Founded in 2018, the Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Environment and Energy Catalysis is a provincial scientific research platform based on the Key Discipline of Industrial Catalysis of Nanchang University, focusing on environmental protection and clean energy catalysis. The lab aims mainly at "environmental protection" and "energy transformation", two major issues that affect the survival and development of mankind, and is committed to understanding the mechanisms of catalytic reactions, designing and optimizing efficient catalysts and related technologies, and thereby promoting environmental protection and clean energy conversion processes. The lab attaches great importance to scientific research, the industrialization/transformation of experiment result, personnel training and open exchanges, aiming to build up a high-level and leading catalysis research center in Jiangxi Province, thus forming a talent training base to meet the needs of economic development in Jiangxi Province. Focusing on the country’s major strategic needs, and through the combination of basic research and engineering applications, the lab is committed to promoting the development of high-tech catalytic technology in Jiangxi Province and the transformation and application of its achievements, thus serving the need for value-added utilization of the advantage resources of Jiangxi Province, environmental protection, and clean energy development.

The lab has been carrying out a number of research projects, mainly in the following fields:

(1) Environment friendly or environmentally protective catalytic materials and technologies: Development of efficient catalysts for reducing pollutant emissions in chemical production processes, such as efficient catalysts for hydro-silane addition reactions; Development of practical catalysts for the treatment of air pollutants, such as NOx selective reduction, VOCs combustion and some other pollutants.

(2) High-value C1 resource transformation catalytic materials and technologies: converting C1 resource into useful chemicals or fuels, thus helping to achieve clean energy production and the “Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals”, such as the hydrogenation of CO2, the reforming of methane and methanol to produce hydrogen, the oxidative coupling of methane to produce ethylene, etc.

(3) Catalytic materials and technologies for fine chemical productions: Directed by the needs of fine chemical synthesis, we develop and optimize efficient catalysts to improve the yield of target products and achieve environmentally friendly chemical processes, such as green chemical synthesis through biomass conversion, catalytic conversion of aromatics and alkynes, asymmetric synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates, etc.

(4) Novel energy-conversion catalytic materials and technologies: The development and optimization of energy-conversion catalysts and related technologies, such as photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photoelectric catalytic conversion, etc.

The lab institutes a director-in-charge responsibility system under the leadership of Nanchang University, and has an operating mechanism characterized by its "Openness, Flexibility, Cooperation and Competition", with 1 director, 2 deputy directors, 1 secretary and 4subdirectors of different research fields in charge. The management committee is composed of the director, deputy director and main academic leaders of each research field, and is responsible for the daily management and operation of the laboratory according to the regulations of the key laboratory. Scholars of national prestige were invited to form an academic committee to monitor the research direction and fields, review and supervise major academic activities and construction issues; An office was set up to coordinate the daily work and the opening of the lab for public use.

At present, the Key Lab has 2200 square meters of experimental rooms and large-scale instruments and equipment worth 28.36 million yuan. Over the past 5 years, members of the laboratory have presided over 23 National Natural Science Foundation reserch projects and 22 provincial projects such as provincial key fund and support plans, with a total funding of 16.625 million yuan; 18 industrial projects, with a cumulative funding of more than 6.352 million yuan. The lab members have published 171 SCI-indexed papers, including 95 top-journal papers, and 3 academic books. The lab members have been authorized 24 Chinese invention patents, and some of the patented technologies have been put into industrialization, and generated considerable profits. The lab members have been awarded 5 Provincial Second Prize. The lab has also trained 11 Provincial Talents such as in the "Double-Thousand Plan" of Jiangxi Province, and employed 2 high-level talents with doctoral degree. In addition, 7 outstanding doctoral and master theses from the lab were rated as Excellent by the provincial educational bureau. The key lab is fully open, and the instrument resources are shared with the all scientists. During the operation period, the lab is closely cooperated with domestic and foreign researchers. After the first-stage construction, the research level of the industrial catalysis discipline of Nanchang University has been effectively improved, which has reached the national level of advancement comprehensively, and in some fields has reached the international level of advancement. Its influence at home and abroad has been further expanded and recognized by scientists working at the same fields. In 2022, the lab has sponsored the "11th National Symposium on Catalyst Preparation Science and Technology". More importantly, based on the key laboratory platform, with industrial catalysis discipline as the main body, a first-level doctoral program of Chemical Engineering and Technology was established in 2021.