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Linxiao Chen

Assistant Professor

University of North Texas

Department of Chemistry

Email: Linxiao.Chen@unt.edu

Education

  • PhD, Indiana University, 2019
    Major: Chemistry

Professional Positions

    Academic - Post-Secondary

  • Assistant Professor, University of North Texas. University of North Texas. (2025 - Present).
  • Assistant Professor, The University of Akron. The University of Akron. (2023 - 2025).
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. (2019 - 2023).

Professional Memberships

  • American Institute of Chemical Engineers. (September 1, 2020 - Present).
  • North American Catalysis Society. (May 1, 2019 - Present).
  • American Chemical Society. (August 1, 2018 - Present).

Teaching

Teaching Experience

    University of North Texas

  • CHEM 1420 - General Chemistry II for Science Majors, 2 courses.
  • CHEM 6940 - Individual Research, 1 course.

Teaching at Other Institutions

  • The University of Akron, CHEE 330 Chemical Reaction Engineering, Spring 2025.
  • The University of Akron, CHEE 605 Chemical Reaction Engineering, Fall 2024.
  • The University of Akron, CHEE 330 Chemical Reaction Engineering, Spring 2024.
  • The University of Akron, CHEE 605 Chemical Reaction Engineering, Fall 2023.

Directed Student Learning

  • Master's Thesis Committee Chair, "Intrinsically Bifunctional and Tunable Tungsten Carbide Catalysts Enable Efficient PVC-Compatible Polyolefin Hydrocracking," Other - Outside UNT. (January 8, 2024 - December 10, 2025).

Awards and Honors

  • SLAC User Meeting Postdoc Presenter Award, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. (2022).
  • ACS National Meeting & Exhibition Student Poster Award, American Chemical Society. (2018).
  • Graduate and Professional Student Government Travel Award, Indiana University. (2018).
  • ChemGRC Travel Award, Indiana University. (2017).
  • Graduate Student Travel Award, Indiana University. (2017).
  • Robert & Marjorie Mann Fellowship, Indiana University. (2017).
  • Outstanding Associate Instructor Award, Indiana University. (2016).
  • Leo KoGuan Scholarship, Peking University. (2011).

Research

Published Intellectual Contributions

    Journal Article

  • Amagbor, S.C., Maruf, A.A., Adesope, Q., Khan, M.H., R Mudiyanselage, R., Pudasaini, A., Ashrafian, A., Dhungana, M., Sonnier, K., Chen, L., Golden, T.D., Ma, S., Kelber, J. (2026). Effects of Nonstoichiometry on the Ambient Oxidation of Cubic Mo2C and Impact on CO Hydrogenation. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.5c07904
  • Nwachukwu, U.C., Moegling, M.J., Perera, S.M., Pathan, A.N., Chen, J., Rezvani, F., Vannante Valappil, A.R., Zhou, C., Rahman, L., Liu, J., Kim, S., Eagan, J.M., Deshpande, S., Porosoff, M.D., Chen, L. (2025). Intrinsically Bifunctional and Tunable Tungsten Carbide Catalysts Enable Efficient PVC-Compatible Polyolefin Hydrocracking. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 147 (52) 47963-47976. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c11845
  • Chen, L., Moore, C.G., Umhey, C.E., Perez-Aguilar, J.E., Hong, J., Hoffman, A.S., Thorpe, R.M., Moreira, J.B., Kovarik, L., Bare, S.R., Raugei, S., McEwen, J., Szanyi, J. (2025). Tuning Catalytic Reactivity via Wetting Control through Oxygen Vacancies: Ru Clusters on Anatase TiO2 and CeO2 Supports. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 147 (35) 31779-31790. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c08781
  • Chen, G., Zhang, H., Sun, Y., Tao, J., Chen, L., Van Geem, K.M., Li, N., Cheng, Z., Yan, B. (2025). Photooxidation-pyrolysis coupling: A breakthrough for sustainable recycling of photocured waste with reduced toxicity. Chemical Engineering Journal. 518 164867. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.164867
  • Uchagawkar, A., Ramanathan, A., Zhu, H., Chen, L., Hu, Y., Douglas, J., Mais, M., Kobayashi, T., Subramaniam, B. (2024). Insights into Dopant-Mediated Tuning of Silica-Supported Mo Metal Centers for Enhanced Olefin Metathesis. ACS Catalysis. 14 (11) 8317-8329. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c01700
  • Chen, L., Meira, D., Kovarik, L., Szanyi, J. (2024). Hydrogen Spillover Is Regulating Minority Rh1 Active Sites on TiO2 in Room-Temperature Ethylene Hydrogenation. ACS Catalysis. 14 (10) 7369-7380. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.4c00482
  • Chen, L., Moreira, J.B., Meyer, L.C., Szanyi, J. (2023). Efficient and selective dual-pathway polyolefin hydro-conversion over unexpectedly bifunctional M/TiO2-anatase catalysts. Other. 335 122897. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926337323005404
  • Song, I., Koleva, I.Z., Aleksandrov, H.A., Chen, L., Heo, J., Li, D., Wang, Y., Szanyi, J., Khivantsev, K. (2023). Ultrasmall Pd Clusters in FER Zeolite Alleviate CO Poisoning for Effective Low-Temperature Carbon Monoxide Oxidation. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 145 (50) 27493-27499. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c08916
  • Chen, L., Allec, S.I., Nguyen, M., Kovarik, L., Hoffman, A.S., Hong, J., Meira, D., Shi, H., Bare, S.R., Glezakou, V., Rousseau, R., Szanyi, J. (2023). Dynamic Evolution of Palladium Single Atoms on Anatase Titania Support Determines the Reverse Water–Gas Shift Activity. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 145 (19) 10847-10860. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c02326
  • Khivantsev, K., Jaegers, N.R., Aleksandrov, H.A., Song, I., Pereira-Hernandez, X.I., Engelhard, M.H., Tian, J., Chen, L., Motta Meira, D., Kovarik, L., Vayssilov, G.N., Wang, Y., Szanyi, J. (2023). Single Ru(II) Ions on Ceria as a Highly Active Catalyst for Abatement of NO. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 145 (9) 5029-5040. American Chemical Society (ACS). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c09873
  • Chen, L., Kovarik, L., Meira, D., Szanyi, J. (2022). Differentiating and Understanding the Effects of Bulk and Surface Mo Doping on CO2 Hydrogenation over Pd/Anatase-TiO2. ACS Catalysis. 12 (21) 13492-13500. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c03181
  • Chen, L., Meyer, L.C., Kovarik, L., Meira, D., Pereira-Hernandez, X.I., Shi, H., Khivantsev, K., Guti\'errez, Oliver Y., Szanyi, J. (2022). Disordered, Sub-Nanometer Ru Structures on CeO2 are Highly Efficient and Selective Catalysts in Polymer Upcycling by Hydrogenolysis. ACS Catalysis. 12 (8) 4618-4627. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.2c00684
  • Chen, L., Zhu, Y., Meyer, L.C., Hale, L.V., Le, T.T., Karkamkar, A., Lercher, J.A., Gutiérrez, O.Y., Szanyi, J. (2022). Effect of reaction conditions on the hydrogenolysis of polypropylene and polyethylene into gas and liquid alkanes. Other. 7 (4) 844-854. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). https://doi.org/10.1039/d1re00431j
  • Liu, Y., Chen, L., Zhang, W., Liu, H. (2022). Recyclable Cu Salt-Derived Brønsted Acids for Hydrolytic Hydrogenation of Cellulose on Ru Catalyst. Other. 4 (9) 3162-3169. Chinese Chemical Society. https://doi.org/10.31635/ccschem.021.202101506
  • Ali, I.S., Chen, L., Rezvani, F., Zhou, X., Tait, S.L. (2022). Tuning coordinated supported catalysts: Carboxylic acid-based ligands to improve ceria-supported Pt catalysts for hydrosilylation. Other. 639 118634. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2022.118634
  • Chen, L., Ali, I.S., Sterbinsky, G.E., Zhou, X., Wasim, E., Tait, S.L. (2021). Ligand-coordinated Ir single-atom catalysts stabilized on oxide supports for ethylene hydrogenation and their evolution under a reductive atmosphere. Other. 11 (6) 2081-2093. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). https://doi.org/10.1039/d0cy01132k
  • Chen, L., Kovarik, L., Szanyi, J. (2021). Temperature-Dependent Communication between Pt/Al2O3 Catalysts and Anatase TiO2 Dilutant: the Effects of Metal Migration and Carbon Transfer on the Reverse Water–Gas Shift Reaction. ACS Catalysis. 11 (19) 12058-12067. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.1c03133
  • Chen, L., Unocic, R.R., Hoffman, A.S., Hong, J., Braga, A.H., Bao, Z., Bare, S.R., Szanyi, J. (2021). Unlocking the Catalytic Potential of TiO2-Supported Pt Single Atoms for the Reverse Water–Gas Shift Reaction by Altering Their Chemical Environment. Other. 1 (7) 977-986. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.1c00111
  • Zhou, X., Sterbinsky, G.E., Wasim, E., Chen, L., Tait, S.L. (2021). Tuning Ligand‐Coordinated Single Metal Atoms on TiO2 and their Dynamic Response during Hydrogenation Catalysis. ChemSusChem. 14 (18) 3635-3635. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202101640
  • Zhou, X., Chen, L., Sterbinsky, G.E., Mukherjee, D., Unocic, R.R., Tait, S.L. (2020). Pt-Ligand single-atom catalysts: tuning activity by oxide support defect density. Other. 10 (10) 3353-3365. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). https://doi.org/10.1039/c9cy02594d
  • Engelhard, M.H., Baer, D.R., Chen, L. (2020). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data from lightly Pd doped TiO2 anatase nanoparticles. Other. 27 (2) American Vacuum Society. https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0000407
  • Nelson, N.C., Chen, L., Meira, D., Kovarik, L., Szanyi, J. (2020). In Situ Dispersion of Palladium on TiO2 During Reverse Water–Gas Shift Reaction: Formation of Atomically Dispersed Palladium. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 59 (40) 17657-17663. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202007576
  • Chen, L., Ali, I.S., Tait, S.L. (2020). Bidentate N‐based Ligands for Highly Reusable, Ligand‐coordinated, Supported Pt Hydrosilylation Catalysts. Other. 12 (13) 3576-3584. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202000085
  • Chen, L., Agrawal, V., Tait, S.L. (2019). Sulfate promotion of selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide by ammonia on ceria. Other. 9 (8) 1802-1815. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cy02590h
  • Chen, L., Ali, I.S., Sterbinsky, G.E., Gamler, J.T., Skrabalak, S.E., Tait, S.L. (2019). Alkene Hydrosilylation on Oxide‐Supported Pt‐Ligand Single‐Site Catalysts. Other. 11 (12) 2843-2854. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.201900530
  • Chen, L., Sterbinsky, G.E., Tait, S.L. (2018). Synthesis of platinum single-site centers through metal-ligand self-assembly on powdered metal oxide supports. Journal of Catalysis. 365 303-312. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2018.07.004
  • Chen, L., McCann, J.P., Tait, S.L. (2018). A re-examination of the catalyst activation and temperature hysteresis in methane combustion on Pt/Al2O3. Other. 549 19-30. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2017.09.008

Presentations Given

    Invited Talk

  • Chen, L. (Coordinator/Organizer), ACS Fall 2025, It Matters to Clean TiO2: Lessons in Practical Catalysis Learned from UHV Surface Science, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, United States of America. (2025).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), ACS Fall 2025, Structure and Reactivity of Ru Clusters on Reducible Oxides: Responsible Hypothesis Testing Combining XAS with other Techniques, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, United States of America. (2025).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), Invited Seminar, Hydrogenative C−C Cleavage over Heterogeneous Catalysts for Polyolefin Recycling: Structure-Function Relationships and Reaction Mechanisms, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, United States of America. (2025).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), ACS Central Regional Meeting, Upcycling PVC-Mixed Polyolefin by Hydrocracking over Tungsten-Carbide (WxC) Catalysts, American Chemical Society, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), Invited Seminar, Catalytic Polymer Recycling: Familiar Chemistry with Unfamiliar Challenges, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, United States of America. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), Pittsburgh-Cleveland Catalysis Club Annual Meeting, Learning Fundamental Surface Science from a Complex Reaction: Ru Structure Regulated by Reducible Oxide Surfaces, North American Catalysis Society, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Presenter), Invited Seminar, Perspectives on My Unexpected Ride into Academia, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States of America. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Presenter), CenTiRe Advisory Board Meeting, Understanding Catalysis Science for Sustainability, Centire for Tire Research (CenTiRe), Akron, OH, United States of America. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), Invited Seminar, Understanding Dynamic Coordination Environment of Single-Atom Catalysts (SACs), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, United States of America. (2023).
  • Chen, L. (Author & Presenter), Invited Seminar, Understanding Catalytic Active Sites with In-Situ X-Ray Spectroscopy, Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL, United States of America. (2023).

    • Lecture

  • Chen, L. (Presenter), Sustainability (Course), Catalytic Recycling of Polyolefin Plastics: Familiar Chemistry with Unfamiliar Challenges, Purdue University, Virtual, United States of America. (2025).

    • Panel Presentation

  • Chen, L. (Panelist), SLAC X-Ray and Ultrafast Science Workshop, Idenfying Catalytic Active Species in a Sea of Spectators, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (DOE), Menlo Park, CA, United States of America. (2025).
  • Chen, L. (Panelist), NEXT Teaching Conference, Integrating Academic Research and Undergraduate Teaching, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States of America. (2024).

Contracts, Grants, Sponsored Research

    Fellowship

  • Chen, L. (Principal), "Developing Catalytic Processes for Polystyrene Upcycling as Solid Hydrogen Carrier," sponsored by The University of Akron, State, $10000 Funded. (2024 - 2025).

    • Grant - Research

  • Chen, L., "Leveraging Epitaxial Growth to Deconvolute Particle Size and Density Effects in Thermal Catalysis," sponsored by National Science Foundation, Federal, $328132 Funded. (2024).
  • Chen, L. (Principal), "Renewable Bio-Derived Styrene from the Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of Lignin Derivatives," sponsored by CenTiRe: NSF Industry University Collaborative Research Center, National, $210000 Funded. (2024 - 2025).
  • Chen, L., "Gas-Flow Systems for the Catalytic Upcycling of Plastic Waste," sponsored by Alicat Scientific, Private, $5000 Funded. (2023 - 2024).