Professor
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Maryland
8051 Regents Drive
College Park, MD 20742 United States
Office 2224C
Phone: +1-(301)405-3368
B.S. Xiamen University, China
M.S. Emory University
Ph.D. Rice University (with Rick Smalley)
Postdoctoral, Northwestern (with Chad A. Mirkin) Chemistry Tree
Google Scholar Profile; orcid
Dr. Wang grew up in a small village in southeastern China but decided to pursue a career in chemistry while at high school reading an article by Nobel Laureate Richard E. Smalley. He later became one of Smalley’s last graduate students, completing his Ph.D. at Rice University with the support of a 4-year Presidential Fellowship. At Rice, Dr. Wang demonstrated the feasibility of “cloning” single-walled carbon nanotubes and also contributed to the development of the first conductive rival of Kevlar from carbon nanotubes. He did his postdoctoral study with Chad A. Mirkin at Northwestern University, where he co-invented massively parallel molecular printing and, along with George C. Schatz, developed a fundamental understanding of the directed assembly and manipulation of nanostructures through patterned molecular templates.
At the University of Maryland, Dr. Wang and his research group have initiated ambitious new research directions. Several of these directions have turned into exciting new frontiers, including: 1) Quantum Defects (a.k.a. sp3 Quantum Defects or Organic Color-Centers); and 2) Tube^2 (tube-in-a-tube semiconductors). Both quantum defects and Tube^2 are functional nanomaterials initially demonstrated in Dr. Wang’s laboratory and now synthesized in various forms. These novel quantum systems allow his group and a quickly growing community to probe, both experimentally and theoretically, a series of fundamental new phenomena that arise from these versatile synthetic structures. Extending from the fundamentals to applications, they are also exploiting these new properties and chemistries for electrical energy storage, thermoacoustics, biomedical imaging/sensing, as well as energy-saving and quantum technologies. Particularly, his research group has recently made breakthroughs in developing methodologies/technologies to enable single defect spectroscopy in the shortwave infrared, quantitative infrared measurements, and dynamic gating of infrared radiation in a textile that allows for adaptive self-regulating thermal radiation and heat exchange through the fabric.
Dr. Wang’s work has been featured on journal covers and numerous press reports.
Professional Appointments
Deputy Scientific Director, The Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT), a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center, 8/2018 – (w/ Michael Strano at MIT and 15 others)
Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Maryland, 2017- present
Associate Professor (with Tenure), Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Maryland, 8/2014 – 7/2017.
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Maryland, 8/2008–7/2014.
Affiliated faulty member, University of Maryland Materials Science and Engineering Department, 2018-present.
Faculty member, University of Maryland Energy Research Center, 12/2014-present.
Faculty member, Chemical Physics Program, University of Maryland, 12/2008–present.
Faculty member, Maryland NanoCenter, 8/2008–present.
Postdoctoral associate, Northwestern University, 2005–2008 (advisor: Prof. Chad A. Mirkin).
Project Leader, Carbon Nanotechnology Laboratory, Rice University, 2001–2004.
Honors and Awards
Life Sciences Invention of the Year Award, University of Maryland, 2023 (w/ Mijin Kim, Daniel Heller, Anand Jagota, Ming Zheng)
Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2021
Invention of the Year finalist, University of Maryland, 2021 (with graduate students Peng Wang & Hongbin Luo)
The Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize, 2019 (University of Maryland)
NBC4 News AAPI Working for 4 the Community Award, 2019
Washingtonian Magazine’s Guest List: 5 People We’d Love to Hang Out With This April, 2019
NSF CAREER Award, 2011-2016
Invention of the Year finalist, University of Maryland, 2011 (with graduate student Jerrett Leeds and Professor John Fourkas)
ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator, 2010
Rice Alumni Spotlight, Wiess School of Natural Sciences, Rice University, 2010
Nanobiotechnology Initiative Startup Award, Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development, 2009
GRB Research Support Award, University of Maryland, 2009
GRB Summer Award, University of Maryland, 2009
NSF NSEC Outstanding Researcher Award, Northwestern University, 2007
David G. Nance Award for Outstanding Graduate Research in Nanotechnology, Nanotechnology Foundation of Texas, 2004
President’s Fellow (inaugural class), Rice University, 2000-2004
Robert A. Welch Predoctoral Fellowship, 2000-2001
Profiles & Interviews
NBC 4 – interview June 2019
BBC World Service, Science in Action, February 2019
Scientia 2018. “A Bright Family of Quantum Defects.” Featuring the Wang group research on fluorescent quantum defects. Also listen to the story on Scipod.
Professional Services and Activities
Lead Organizer, B03 Symposium, Carbon Nanotubes—From Fundamentals to Devices. 247th ECS Meeting, Montréal, Canada. May 18-22, 2025.
Co-organizer, Carbon Nanotubes—From Fundamentals to Devices. 245th ECS Meeting, San Francisco, CA, United States. May 26-30, 2024.
Organizer and Host, “The Kickoff Meeting of the Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT2), a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center. August 17-18, 2023. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Advisory Board, NT23: International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes and Low-dimensional Materials, June 4-9, 2023. France
Panelist, US Army Virtual Workshop: “Quantum Sciences: Projected Scientific Breakthroughs in 2027-2032”– November 29-December 7, 2022, Arlington VA
Advisory Board, NT22: International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes and Low-dimensional Materials, June 19-24, 2022 at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Korea
Panelist, MEC/DARPA Next-Generation Carbon Nanotube Electronics Workshop; June 8-10, 2022.
Advisory Board, NT21: International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes and Low-dimensional Materials, May 31-June 6, 2021. Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States.
International Advisory Board, The 13th International Conference “Medical Applications of Advanced Biomaterials and Nano-biotechnology.” CIMTEC, June 15-19, 2020. Montecatini Terme, Italy.
Co-Organizer and Host, “The Kickoff Meeting of the Center for Enhanced Nanofluidic Transport (CENT), a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center. November 16, 2018. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Workshop Co-Organizer, Telluride Workshop on Defect Chemistry and Physics of Low-Dimensional Materials, Telluride, Colorado. July 11-15, 2017 (co-organizer: Phil Collins)
Symposium Co-Organizer, “At the Interface Between Molecules and Materials.” The American Physical Society March Meeting, March 2-6, 2015. San Antonio, TX. (w/ George C. Schatz, Emily Weiss).
Symposium Organizer, “Symposium on Energy Material.” May 16, 2014. College Park, Maryland.
NSF proposal review panels (2010-present)
DOE SCGF review panel (2012)
DOE Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies External Proposal Review Board (2015-present)
Workshop Co-Organizer, Telluride Workshop on the Chemistry and Physics of Defects in Carbon Nanotubes, Telluride, Colorado. July 8-12, 2013 (co-organizer: Phil Collins)
Vice-Chair of Organizing Committee, “7th Sino-US Forum on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (中美华人纳米论坛).” June 8-11, 2012. Xiamen, China.
Symposium Organizer. “Chemistry of Carbon Nanomaterials,” the Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, May 21-24, 2011.
Symposium Organizer. “Chemical Methods of Nanofabrication,” 237th ACS National Meeting, March 22-26, 2009. This three-day symposium featured 25 invited talks under the Salt Lake City meeting theme, “Nanoscience: Challenges for the Future.” (co-organizers: Chad Mirkin, So-Jung Park); read editorial comments by Paul Weiss and Penelope Lewis at ACS Nano.
Regularly reviewed for Nature journals, JACS, ACS Nano, Journal of Physical Chemistry, Nano Letters, PNAS, Advanced Materials, Angew. Chem., Small, and a few others.
Invited Talks
NT’24: The Twenty-Fourth International Conference on the Science and Applications of Nanotubes and Low-Dimensional Materials, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. June 23-28, 2024. (Tutorial Lecture)
Symposium: Carbon Nanotubes—From Fundamentals to Devices. 245th ECS Meeting, San Francisco, CA. May 26-30, 2024.
“Quantum Defects in Carbon Semiconductors.” University of Utah, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, January 22, 2024.
Echegoyen International Symposium (3rd Intl Symp on Solid State Chemistry for Applications & Sustainable Development), SIPS: Sustainability through Science & Technology, November 27-December 1, 2023. Hyatt’s Dreams Playa Bonita, Panama (Plenary)
The Physical Chemistry of Interfaces and Nanomaterials XXII Conference, the SPIE Optics + Photonics 2023, August 20-24, 2023. San Diego, United States
2nd Annual Conference on Global Nanotechnology, June 19-21, 2023. ICMM CSIC Materials Science Institute of Madrid, Spain.
The 9th Nanotech and Nanomaterials Research Conference, June 12-14, 2023, Rome, Italy (Keynote).
243rd ECS Meeting, with the 18th International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC-XVIII), May 28 – June 2, 2023. Boston, Massachusetts USA.
US Army Virtual Workshop: Quantum Sciences: Projected Scientific Breakthroughs in 2027-2032– November 29-December 7, 2022, Arlington VA
MEC/DARPA Next-Generation Carbon Nanotube Electronics Workshop; June 8-10, 2022.
WONTON: The 8th Workshop on Nanotube Optics and Nanospectroscopy, July 25-28, 2022. Madison, Wisconsin.
25th Annual TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo, Symposium: Carbon Nanostructures & Devices, June 13-15, 2022. Gaylord National Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland, U.S.A.
241st ECS Meeting (May 29 – June 2, 2022), Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Symposium on “Carbon Nanotubes: Preparation, Characterization and Applications” Pacifichem 2021: A Creative Vision for the Future, December 16-21, 2021. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Symposium “Young Giants of Nanoscience,” Pacifichem 2021: A Creative Vision for the Future, December 16-21, 2021. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Symposium “Chemical Modification of Biomacromolecule Sources: Design and Application for Value Added Product” Pacifichem 2021: A Creative Vision for the Future, December 16-21, 2021. Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Nanopores Weekly Meeting (virtual international webinar), August 9, 2021.
Symposium on Synthesis and Separation, 239th ECS Meeting with the 18th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (IMCS), May 30-June 3, 2021 (virtual)
Symposium on Device and Spectroscopy, 239th ECS Meeting with the 18th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (IMCS), May 30-June 3, 2021 (virtual)
Virtual NSF Quantum Leap Grantees Meeting, September 29 -30, 2020. The Center for Optical, Molecular, and Quantum Science at the University of Oregon; hosted on-line by The Optical Society.
WONTON 2020: The 8th Workshop on Nanotube Optics and Nanospectroscopy, June 7-11, 2020. Madison, Wisconsin (USA).
B03, “Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices,” the 237th Meeting of The Electrochemical Society, Montreal, Canada (May 10 – 15, 2020)
The 58th Fullerenes-Nanotubes-Graphene General Symposium, March 15-17, 2020. The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
SANS (School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences) Seminar Series, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, March 12, 2020.
The Center of Enhanced Nanofludic Transport Symposium, October 11-12, 2019. Yale University, New Haven, CT.
ACS National Meeting, ANYL Symposium “Advances in Wearable & Implantable Sensors.” San Diego, CA. August 25-29, 2019.
ACS National Meeting, International Symposium on “Chemistry and Utilization of Agro-Based Materials.” San Diego, CA. August 25-29, 2019.
10th Symposium on Carbon Nanomaterials Biology, Medicine & Toxicology. July 21-26, 2019. Wuerzburg, Germany.
NT19: International Conference on the Science and Application of Nanotubes and Low-Dimensional Materials. July 21-26, 2019. Wuerzburg, Germany.
Symposium on Printed and Flexible Electronics, TechConnect World Innovation, June 17-19, 2019. Boston, MA.
“Wearable Technology, Materials and Applications II” Workshop, IPRIME Annual Meeting, University of Minnesota, May 29, 2019.
Symposium “Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices.” The 235th Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 26-31, 2019. Dallas, Texas.
Boston College, Department of Chemistry, March 11, 2019.
US Army Natick/CCC-Soldier Center, March 11, 2019.
The Center of Enhanced Nanofludic Transport Symposium, March 8-9, 2019. MIT, Boston, MA.Army Science Planning and Strategy Meeting (ASPSM) on “Chemo-structural Dynamics.” January 23, 2019. Rice University, Houston, Texas.
2018 iMatSci Innovator Showcase. Materials Research Society Fall Meeting and Exhibit, Boston, MA. November 27-28, 2018.
“Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene Research” Symposium, ACS Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM), Nov. 7-10, 2018. Little Rock, Arkansas.
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, July 13, 2018.
WONTON 2018 – 7th Workshop on Nanotube Optics and Nanospectroscopy. July 8-12, 2018. Hakone, Japan.
Kyushu University, Nanotechnology Platform Seminar Series. July 6, 2018.
Xiamen University, Department of Chemistry, June 27, 2018.
ESP2018: 8th Conference on “Excited State Processes in Electronic and Bio Nanomaterials” June 4-7, 2018. Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Symposium “Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices.” The 233rd Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 13-17, 2018. Seattle, Washington.
International Conference and Expo on Nanotechnology.” April 19-21, 2018. Dubai, UAE.
Workshop on “Hybrid Photonic-Plasmonic Materials: Toward Ultimate Control Over the Generation and Fate of Photons,” The Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, March 1-2, 2018.
International Symposium on nano surface/interface and cluster chemistry in energy materials. December 14-17, 2017. Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
Rutgers University, LSM/IAMDN Seminar. November 9, 2017.
Stony Brook University, Biomedical Engineering Seminar Series, October 25, 2017.
10th Low-Dimensional Nanoscale Electronic and Photonic Devices Symposium, The 232th Electrochemical Society Meeting, October 1-6, 2017. National Harbor, MD.
Telluride Workshop on Nanomaterials: Computation, Theory, and Experiment, July 11-15, 2017. Telluride, CO.
Telluride Workshop on the Defect Chemistry and Physics of Low-dimensional Materials, July 11-15, 2017. Telluride, CO.
Symposium “Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices” The 231th Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 28-June 2, 2017. New Orleans, LA.
The Engineering Sustainability Workshop, University of Maryland, April 25, 2017.
Nanotechnology and Nanosciences Session, Nanoworld Conference, April 3-5, 2017. Boston, MA.
Army Research Laboratory, July 28, 2016.
Xiamen University, July 15, 2016.
23rd International Workshop on Active -Matrix Flatpanel Displays and Devices, July 6-8, 2016. Kyoto, Japan.
University of Tokyo, July 5, 2016.
B03 Symposium “Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices” The 229th Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 29-June 3, 2016. San Diego, CA.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York. January 8, 2016.
E2S Energy Summit, the 228th Electrochemical Society Meeting, October 11-16, 2015. Phoenix, AZ.
Symposium on Solid-State Electronics and Photonics in Biology and Medicine, the 228th Electrochemical Society Meeting, October 11-16, 2015. Phoenix, AZ.
Milliken Research, South Carolina. September 25, 2015.
4th Emerging Information and Technology Association Young Investigator Forum: Leadership, Innovation, and Growth. August 6-7, 2015. MIT, Cambridge, MA.
Telluride Workshop on Nanomaterials: Computation, Theory, and Experiment, June 29 – July 3, 2015. Telluride, CO.
Energy Materials and Nanotechnology Qingdao Meeting. June 14-17, 2015. Qingdao, China.
Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices Symposium, the 227th Electrochemical Society Meeting, May 24-28, 2015. Chicago, IL.
NIST, Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division, March 17, 2015.
APS National Meeting, Focus Session: At the Interface between Molecules and Materials, March 2-6, 2015. San Antonio, Texas.
Carbon Nanotubes – From Fundamentals to Devices Symposium, the 225th Electrochemical Society Meeting, Orlando, FL. May 11-16, 2014.
Defense Threat Reduction Agency, CB Tech Watch Platform Seminar, November 13, 2013.
Symposium on Cluster Sciences in Honor of Professor Lan-sun Zheng, Xiamen University, October 22, 2013. Xiamen, China.
Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Chemistry, November 7, 2013.
University of Colorado, Boulder, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, September 30, 2013.
Department of Energy Energy Frontier Research Center Principal Investigators’ Meeting, July 18-19, 2013. Washington, DC.
Telluride Workshop on the Chemistry and Physics of Defects in Carbon Nanotubes, July 8-12, 2013. Telluride, CO.
The 8th Sino-US symposium on Nanoscale Science and Technology, June 28-30, 2013. Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Tsinghua University, Department of Chemistry Colloquium, June 27, 2013.
Peking University, Department of Chemistry, Nanochemistry Forum, June 26, 2013.
1st International Symposium on Nanocarbons, June 16-21, 2013. Hefei, China (keynote speaker).
UC Davis, Department of Chemistry. May 7, 2013.
UC Santa Cruz, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. May 6, 2013.
Membrane Technology Research, Inc. May 1, 2013.
Stanford University, Department of Chemistry, Physical Chemistry Seminar, April 29, 2013.
Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, April 26, 2013.
North Carolina State University, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, April 19, 2013.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Chemistry, April 18, 2013.
Duke University, Department of Chemistry, April 16, 2013.
Rice University, Department of Chemistry, March 26, 2013.
MIT, Department of Chemical Engineering, March 15, 2013.
Boston College, Department of Chemistry, March 14, 2013.
University of Pittsburgh, Department of Chemistry, March 7, 2013.
Rutgers, Department of Chemistry Colloquium, March 5, 2013.
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Chemistry, October 2, 2012.
University of Central Florida, Department of Chemistry, April 19, 2012.
The 7th Sino-US symposium on Nanoscale Science and Technology, June 8-11, 2012. Xiamen, China.
Villa Conference on Energy Materials Nanotechnology, April 16-20, 2012. Orlando, Florida, United States.
University of Florida, Department of Chemistry, Analytical Division Seminar, April 11, 2012.
Nano-2012: International Conference & Exhibition on Nanotechnology & Nanomedicine, March 12-14, 2012. Omaha, United States.
Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD. February 17, 2012.
Seoul National University, Department of Physics, Korea. January 19, 2012.
The 3rd KAIST-UMD Symposium on Emerging Physical and Bio-Science, Jan 15 – 18, 2012. KAIST, Korea.
International Semiconductor Device Research Symposium, December 7-9, 2011. College Park, MD, United States.
242nd ACS National Meeting & Exposition, Nanomanufacturing for Energy Symposium, August 28-September 1, 2011. Denver, Colorado.
Xiamen University, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, China. August 5, 2011.
Carbon 2011: Annual International World Conference on Carbon, July 24-29, 2011. Shanghai, China. “Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Challenges and Opportunities.” (keynote speaker).
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. July 27, 2011.
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. July 22, 2011.
Howard University, Department of Chemistry Colloquium, March 4, 2011.
Central Michigan University, Department of Chemistry Colloquium, October 4, 2010.
Nanotech 2010 Conference and Expo, June 21-25, 2010 (Anaheim, CA).
The ARL Fellows Symposium, “Nanomaterials: Science & Engineering.” Oct 8, 2009 (Aberdeen, Maryland, United States).
NIST, Biochemical Science Division, September 8, 2009.
5th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies, 28 June – 3rd July, 2009 (Singapore).
Nanotech 2009 Conference and Expo, May 3-7, 2009 (Houston, TX).
237th ACS National Meeting, March 22-26, 2009 (Salt Lake City, Utah).