Campus Directory

Division Physical & Biological Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Chemistry & Biochemistry Department

Title Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Chemistry
Material Science
Energy

Web Site

Primary Office Location Physical Sciences Building
160

Additional Location(s) Physical Sciences Bldg 160 (Office)
Physical Sciences Bldg 198 (Lab)

Mail Stop Chemistry

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

Summary of Expertise

Nanomaterials Synthesis; 3D printing; Electro- and Photoelectrochemical Catalysis; Supercapacitors and Batteries; Microbial Fuel Cells

Research Interests

The Li lab focuses on the rational design and fabrication of functional materials using a combination of conventional chemical synthesis methods and 3D printing techniques. These architected materials could serve as versatile platforms to study fundamental science questions and open up new technological opportunities. We seek to understand and tailor the physical/chemical properties of these materials for addressing challenges in climate change-related research directions, including carbon capture and utilization, electro-and photoelectrochemical catalysis, and energy storage (supercapacitors and batteries).

Awards, Honors and Grants

2017-2023  Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Analytics)

2022 Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC)

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. Xue X., Liu Z., Eisenberg S., Ren Q., Lin D., Coester E., Zhang H., Zhang J. Z., Wang X., Li Y. Regulated Interfacial Proton and Water Activity Enhances Mn2+/MnO2 Platform Voltage and Energy Efficiency, ACS Energy Letters, 8, 4658−4665 (2023)
2. Freyman M. C., Huang Z., Ravikumar D., Duoss E. B., Li Y., Baker S. E., Pang S. H., Schaidle J. A. Reactive CO2 Capture: A Path Forward for Process Integration in Carbon Management, Joule, 7, 631-651 (2023) 
3. Chandrasekaran S., Lin D., Li Y., Worsley M. A. Aerogels, Additive Manufacturing, and Energy Storage, Joule, 7, 1-18 (2023) 
4. Lin D., Chandrasekaran S., Forien J. B., Xue X., Pinongcos A., Coester E., Worsley M. A., Li Y. 3D-printed Graded Electrode with Ultrahigh MnO2 Loading for Non-aqueous Electrochemical Energy Storage, Adv. Energy Mater., 2300408 (2023)
5. Kou T., Wang S., Yang S., Ren Q., Ball R., Rao D., Chiovoloni S., Lu J., Zhang Z., Duoss E., Li Y. Amorphous CeO2-Cu Heterostructure Enhances CO2 Electroreduction to Multi-carbon Alcohols, ACS Mater. Lett., 4, 10, 1999–2008 (2022)
6. Kou T., Wang S. and Li Y. Perspective on High-Rate Alkaline Water Splitting, ACS Mater. Lett., 3, 224-234 (2021)
7. Prototypical Study of Double-layered Cathodes for Aqueous Rechargeable Static Zn-I2 Batteries, Nano Lett., 21, 9, 4129–4135 (2021)
8. Printing Porous Carbon Aerogels for Low-Temperature Supercapacitors, Nano Lett., 21, 9, 3731–3737 (2021)
9. Cu2O/CuS Nanocomposites Show Excellent Selectivity and Stability for Formate Generation via Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide, ACS Mater. Lett., 3, 100-109 (2021)
10. Periodic Porous 3D Electrodes Mitigate Gas Bubble Traffic during Alkaline Water Electrolysis at High Current Densities, Adv. Energy Mater., 10, 2002955 (2020) 
11. Carbon Doping Switching on the Hydrogen Adsorption Activity of NiO for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, Nat. Commun., 11:590 (2020)
12. 3D Printed Structure Boosts the Kinetics and Intrinsic Capacitance of Pseudocapacitive Graphene Aerogels, Adv. Mater., 1906652 (2020) 
13. 3D Printing of Living Bacteria Electrode, Nano Research, 13(5), 1318-1323 (2020)
14. Efficient 3D Printed Pseudocapacitive Electrodes with Ultrahigh MnO2 Loading, Joule, 3, 459-470 (2019)
15. Kou T., Smart T., Yao B., Chen I., Thota D., Ping Y., Li Y. Theoretical and Experimental Insight into the Effect of Nitrogen Doping on Hydrogen Evolution Activity of Ni3S2 in Alkaline Medium, Adv. Energy Mater., 8, 1703538 (2018)
16. Multi-scale Pore Network Boosts Capacitance of Carbon Electrodes for Ultrafast Charging, Nano Lett., 17, 3097-3104 (2017)
17. Supercapacitors Based on 3D Hierarchical Graphene Aerogels with Periodic Macropores, Nano Lett., 16, 3448-3456 (2016)

Courses CHEM 146C Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory
CHEM 164 Physical Chemistry Laboratory
CHEM 163A Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy
CHEM 268 Solid State and Material Chemistry