Xin Chen’s research focuses on electrochemical materials, methods and systems. His group develops saltwater electrodes, seawater electrolyzers and related electrochemical platforms that enable carbon-negative hydrogen production, scalable CO2 removal and resource recovery from complex aqueous streams. He also advances high-throughput electrochemical characterization methods to accelerate the discovery of catalysts and functional materials, and to study corrosion mechanisms and materials degradation in nuclear environments.

Before joining UCF, Xin was a co-founder of Equatic, where he helped develop seawater electrolysis-based CO2 removal technologies and facilities. Previously, he was a postdoctoral scholar and research engineer at UCLA. He holds a doctorate in materials engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a master's degree in materials science form the Illinois Institute of Technology.

• Bouissonnié, A.**, Chen, X.**, Qi, Z., Collin, M., Zinkle. S.J., Le Pape, Y., Rodriguez, E.T., Bauchy, M., and Sant, G., Radiation damages the silicates present in polyphasic mineral aggregates causing concrete’s degradation. npj Materials Degradation 2025, 9, 142.


• Qi, Z., Chen, X., Bouissonnié, A., Rodriguez, E.T., Le Pape, Y., Crespillo, M.L., Sant, G. and Zinkle, S.J., Investigation of ion irradiation effects on mineral analogues of concrete aggregates. Journal of Nuclear Materials 2025, 605, p.155539.


• US Patent US12247303B2, 2025: Oxygen selective anodes


• US Patent US20230124711A1, 2024: Seawater electrolysis enables Mg(OH)2 production and CO2 mineralization


• Leão, A., Collin, M., Ghodkhande, S., Bouissonnié, A., Chen, X., Malin, B., Liu, Y., Hovey, G., Govindhakannan, J., Plante, E.L. and Jassby, D., ZeroCAL: Eliminating Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Limestone’s Decomposition to Decarbonize Cement Production. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 2024, 12(43), pp.15762-15787.


• Chen, X., Pozuelo, M., Gussev, M., Chancey, M., Wang, Y., Balonis, M., Bauchy, M. and Sant, G., Microstructurally resolved electrochemical evolution of mechanical-and irradiation-induced damage in nuclear alloys. npj Materials Degradation 2024, 8(1), p.84.


• Im, S., Jung, B., Wang, X., Wu, J., Xiao, M., Chen, X., et al. "High-Efficiency Recovery of Acetic Acid from Water Using Electroactive Gas-Stripping Membranes." Environmental Science & Technology 2023, 57, 27, 10096–10106.


• La Plante, E.C., Chen, X., Bustillos, S., et al. "Electrolytic Seawater Mineralization and the Mass Balances That Demonstrate Carbon Dioxide Removal." ACS ES&T Engineering 2023, 3, 7, 955–968.