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, CO₂
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 Louisiana Board of Regents (BoR), the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium (LaSPACE),
the Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC), the Louisiana Materials Design
Alliance (LAMDA), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
