Introduction

Dr. Gao received his B.S. in Physics from Peking University in China and holds Ph.D. in Materials Science Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and a visiting scholar in Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is an associate professor in Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He was an assistant professor in the department of materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University, prior to joining the SJTU faculty.

Gao’s research focuses on developing correlative in situ imaging techniques in state-of-the-art advanced Scanning/Transmission Electron Microscopy to study the dynamics of nanostructured catalyst, which bridges the atomic scale mechanisms with reaction and transformation in chemistry.  His expertise also includes advancing and applying four-dimensional electron microscopy at heterogeneous interfaces in functional oxide materials.

Gao has published more than 50 papers in Nature, Science and other reputed journals. Gao’s work has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Racheff-Intel Award for Graduate Research from the Univ. of Illinois, the 2012 Eric Samuel Award from the Microscopy Society of America, an Award of Invited Student Talk at the 2013 Argonne National Laboratory Annual User Meeting, the Racheff/Burnett Teaching Fellowship at Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Postdoctoral Award of 2019 and Albert Crewe Award of 2021, both from Microscopy Society of America.

Biographical Information

• Education

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign | Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering, 2015

Peking University, Beijing, China | Bachelor of Science in Physics, 2010

• Professional Appointments

Shanghai Jiao Tong University | Associate Professor, 07/2022

North Carolina State University | Asst Professor, Materials Science and Engineering,02/2020-07/2022   

• Professional Memberships

MRS, MSA, MAS

Research Interests

Complex oxide, advanced electron microscopy, catalyst

Selected Publications

1. Wenpei Gao, Christopher Addiego, Hui Wang, Xingxu Yan, Yusheng Hou, Dianxiang Ji, Colin Heikes, Yi Zhang, Linze Li, Huaixun Huyan, Thomas Blum, Toshihiro Aoki, Yuefeng Nie, Darrell Schlom, Ruqian Wu, Xiaoqing Pan, “Real-Space Charge-Density Imaging with Sub-Angstrom Resolution by Four-Dimensional Electron Microscopy.” Nature, 575 (2019): 480-484

2. Christopher Addiego, Wenpei Gao*, Huaixun Huyan, Xiaoqing Pan, “Atomic Resolution Visualization of Charge Density ” Nature Review Physics,  (2023): 117-132

3. Wenpei Gao. et al. “Atomistic insights into the nucleation and growth of platinum on palladium nanocrystals.” Nature Communications 12, (2021): 3215

4. Wang, S., Eldred, T. B., Smith, J. G.,  Wenpei Gao*. “AutoDisk: Automated diffraction processing and strain mapping in 4D-STEM” Ultramicroscopy 236, (2022):113513,

5. Eldred, T. B., Smith, J. G., Wenpei Gao*. “Polarization fluctuation of BaTiO3 at unit cell level mapped by four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy”  Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology 40, (2022): 013205

6. Wenpei Gao, Peter Tieu, Christopher Addiego, Yanling Ma, Jianbo Wu, Xiaoqing Pan, “Probing the dynamics of nanoparticle formation from a precursor at atomic resolution.” Science Advances, 5 (1) (2019): eaau9590

7. Wenpei Gao*, Yusheng Hou, Zach Hood, Xue Wang, Karren More, Ruqian Wu, Younan Xia, Xiaoqing Pan*, Miaofang Chi*, “Direct in Situ Observation and Analysis of the Formation of Palladium Nanocrystals with High-Index Facets.” Nano Letters, 18 (11) (2018): 7004-7013, DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02953, *co-corresponding author, selected as Editor’s Choice in ACS

8. Wenpei Gao, Zach Hood, Miaofang Chi, “Interfaces in Heterogeneous Catalyst: Advancing Mechanistic Understanding through Atomic-Scale Measurements.” Accounts of Chemical Research, 50(4) (2017): 787-795.

9. Wenpei Gao, Jianbo Wu, Aram Yoon, Ping Lu, Liang Qi, Jianguo Wen, Dean J. Miller et al. “Dynamics of Transformation from Platinum Icosahedral Nanoparticles to Larger FCC Crystal at Millisecond Time Resolution.” Scientific Reports 7, (2017): 17243.

10. Wenpei Gao, Shankar Sivaramakrishnan, Jianguo Wen, Jian-Min Zuo, “Direct Observation of Interfacial Au Atoms on TiO2 in Three-Dimensions”, Nano Letters, 15 (4) (2015): 2548-2554.

Honors & Awards

08/2021         Albert Crewe Award, Microscopy Society of America

08/2019         M&M Postdoctoral Scholar Award, Microscopy Society of America

05/2015         Racheff-Intel Award for Graduate Research, Dept. of MatSE, UIUC

05/2013         Award of Invited Student Talk, Argonne National Laboratory 2013 annul user meeting

01/2013         Racheff/Burnett Teaching Fellowship, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

04/2012         Eric Samuel Award of 2012, Microscopy Society of America

08/2012         Racheff/Burnett Teaching Fellowship, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

08/2010         Hamer Fellowship, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign