Dr. Xiao leads the Reaction Engineering & Catalysis Science Laboratory (RECSL, Xiao
Research Group), which focuses on catalytic science, reaction engineering, and multiscale
modeling to address challenges in methane activation, alkane dehydrogenation, COâ‚‚
conversion, and energy-efficient chemical processes. The group integrates experimental
catalysis, in-situ/operando spectroscopy, density functional theory (DFT), kinetic
modeling, and reactor-scale simulations to bridge fundamental mechanisms with practical
reactor design. The Xiao Research Group currently includes 1 Research Associate, 6
PhD students, and 8 undergraduate students. The group is funded by the U.S. National
Science Foundation (NSF), the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (ACS-PRF),
the 91¸£Àû Board of Regents (BoR), the 91¸£Àû Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE),
the 91¸£Àû Transportation Research Center (LTRC), the 91¸£Àû Materials Design
Alliance (LAMDA), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).