Dr. Hongyou Fan was named R&D Researcher of the Year for his pioneering work across chemical science, materials science, and nanotechnology. The research has advanced Department of Energy missions in science, energy, and national security for over two decades. The video below shows his acceptance speech at the 2025 R&D 100 Gala in Scottsdale.
His career output speaks for itself: 24 patents, now seven R&D 100 Awards, six Federal Laboratory Consortium Awards in Technology Transfer, and two co-founded companies, Lunano, LLC and Critical Materials, LLC. His foundational contributions to colloid chemistry, particularly in colloidal aggregation, dispersion, assembly, and synthesis through interfacial processes, have opened new applications in public health, energy sustainability, and national security. Among the most tangible: his research into photoactive porphyrin nanocrystals led to commercially available colloidal disinfectant solutions through Lunano, earning a 2024 FLC Technology Transfer Award.
More recently, Dr. Fan has led his team at Sandia in developing technology for extracting critical minerals from coal and coal ash: work that supports a domestic supply chain aligned with current federal priorities. He currently manages Sandia’s Geochemistry department, the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences Geoscience Program, and the Sandia office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Critical Minerals Program.
In accepting the award, Dr. Fan credited Sandia’s environment for fostering innovation and growth, and emphasized that the recognition reflected his team’s dedication and talent as much as his own. He also acknowledged the support of his family, particularly his wife.
