DrShuaifei Zhao

Dr Shuaifei Zhao is a leading separation scientist. He has been ranked top 0.2% in Chemical Engineering worldwide for 4 consecutive years (2022-2025), and recognised as a top 2% scientist for 6 consecutive years (2020-2025) by Stanford University/Elsevier. He is a research leader with rich R&D experience across Australia, Singapore, China and Japan in developing innovative separation technologies for environmental and energy applications. He is an editor of Separation and Purification Technology (IF: 9.1).

His expertise and research interests include various separation technologies for desalination, water treatment, water reuse, resources (e.g. energy, metals and nutrients) recovery, carbon capture and utilisation, and energy generation. He is doing interdisciplinary research involving environmental engineering, chemical engineering and materials engineering.

He has co-authored 1 book, 5 book chapters, 4 patents and over 190 refereed journal articles. He has successfully secured >$6M grants from the Australian government and industry, such as Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Academy of Science, Business Victoria, and Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

SUMMARY

Research Outputs: Career total: >200; last 5 years since 2021: 119; total citations: >13800 (Google Scholar).

Team Leader (mentoring & supervision):

Currently, I lead a team of 10 PhD students, 1 postdoc, 1 research assistant, 1 visiting professor, and 3 Honour project students. 

Research Grants: Currently I manage $1.6M funding as lead CI, e.g., 

      (1) ARC DP, Smart foliage: imparting intelligence to synthetic leaves, $250,000, April 2023 - April 2027; 

      (2) REACH Program: Electric modification of heavy vehicles for low-emission mining, $822,619, Dec 2024 - Jun 2027;

      (3) REACH Program: Advanced hard carbon anode materials for sodium-ion batteries, $457,687, July 2026 - Dec 2027;

      (4) REACH scholarship: Developing new materials for enhancing battery safety of electric heavy vehicles, $34,500, Oct 2024 - Apr 2028.

      (5) SEBE GROW grant: Water Quality, Health, and Education in Remote Aboriginal Communities, $12,400, July - Dec 2026.

Editorial Leadership: 

Editor of Separation and Purification Technology; Associate Editor of Frontiers in Chemistry; Editorial board member of Desalination, Membranes, Green Technologies and Sustainability, Environmental Functional Materials, Chinese Chemical Letters, Scientific Reports, Collagen and Leather.