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Materials Science
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Materials Science

D-Index
152
Citations
109941
World Ranking
143
National Ranking
59

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2013 - Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
  • 2005 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

Zhifeng Ren is affiliated with the University of Houston in the United States. Their research focuses primarily on the fields of Materials Science and Engineering, with significant work in subfields such as Materials Chemistry, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, and Civil and Structural Engineering.

Their main topics of study cover several specialized areas: advanced thermoelectric materials and devices, thermal properties of materials, electrocatalysts for energy conversion, advanced battery technologies research, thermal expansion and ionic conductivity, Heusler alloys regarding electronic and magnetic properties, and thermal radiation and cooling technologies.

Zhifeng Ren has published extensively in several academic venues. Frequent publication platforms include Materials Today Physics, SSRN Electronic Journal, Advanced Materials, Soft Science, and Nature Communications.

Their notable recent papers include the following:

  • "Ultrafast room-temperature synthesis of porous S-doped Ni/Fe (oxy)hydroxide electrodes for oxygen evolution catalysis in seawater splitting", 2020, Energy & Environmental Science
  • "Thermoelectric cooling materials", 2020, Nature Materials
  • "Heterogeneous Bimetallic Phosphide Ni2P-Fe2P as an Efficient Bifunctional Catalyst for Water/Seawater Splitting", 2020, Advanced Functional Materials
  • "Atypical Oxygen-Bearing Copper Boosts Ethylene Selectivity toward Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction", 2020, Journal of the American Chemical Society
  • "Efficient Alkaline Water/Seawater Hydrogen Evolution by a Nanorod-Nanoparticle-Structured Ni-MoN Catalyst with Fast Water-Dissociation Kinetics", 2022, Advanced Materials

Among frequent coauthors collaborating with Zhifeng Ren are Shaowei Song, Shuo Chen, Luo Yu, Fanghao Zhang, and Zhongxin Liang. Their collaborations emphasize joint research efforts within advanced materials and energy-related topics.

Zhifeng Ren has been recognized within the scientific community by being awarded fellowships, including Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2013 and Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2005.

Best Publications

  • Advances in the science and technology of carbon nanotubes and their composites: a review

    Erik T Thostenson;Zhifeng Ren;Tsu-Wei Chou

  • High-Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys

    Bed Poudel;Qing Hao;Yi Ma;Yucheng Lan

  • New Directions for Low-Dimensional Thermoelectric Materials**

    Mildred S. Dresselhaus;Gang Chen;Ming Y. Tang;Ronggui Yang

  • Synthesis of Large Arrays of Well-Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on Glass

    Z. F. Ren;Z. P. Huang;J. W. Xu;J. H. Wang

  • Bulk nanostructured thermoelectric materials: current research and future prospects

    A. J. Minnich;M. S. Dresselhaus;Z. F. Ren;G. Chen

  • Multiferroicity: the coupling between magnetic and polarization orders

    K. F. Wang;J. M. Liu;Z. F. Ren

  • Multiferroicity, The coupling between magnetic and polarization

    K. F. Wang;J. M. Liu;Z. F. Ren

  • Perspectives on thermoelectrics: from fundamentals to device applications

    Mona Zebarjadi;Keivan Esfarjani;M S Dresselhaus;Z. F. Ren

  • High-performance flat-panel solar thermoelectric generators with high thermal concentration

    Daniel Kraemer;Bed Poudel;Hsien Ping Feng;J. Christopher Caylor

  • Enhanced thermoelectric figure-of-merit in nanostructured p-type silicon germanium bulk alloys.

    Giri Joshi;Hohyun Lee;Yucheng Lan;Xiaowei Wang

  • Non-noble metal-nitride based electrocatalysts for high-performance alkaline seawater electrolysis

    Luo Yu;Qing Zhu;Shaowei Song;Brian McElhenny

  • Cu nanowires shelled with NiFe layered double hydroxide nanosheets as bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting

    Luo Yu;Luo Yu;Haiqing Zhou;Jingying Sun;Fan Qin

  • Glucose Biosensors Based on Carbon Nanotube Nanoelectrode Ensembles

    Yuehe Lin;Fang Lu;Yi Tu;Zhifeng Ren

  • High Performance Bifunctional Porous Non-Noble Metal Phosphide Catalyst for Overall Water Splitting

    Fang Yu;Fang Yu;Haiqing Zhou;Haiqing Zhou;Yufeng Huang;Jingying Sun

  • Hierarchical ZnO Nanostructures

    Jing Yu Lao;Jian Guo Wen;Zhi Feng Ren

  • Carbon nanotube/carbon fiber hybrid multiscale composites

    E. T. Thostenson;W. Z. Li;D. Z. Wang;Z. F. Ren

  • Visible-Light Photocatalytic Properties of Weak Magnetic BiFeO3 Nanoparticles

    Feng Gao;Xinyi Chen;Kuibo Yin;Shuai Dong

  • Enhancement of Thermoelectric Figure-of-Merit by a Bulk Nanostructuring Approach

    Yucheng Lan;Austin Jerome Minnich;Gang Chen;Zhifeng Ren

  • Efficient solar water-splitting using a nanocrystalline CoO photocatalyst

    Longb Liao;Qiuhui Zhang;Zhihua Su;Zhongzheng Zhao

  • Recent advances in thermoelectric nanocomposites

    Weishu Liu;Xiao Yan;Gang Chen;Zhifeng Ren

  • High Thermoelectric Performance of Nanostructured Bismuth Antimony Telluride Bulk Alloys.

    B. Poudel;Q. Hao;Y. Ma;A. Minnich

Frequent Co-Authors

Shuo Chen
Shuo Chen University of Houston
Yucheng Lan
Yucheng Lan Morgan State University
Weishu Liu
Weishu Liu Southern University of Science and Technology
Krzysztof Kempa
Krzysztof Kempa Boston College
Jiming Bao
Jiming Bao University of Houston
Jian Yu Huang
Jian Yu Huang Yanshan University
Jiehe Sui
Jiehe Sui Harbin Institute of Technology
Jianguo Wen
Jianguo Wen Argonne National Laboratory
Chuan Fei Guo
Chuan Fei Guo Southern University of Science and Technology

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