Throughout his career, Wang has predominately studied nanoclusters and solution-phase chemistry in the gas phase, focusing on the fundamental behaviors of nanoclusters using photoelectron spectroscopy and computational techniques. With his group, Wang has discovered golden bucky-balls and the smallest golden pyramid, as well as aromatic clusters and planar boron clusters. In addition, his group has pioneered spectroscopic studies in the gas-phase of free multiply-charged anions and solution-phase molecules, such as metal complexes, redox species, and biologically-relevant molecules. His group has also developed ion-trap techniques to create ultracold anions that allow high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy to be performed on complex molecules.
In 2014, Wang's a research team at Brown University showed that the structure of  was not only possible but highly stable. Photoelectron spectroscopy revealed a relatively simple spectrum, suggesting a symmetric cluster. Neutral B36 is the smallest boron cluster to have sixfold symmetry and a perfect hexagonal vacancy, and it can be viewed as a potential basis for extended two-dimensional boron sheets.
Wang has published over 530 articles, which have been featured in publications such as Nature Magazine, Science, Physical Review Letters, Angewandte Chemie, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.