Dr. Liang's major research focus is on developing promising uses for nanotechnology in enhanced oil recovery operations and other oilfield chemical applications in both conventional and unconventional reservoirs. Based on drug-delivery technologies from the pharmaceutical industry, his research group successfully developed a chemical delivery system that uses nanoparticles to entrap and protect the chemicals from the hostile underground environments. The current oilfield applications include delayed gelation for water shutoff and in-depth conformance control, delayed release of scale inhibitors to extend the treatment life time, wax and asphaltene inhibition for flow assurance, microbial enhanced hydrocarbon recovery, and fracture fluid cleanup.