Assistant Professor Jie Shen

Biographical Information
Dr. Jie Shen has been a postdoctoral researcher at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) since 2018. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Nanjing Tech University in 2018 and was a visiting researcher in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley from 2017 to 2018. His research in nanochannels and membranes has been published in journals such as Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Reviews Materials, Science Advances, and Angewandte Chemie. Additionally, he holds a patent related to membrane-based CO2 capture. Dr. Shen is the recipient of the North American Membrane Society (NAMS) Young Membrane Scientist Award and the European Membrane Society (EMS) Conference Fee Award for Young Academics. He has been recognized as one of the Global Top 2% Most-Cited Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier (2023 & 2022). He also received the American Chemical Society (ACS, Shanghai Chapter) Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award and the Excellent Poster Award of the 10th International Congress on Membranes and Membrane Processes (ICOM2014).

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Current Research Interests
Dr. Jie Shen's current research is centered on the molecular-level designing and understanding of channels and membranes for energy-efficient separation, ionic sieving, carbon capture, and clean water production. Through developing advanced channel materials, the future research will explore potential interdisciplinary innovations across various applications such as smart sensors, catalysis, batteries, and bioelectronics, where channels or membranes can serve as key components. Harnessing channels and membranes as versatile platforms, the Shen Group @ NTU, Singapore, is dedicated to advancing the next-generation sustainable technologies to address challenges related to energy, environment, and healthcare.  

Selected Publications

  1. J. Shen†, Y. Cai†, C. Zhang†, W. Wei† et al. Fast water transport and molecular sieving through ultrathin ordered conjugated-polymer-framework membranes. Nature Materials, 21 (2022) 1183–1190.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-022-01325-y

  2. J. Shen, G. Liu, Y. Han, and W. Jin*. Artificial channels for confined mass transport at the sub-nanometre scale. Nature Reviews Materials, 6 (2021), 294–312.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-020-00268-7

  3. L. Chen†, G. Shi†, J. Shen† (co-first author), B. Peng† et al. Ion sieving in graphene oxide membranes via cationic control of interlayer spacing, Nature, 550 (2017) 380–383.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24044


Openings for PhD Students and Research Fellows

  • We warmly welcome creative, dedicated, and highly motivated individuals to join our laboratory! Prospective PhD students, Postdoctoral Fellows, Visiting Scholars, Research Assistants, and Master/Undergraduate research students with a keen interest in channels and membranes are encouraged to apply. Currently, we are particularly interested in candidates with research experience in 2D materials or nanoporous materials synthesis, nanofluidics, membrane separation, electrochemistry, and related fields.
  • PhD candidates will be able to join in August 2025, while other individuals, including Postdoctoral Fellows, Visiting Scholars, Research Assistants, and Master/Undergraduate research students, are welcome to join our lab starting January 2025.
  • Interested candidates can directly apply by contacting Dr. Shen at [email protected]