Professor Gang Pan, FRSC

Research

I am considered a founding member of Geoengineering for Lake Restoration. I am a pioneer in developing cost-effective and safe technologies for controlling harmful algal blooms in aquatic ecological restoration, as well as fundamental surface adsorption theories, and applying synchrotron techniques in environmental and geochemical sciences. I am also a pioneer in the study of nanobubbles and their applications in environmental protection. My current research focuses on establishing the iWEF framework (Integrated Water-Energy-Food studies), where pollutants in water and soil can be cleaned up and turned into biofuel, electricity, and anti-toxin biochar (for agro-food safety) through innovative technologies. 

I have published 440 peer-reviewed papers, with a total citation count of 13,500 (Google Scholar) and an H-Index of 60 (Scopus). I have been PI in more than 15 UK NERC grants, Chinese National Key projects, and NNSF grants on environmental sciences with research grant income in excess of £20 million. I supervised or participated in ten additional industrial water projects as a patent inventor/technical advisor, valued at over RMB 20 million. I was awarded the 1st Prize of the “Dayu Award” (a Chinese national prize in hydrology and ecology) in 2017, the 1st Prize of the Chinese National Environmental Science and Technology Award in 2009, and the “Scientists of the Year” (a Chinese national annual award) in 2011. 

My primary academic achievement lies in the impact of my technological research on mitigating eutrophication and harmful algal blooms, sediment remediation, and aquatic ecological restoration, which has had a profound effect on academia, the economy, societal public health, the environmental industry, and water management policy. The nanobubble and Modified Local Soil (MLS) technologies have been commercialized and applied in large-scale lake restoration engineering projects in over 15 water bodies in China and Malaysia, resulting in more than 20 million RMB in revenue and new employment opportunities. Various expert panels, including central, provincial, and municipal Chinese authorities, have assessed and appraised the contingency and long-term sustainable effects of these projects. The impact of nanobubble-MLS technology on water management policy is evident in an independent report to the New Zealand government written by the Cawthron Institute (REPORT NO. 3629, A review of oxygen nanobubble technology for the restoration of degraded lakes, 2021). 

Nanobubble-MLS has been recognized as a groundbreaking technology among academia (A critical review on control methods for harmful algal blooms, Reviews in Aquaculture, 2019, 11, 661; Oxygen Nanobubbles for Lake Restoration—Where Are We at? A Review of a New-Generation Approach to Managing Lake Eutrophication, Water, 2022, 14,1989) and the general scientific community (The wonder-working bubbles that physics can't explain, New Scientist,  4 July 2012, by Michael Brooks; Big troubles over tiny bubbles, Chemistry World, 9 August 2012, by Philip Ball; Nanobubble Technology in Environmental Engineering: Revolutionization Potential and Challenges, Environmental Science & Technology, 2019, 53, 7175; Tackling the oceans’ dead zones, E+T Magazine, 18 May 2022, by Len Williams; Fighting algal blooms with chemistry, Chemistry World, 11 September 2023, by Barbara Pinho).

I have supervised over 80 PhD/MSc students and mentored many research staff who have become leading scholars in several countries.

Professional activities

I am actively involved with national and international research collaborators and knowledge exchange programs through the following activities.

• Plenary presentation, “Fine-bubble-based geoengineering methods for eutrophication control: harnessing harmful algal blooms for Integrated Water-Energy-Food (iWEF) Products”, Nanobubbles Science & Technology Conference, 3rd - 5th September 2025, Killashee Hotel, Naas, Ireland
• Chair and Plenary Presentation, “Progress in Lake Geo-Engineering Restoration”,  2024 Annual Conference of the Water Environment Branch, Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, 22-24 September 2024, Changchun, China
• Keynote presentation, “Harnessing Eutrophication for Integrated Water-Energy-Food (IWEF) Products” at 2nd International Conference on Environmental Sustainability Through Waste And Recycling, March 11-13, 2024, Boston, USA
• Keynote, “Oxygen nanobubbles for water/sediment pollution remediation and ecological restoration”, Goldschmidt 2023, Lyon, France, July 9 - 14, 2023
• Invited keynote, “Eutrophication control using natural geo-engineering materials: harvesting nutrients for integrated Water-Energy-Food (iWEF) products”, Goldschmidt 2022, Hawaii, US (2022)
• Invited keynote speaker, “Oxygen fine bubbles for water pollution control”, International Symposium on Plasma and Fine Bubbles (2022)
• Reviewer of the Science Fund of Serbia (2021)
• Chair and plenary speaker, MDPI webinar: Algal bloom control and lake restoration (2021)
• Plenary speaker, European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (USPP) Webinar: Challenges for waste-derived algae (2021)
• Guest Editor, Nanomaterials (2020)
• Honorary President, Jiangsu Jiuguan Institute of Environment and Resources (2020 to present)
• Reviewer for Irish Research Council (2020)
• Panel reviewer, Serbian National Science Foundation (2020)
• Invited plenary, 11th annual conference of Chinese Particle Society (2020)
• Associate Editor of Water (2019 to present)
• Vice President, Water Environment Committee, Chinese Society of Environment (2010 to 2019)
• Member of International Scientific Advisory Board, African Network of Scientists for Water and Environmental Research (2019)
• Invited plenary, INDO-UK workshop on Wastewater treatment: Approaches, management and capacity building (2019)
• Member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Sustainable Advisory Group (2018 to present)
• Referee for senior scientist promotion at CSIRO Land and Water in Australia (2018)
• Invited plenary, Nanobubble 2018/International Nanobubble Society (2018)
• Invited keynote, ACS symposium: Nanobubbles: A Sustainable Solution for Water Treatment and Agricultural Applications. The 256th National Meeting and Exposition, Boston, MA, USA (2018)
• Member of Academic Committee of SSRF National Science Center (Shanghai Synchrotron Facility, 2014 to 2018)
• Member of Scientific Committee, Attenborough National Trust, UK (2017 to present)
• Member of Chinese National Technical Committee of Fine Bubble Standardization (SAC/TC584) (2016 to present)
• Invited speaker, 5th Sustainable Phosphorus Summit 2016
• Founding member of Judge Panel for Reed Elsevier Environmental Challenge Prize (2012 to 2014)
• Chairman of Global Phosphorus Recycling Initiative (GPRI), international SCOPE (2014)
• Chief Scientist, Sino-EU Cooperation program, Natural Water Pollution Control (0911), Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), China (2009 to 2012)
• China Lead, Sino-UK Science Bridge Project, Research Council UK (RCUK), 2009 to 2011)
• Board member of the Chinese Society of Environmental Nanotechnology (2011 to present)
• Panel member of the National Science Foundation of China (2008 to 2010)
• International Expert Panel of Lake Tai program, Chinese Development and Reform Commission (NDRC, 2007)
• Deputy Chief Scientist, Chinese National Key Project, Meiliang Bay Lake Tai Water Quality Improvement, Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), 45 Million RMB, (2002 to 2007)
• Board member of Synchrotron Committee, Chinese Society of Physics (2003 to present)
• Member of Water Committee, Chinese Society of Limnology and Oceanography (2001 to 2008)

Publications

Recent publications

2025

• Zhang, Chuangqiang, Liang, Zejia , Lei, Yu, Huang, Yanming, Pan, Gangand Li, Yubin , (2025) Silver Nanoclusters Functionalized Entropy-Driven Catalytic Amplification for the Sensitive and Efficient Detection of 3,3',4,4'-Tetrachlorobiphenyl in Environmental Samples. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 13 (4). p. 117361.
• Shi, Haiyi, Chen, Ying, Zhao, Hui, Mortimer, Robert and Pan, Gang(2025) Impact of Tropical Cyclone on Coastal Phytoplankton Blooms and Underlying Mechanisms. Journal of Hydrology, 59 (10238).
• Tan, Xiao , Pan, Gang , Che, Wenxue, Man, Ying, Wang, Liyi, Li, Jinting and Zhao, Hui (2025) Adaptation responses of Dunaliella sp. and its natural symbiotic bacteria to sulfamethoxazole.Environmental Technology & Innovation, 38. p. 104171.
• Xiao, Xiao, Kang, Yuhua, Wang, Tuo, Zhao, Hui, Chen, Beibei, Luo, Shuliang, Li, Delin and Pan, Gang  (2025) Sulfur vacancy-rich ultrathin NiCo2Sx nanosheet arrays as a high-performance electrocatalytic reduction catalyst for nitrate to dinitrogen.Journal of Water Process Engineering, 71. p. 107190.

2024

• Xiaojun Song, Jiannan Ding, Yunbo Zhang, Mingda Zhu, Yi Peng, Zhenyu Wang, Gang Pan, Hua, New insights into changes in phosphorus profile at sediment-water interface by microplastics: Role of benthic bioturbation, Journal of Hazardous Materials, 2024, 469, 134047 (IF: 13.6) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134047
• Bangguo Wang, Lijing Wang, Wenxi Cen, Tao Lyu, Peter Jarvis, Yang Zhang, Yuanxun Zhang, Yinghui Han, Lei Wang, Gang Pan, Kaili Zhang, Wei Fan, Exploring a chemical input free advanced oxidation process based on nanobubble technology to treat organic micropollutants, Environmental Pollution, 2024, 340, 122877 (IF: 8.9) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122877
• RWWMUP Wanigasekara, Zhenqiu Zhang, Weiqiang Wang, Yao Luo, Gang Pan, Application of Fast MEEMD–ConvLSTM in Sea Surface Temperature Predictions, Remote Sensing, 2024, 16,2468 (IF: 4.2) https://doi.org/ 10.3390/rs16132468
• Zheng, Qiwen, Pan, Gang, Zhao, Hui and Tian, Kai, Regulation of winter river input on the nutrient structure of typical tropical bays around Leizhou Peninsula, South China. Ocean & Coastal Management, 2024, 256. p. 107272 (IF: 4.8) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2024.107272

All publications

For a complete publication list, visit Google Scholar:

Google Scholar Gang Pan FRSC