethering of Ruthenium Nanocrystals for Enhanced Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 59(48), 21465-21469.
    DOI Scopus69 WoS68 Europe PMC23
    2020 Zhao, Y., Tan, X., Yang, W., Jia, C., Chen, X., Ren, W., . . . Zhao, C. (2020). Surface Reconstruction of Ultrathin Palladium Nanosheets during Electrocatalytic CO<inf>2</inf> Reduction. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 59(48), 21493-21498.
    DOI Scopus136 WoS143 Europe PMC41
    2020 Ren, W., Tan, X., Chen, X., Zhang, G., Zhao, K., Yang, W., . . . Zhao, C. (2020). Confinement of Ionic Liquids at Single-Ni-Sites Boost Electroreduction of CO<inf>2</inf>in Aqueous Electrolytes. ACS Catalysis, 10(22), 13171-13178.
    DOI Scopus81 WoS77
    2020 Jia, C., Ren, W., Chen, X., Yang, W., & Zhao, C. (2020). (N, B) Dual Heteroatom-Doped Hierarchical Porous Carbon Framework for Efficient Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 8(15), 6003-6010.
    DOI Scopus60 WoS57
    2020 Su, Z., Ren, W., Guo, H., Peng, X., Chen, X., & Zhao, C. (2020). Ultrahigh Areal Capacity Hydrogen-Ion Batteries with MoO<inf>3</inf> Loading Over 90 mg cm<sup>−2</sup>. Advanced Functional Materials, 30(46), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus90 WoS92
    2019 Wang, Q., Ren, W., Gao, F., Qiu, C., Wang, Q., Gao, F., & Zhao, C. (2019). Thermally Activated Multilayered Carbon Cloth as Flexible Supercapacitor Electrode Material with Significantly Enhanced Areal Energy Density. ChemElectroChem, 6(6), 1768-1775.
    DOI Scopus35 WoS37
    2019 Ren, W., Tan, X., Yang, W., Jia, C., Xu, S., Wang, K., . . . Zhao, C. (2019). Isolated Diatomic Ni-Fe Metal–Nitrogen Sites for Synergistic Electroreduction of CO<inf>2</inf>. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 58(21), 6972-6976.
    DOI Scopus892 WoS880 Europe PMC263
    2019 Qin, M., Ren, W., Meng, J., Wang, X., Yao, X., Ke, Y., . . . Mai, L. (2019). Realizing Superior Prussian Blue Positive Electrode for Potassium Storage via Ultrathin Nanosheet Assembly. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 7(13), 11564-11570.
    DOI Scopus110 WoS105
    2019 Chen, X., Bo, X., Ren, W., Chen, S., & Zhao, C. (2019). Microwave-assisted shock synthesis of diverse ultrathin graphene-derived materials. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 3(7), 1433-1439.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS14
    2019 Yao, X., Ke, Y., Ren, W., Wang, X., Xiong, F., Yang, W., . . . Mai, L. (2019). Retraction to: Defect-Rich Soft Carbon Porous Nanosheets for Fast and High-Capacity Sodium-Ion Storage (Advanced Energy Materials, (2019), 9, 6, (1803260), 10.1002/aenm.201803260). Advanced Energy Materials, 9(8), 1 page.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS12
    2019 Jia, C., Dastafkan, K., Ren, W., Yang, W., & Zhao, C. (2019). Carbon-based catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 3(11), 2890-2906.
    DOI Scopus99 WoS89
    2019 Ren, W., Tan, X., Yang, W., Jia, C., Xu, S., Wang, K., . . . Zhao, C. (2019). Isolated Diatomic Ni‐Fe Metal–Nitrogen Sites for Synergistic Electroreduction of CO<sub>2</sub>. Angewandte Chemie, 131(21), 7046-7050.
    DOI
    2019 Ren, W., Zhu, Z., Qin, M., Chen, S., Yao, X., Li, Q., . . . Zhao, C. (2019). Prussian White Hierarchical Nanotubes with Surface-Controlled Charge Storage for Sodium-Ion Batteries. Advanced Functional Materials, 29(15), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus190 WoS184
    2019 Yang, W., Chen, S., Ren, W., Zhao, Y., Chen, X., Jia, C., . . . Zhao, C. (2019). Nanostructured amalgams with tuneable silver-mercury bonding sites for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide into formate and carbon monoxide. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7(26), 15907-15912.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS43
    2019 Yao, X., Ke, Y., Ren, W., Wang, X., Xiong, F., Yang, W., . . . Mai, L. (2019). Defect-Rich Soft Carbon Porous Nanosheets for Fast and High-Capacity Sodium-Ion Storage. Advanced Energy Materials, 9(6), 1-9.
    DOI Scopus330 WoS315
    2019 Ahmed, M. I., Chen, S., Ren, W., Chen, X., & Zhao, C. (2019). Synergistic bimetallic CoFe<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> clusters supported on graphene for ambient electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen to ammonia. Chemical Communications, 55(81), 12184-12187.
    DOI Scopus58 WoS55 Europe PMC13
    2018 Ren, W., Chen, X., & Zhao, C. (2018). Ultrafast Aqueous Potassium-Ion Batteries Cathode for Stable Intermittent Grid-Scale Energy Storage. Advanced Energy Materials, 8(24), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus183 WoS179
    2018 Yao, X., Zhu, Z., Li, Q., Wang, X., Xu, X., Meng, J., . . . Mai, L. (2018). 3.0 v High Energy Density Symmetric Sodium-Ion Battery: Na<inf>4</inf>V<inf>2</inf>(PO<inf>4</inf>)<inf>3</inf>∥Na<inf>3</inf>V<inf>2</inf>(PO<inf>4</inf>)<inf>3</inf>. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 10(12), 10022-10028.
    DOI Scopus81 WoS81 Europe PMC8
    2018 Ren, W., Liu, D., Sun, C., Yao, X., Tan, J., Wang, C., . . . Mai, L. (2018). Nonhierarchical Heterostructured Fe2O3/Mn2O3 Porous Hollow Spheres for Enhanced Lithium Storage. Small, 14(26), 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus99 WoS99 Europe PMC19
    2017 Zhang, G., Xiong, T., Yan, M., Xu, Y., Ren, W., Xu, X., . . . Mai, L. (2017). In Operando Probing of Sodium-Incorporation in NASICON Nanomaterial: Asymmetric Reaction and Electrochemical Phase Diagram. Chemistry of Materials, 29(19), 8057-8064.
    DOI Scopus21 WoS19
    2017 Xu, X., Niu, C., Duan, M., Wang, X., Huang, L., Wang, J., . . . Mai, L. (2017). Alkaline earth metal vanadates as sodium-ion battery anodes. Nature Communications, 8(1), 11 pages.
    DOI Scopus146 WoS138 Europe PMC36
    2017 Ren, W., Qin, M., Zhu, Z., Yan, M., Li, Q., Zhang, L., . . . Mai, L. (2017). Activation of Sodium Storage Sites in Prussian Blue Analogues via Surface Etching. Nano Letters, 17(8), 4713-4718.
    DOI Scopus277 WoS264 Europe PMC52
    2017 Ren, W., Zhu, Z., An, Q., & Mai, L. (2017). Emerging Prototype Sodium-Ion Full Cells with Nanostructured Electrode Materials. Small, 13(23), 31 pages.
    DOI Scopus107 WoS113 Europe PMC21
    2017 Zhang, L., Zhao, K., Yu, R., Yan, M., Xu, W., Dong, Y., . . . Mai, L. (2017). Phosphorus Enhanced Intermolecular Interactions of SnO2 and Graphene as an Ultrastable Lithium Battery Anode. Small, 13(20), 8 pages.
    DOI Scopus107 WoS96 Europe PMC13
    2017 Zhao, K., Wen, M., Dong, Y., Zhang, L., Yan, M., Xu, W., . . . Mai, L. (2017). Thermal Induced Strain Relaxation of 1D Iron Oxide for Solid Electrolyte Interphase Control and Lithium Storage Improvement. Advanced Energy Materials, 7(6), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus77 WoS76
    2017 Ren, W., Li, S., Gao, L., Huang, S., Zhang, L., Qiang, C., . . . Zhi, K. (2017). Low-dose propranolol for infantile hemangioma of the head and neck: Analysis of 23 consecutive patients. PEDIATRICS INTERNATIONAL, 59(2), 213-217.
    DOI WoS8 Europe PMC8
    2016 Chen, C., Ren, W., Gao, L., Cheng, Z., Zhang, L., Li, S., & Zhi, P. K. -Q. (2016). Function of obturator prosthesis after maxillectomy and prosthetic obturator rehabilitation. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY, 82(2), 177-183.
    DOI WoS31 Europe PMC24
    2016 Yan, M., Zhao, L., Zhao, K., Wei, Q., An, Q., Zhang, G., . . . Mai, L. (2016). Cycling-Stable Cathodes: The Capturing of Ionized Oxygen in Sodium Vanadium Oxide Nanorods Cathodes under Operando Conditions (Adv. Funct. Mater. 36/2016). Advanced Functional Materials, 26(36), 6498.
    DOI
    2016 Ren, W., Yao, X., Niu, C., Zheng, Z., Zhao, K., An, Q., . . . Mai, L. (2016). Cathodic polarization suppressed sodium-ion full cell with a 3.3 V high-voltage. Nano Energy, 28, 216-223.
    DOI Scopus105 WoS104
    2016 Yan, M., Zhao, L., Zhao, K., Wei, Q., An, Q., Zhang, G., . . . Mai, L. (2016). The Capturing of Ionized Oxygen in Sodium Vanadium Oxide Nanorods Cathodes under Operando Conditions. Advanced Functional Materials, 26(36), 6555-6562.
    DOI Scopus20 WoS20
    2016 Wei, Q., Xu, Y., Li, Q., Tan, S., Ren, W., An, Q., & Mai, L. (2016). Novel layered Li3V2(PO4)3/rGO&C sheets as high-rate and long-life lithium ion battery cathodes. Chemical Communications, 52(56), 8730-8732.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS27 Europe PMC3
    2016 Ren, W., Zheng, Z., Xu, C., Niu, C., Wei, Q., An, Q., . . . Mai, L. (2016). Self-sacrificed synthesis of three-dimensional Na3V2(PO4)3 nanofiber network for high-rate sodium-ion full batteries. Nano Energy, 25, 145-153.
    DOI Scopus251 WoS232
    2016 Zhang, L., Zhao, K., Luo, Y., Dong, Y., Xu, W., Yan, M., . . . Mai, L. (2016). Acetylene Black Induced Heterogeneous Growth of Macroporous CoV2O6 Nanosheet for High-Rate Pseudocapacitive Lithium-Ion Battery Anode. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 8(11), 7139-7146.
    DOI Scopus90 WoS89 Europe PMC18
    2016 Yan, M., Zhang, G., Wei, Q., Tian, X., Zhao, K., An, Q., . . . Mai, L. (2016). In operando observation of temperature-dependent phase evolution in lithium-incorporation olivine cathode. Nano Energy, 22, 406-413.
    DOI Scopus33 WoS29
    2016 Wang, L., Hu, Z., Zhao, K., Luo, Y., Wei, Q., Tang, C., . . . Mai, L. (2016). Hollow spherical LiNi<sub>0.5</sub>Mn<sub>1.5</sub>O<sub>4</sub> built from polyhedra with high-rate performance via carbon nanotube modification. SCIENCE CHINA-MATERIALS, 59(2), 95-103.
    DOI WoS32
    2015 Ren, W., Zheng, Z., Luo, Y., Chen, W., Niu, C., Zhao, K., . . . Mai, L. (2015). An electrospun hierarchical LiV3O8 nanowire-in-network for high-rate and long-life lithium batteries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 3(39), 19850-19856.
    DOI Scopus65 WoS55
    2015 Niu, C., Meng, J., Wang, X., Han, C., Yan, M., Zhao, K., . . . Mai, L. (2015). General synthesis of complex nanotubes by gradient electrospinning and controlled pyrolysis. Nature Communications, 6(1), 9 pages.
    DOI Scopus405 WoS382 Europe PMC91
    2014 Ren, W. H., Zhao, K. N., Zheng, Z. P., & Mai, L. Q. (2014). Nanowire material and its application in electrochemical energy storage field. Gongneng Cailiao Journal of Functional Materials, 45(12), 12010-12018.
    DOI Scopus1

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2025 Principal Supervisor Design and synthesis of nanostructured carbon-based catalysts for electrochemical reduction of CO2 Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Yuhang Ye
    2025 Principal Supervisor Design of novel catalysts for seawater splitting Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Hongzhou Pan
    2024 Principal Supervisor Electrochemical conversion of small molecules into value-added chemicals Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Kai Dong
    2024 Principal Supervisor A Novel Metal-based Catalyst for Highly Selective CO2 Electroreduction Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Qi Wei
    2024 Co-Supervisor Design of Cu-based catalysts for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to C2+ products. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Dehuang Zhuo
    2024 Principal Supervisor Fabrication of Cost-Effective High-Performance Oxygen Evolution Reaction Catalyst and Effective Catalyst Layer for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Minqiu Lan
    2024 Co-Supervisor Novel Material (MOFs) Synthesis using Microfluidic Reactor Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Sebete Mabaleha
    2024 Co-Supervisor Novel Material (MOFs) Synthesis using Microfluidic Reactor Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Ayesha Sandaruwani Makandana Kankanamalage

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2023 - ongoing Co-Supervisor Design of novel catalysts for electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction. The University of Adelaide - Doctorate Full Time Jing Yang

  • Mentoring
    Date Topic Location Name
    2024 - 2027 Electrocatalysis for the synthesis of small moleculars School of Chemical Engineering Kai Dong
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