Affiliated Faculty

Summary of Expertise

Nanomaterials, photo- and electro-catalysis, supercapacitors and batteries, 3D printing, microbial fuel cells

Research Interests

The Li lab focuses on the rational design and fabrication of functional nanomaterials, which could serve as versatile platforms to study fundamental science questions and open up new opportunities for technologies. We seek to understand the chemical and physical properties of these nanomaterials and to explore their potential applications in catalysis, energy conversion, and energy storage.

Biography, Education and Training

B.Sc. (1999), Ph.D. (2002), The University of Hong Kong
Postdoctoral Fellow (2002-2003), The University of Hong Kong
Postdoctoral Fellow (2003-2007), Harvard University

Honors, Awards and Grants

2017-2021  Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Analytics)

2018  CAPA Distinguished Faculty Award (Chinese-American Chemistry & Chemical Biology Professors Association)

2012, 2013 Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences

2009-2014  U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award

2009-2011  Senior Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Fudan University, China

2008-2010  Visiting Scientist Fellowship, National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

2003-2005  Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, Croucher Foundation, Hong Kong

2002  Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund, Hong Kong

2002  Li Po Chun Postgraduate Scholarship, The University of Hong Kong

Selected Publications

1. Prototypical Study of Double-layered Cathodes for Aqueous Rechargeable Static Zn-I2 Batteries, Nano Lett., 21, 9, 4129–4135 (2021)

2. Printing Porous Carbon Aerogels for Low-Temperature Supercapacitors, Nano Lett., 21, 9, 3731–3737 (2021)

3. Cu2O/CuS Nanocomposites Show Excellent Selectivity and Stability for Formate Generation via Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide, ACS Mater. Lett., 3, 100-109 (2021)

4. Periodic Porous 3D Electrodes Mitigate Gas Bubble Traffic during Alkaline Water Electrolysis at High Current Densities, Adv. Energy Mater., 10, 2002955 (2020) 

5. Carbon Doping Switching on the Hydrogen Adsorption Activity of NiO for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, Nat. Commun., 11:590 (2020)

6. 3D Printed Structure Boosts the Kinetics and Intrinsic Capacitance of Pseudocapacitive Graphene Aerogels, Adv. Mater., 1906652 (2020) 

7. 3D Printing of Living Bacteria Electrode, Nano Research, 13(5), 1318-1323 (2020)

8. Ni Foam Supported Fe-doped β-Ni(OH)2 Nanosheets Shows Ultralow Overpotential for Oxygen Evolution Reaction, ACS Energy Lett., 4, 622-628 (2019)

9. Efficient 3D Printed Pseudocapacitive Electrodes with Ultrahigh MnO2 Loading, Joule, 3, 459-470 (2019)

10. Theoretical and Experimental Insight into the Effect of Nitrogen Doping on Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Ni3S2 in Alkaline Medium, Adv. Energy Mater., 1703538 (2018)

11. Engineering of Mesoscale Pores in Balancing Mass Loading and Rate Capability of Hematite Films for Electrochemical Capacitors, Adv. Energy Mater., 8, 1801784 (2018)

12. Ostwald Ripening Improves Rate Capability of High Mass Loading Manganese Oxide for Supercapacitors, ACS Energy Lett., 2, 1752-1759 (2017)

13. Multi-scale Pore Network Boosts Capacitance of Carbon Electrodes for Ultrafast Charging, Nano Lett., 17, 3097-3104 (2017)

14. Supercapacitors Based on 3D Hierarchical Graphene Aerogels with Periodic Macropores, Nano Lett., 16, 3448-3456 (2016)