Hang Ren
- Assistant Professor
- Chemistry
- Allen J. Bard Center for Electrochemistry
Contact Information
Biography
Hang Ren has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin since 2021. He received B.S. in Chemistry from Sun Yat-Sen University (2011) and Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry from the University of Michigan (2016) under Prof. Mark Meyerhoff, followed by a postdoc with Prof. Henry White at the University of Utah. Currently, his lab develops electroanalytical methods to elucidate interface heterogeneity and dynamics in electrocatalysis, energy storage, and biology. Dr. Ren has received several awards, including NSF CAREER, DARPA Young Faculty Award, DARPA Director's Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, SEAC Young Investigator Award, NIH MIRA, Scialog Fellowship, ACS Rising Star in Measurement Science, and Nanoscale Emerging Investigator.
Research
The Ren group is interested in analytical and physical electrochemistry, and its applications in renewable energy, materials chemistry, and biology. Our team develops and applies scanning electrochemical probe microscopy and correlative microscopy to study fundamental electrocatalytic processes for energy storage and conversion at the nanoscale. This reveals local structure- activity- selectivity relationships that are often "averaged out" in the conventional ensemble measurements. We are also interested in developing imaging and delivery tools to study single cells. The research topics apply to:
- Electrocatalysis
- Battery
- Critical Element Separation and Recovery
- High-Throughput Materials Synthesis and Screening
Research Areas
- Energy
- Materials Science
- Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Fields of Interest
- Analytical Chemistry
- Materials
- Physical Chemistry
Centers and Institutes
- Center for Electrochemistry
Education
- Postdoc Associate, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (2016-2018)
- Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (2016)
- B.S. hon. in Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China (2011)
Publications
Full list: Google Scholar
Selected recent publications:
- Lee, H.; Zhan, X.; Warner, J. H.; Ren, H.*; Dynamic Ionic Environment Modulation for Precise Electrosynthesis of Heterostructured Bimetallic Nanoparticles, Advanced Science, 2025, DOI: 10.1002/advs.202415727
- Mondaca-Medina, I.; Ren, H.; Site-Specific Stochastic Rates and Energetics of Ag Nucleation on Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite, ACS Nano 2024, 18, 47, 32617–32624. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c09981
- Ryu, C. H.; Ren, H. *; Simultaneous Mapping of Electrocatalytic Activity and Selectivity via Hybrid Scanning Electrochemical Probe Microscopy, Nano Lett.2024, 24, 20, 6112–6116. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c01280
- Lee, H.; Ren, H.*; Tuning Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction Reaction with Dynamic Control of Electrochemical Interfaces, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2024,146, 16, 11126–11132. 10.1021/jacs.3c13694
- Mondaca-Medina, E.; García Carrillo, R.; Lee, H; Wang, Y.; Zhang, He; Ren, H. *; Nanoelectrochemistry in Electrochemical Phase Transition Reactions, Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 7611-7619. DOI: 10.1039/D3SC01857A
- Wang, Y.; Li, M.; Ren, H.*, Interfacial Structure and Energy Determine the Heterogeneity in the Electrochemical Metal Dissolution Activity at Grain Boundary, Chem. Matter., 2023, 35, (11), 4243–4249. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c00220 (Front Cover)
- Li, M.; Wang, Y.; Blount, B.; Ren, H.*, Stochastic Local Breakdown of Oxide Film on Ni from Identical-Location Imaging: One Single Site at a Time, Nano Lett., 2022, 22 (15) 6313–6319. DOI:10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c02018
- Li, M.; Ye, K.-H.; Qiu, W.; Wang, Y.; Ren, H.*, Heterogeneity between and within Single Hematite Nanorods as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2022, 144, 12, 5247–5252 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c00506
Awards
- Sloan Research Fellowship
- Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award
- NSF CAREER Award
- NIH Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA)
- DARPA Director’s Award
- DARPA Young Faculty Award
- Scialog Fellow
- CNS Catalyst Award
- Baxter Young Investigator Awards
- ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award
- James W. and Carolyn L. Taylor MUACC Travel Award
- George Ashworth Analytical Chemistry Fellowship