Huiyuan Zhu has been recognized by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) as one of 35 recipients of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. The annual grants are made through the company’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program that provides funds to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty.

The recipients, each of whom is in the first two years of a tenure track position, will receive $5,000 in seed money for the 2020-2021 academic year to enhance their research during the early stages of their careers. Each recipient’s institution matches the ORAU award with an additional $5,000, making the total prize worth $10,000 for each winner. Winners may use the grants to purchase equipment, continue research or travel to professional meetings and conferences.

Zhu's proposal entitled " Multifunctional Nanoparticle-Ionic Liquid Assemblies for Advanced Electrocatalysis" is an early-stage effort that will develop an advanced electrocatalysis platform based on multifunctional nanoparticle-ionic liquid assemblies for sustainable energy and chemical production.  This project will allow us to explore a new class of nanomaterials for electrochemical CO2 reduction toward value-added products in unconventional nonaqueous systems.