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

2017-2024 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 U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award

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., Chandrasekaran S., Eisenberg S., Althaus C., Freyman M. C., Pinongcos A., Ren Q., Valdovinos L., Hsieh C., Hu B., Dunn B., Orme C. A., Wang X., Worsley M. A., Li Y. Interface-Controlled Redox Chemistry in Aqueous Mn²⁺/MnO₂ Batteries, Advanced Materials, (2025) accepted.
2. Ren Q., Feng L. S., Tran C., Eisenberg S., Xue X., Pinongcos A., Duoss E., Zhu C., Li Y. Interpenetrating 3D Electrodes for High-Rate Alkaline Water Splitting, ACS Materials Letters, 6, 3705–3712 (2024)
3. Xue X., Feng L. S., Ren Q., Tran C., Eisenberg S., Pinongcos A., Valdovinos L., Hsieh C., Heo T. K., Worsley M. A., Zhu C., Li Y. Interpenetrated Structures for Enhancing Ion Diffusion Kinetics in Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices, Nano-Micro Letters, 16, 255 (2024)
4. 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)
5. 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) 
6. Chandrasekaran S., Lin D., Li Y., Worsley M. A. Aerogels, Additive Manufacturing, and Energy Storage, Joule, 7, 1-18 (2023) 
7. 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, Advanved Energy Materials, 2300408 (2023)
8. Lin D. and Li Y. Recent Advances of Aqueous Rechargeable Zinc-Iodine Batteries: Challenges, Solutions, and Prospects, Advanced Materials, 2108856 (2022)
9. 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 Materials Letters, 4, 10, 1999–2008 (2022)
10. Kou T., Wang S. and Li Y. Perspective on High-Rate Alkaline Water Splitting, ACS Materials Letters, 3, 224-234 (2021)
11. Lin D., Rao D., Chiovoloni S., Wang S., Lu J. Q. and Li Y. Prototypical Study of Double-layered Cathodes for Aqueous Rechargeable Static Zn-I2 Batteries, Nano Lett., 21, 9, 4129–4135 (2021)
12. Yao B., Peng H., Zhang H., Kang J., Zhu C., Delgado G., Byrne D., Faulkner S., Freyman M., Lu X., Worsley M., Lu J. Q. and Li Y. Printing Porous Carbon Aerogels for Low-Temperature Supercapacitors, Nano Letters, 21, 9, 3731–3737 (2021)
13. Wang S., Kou T., Varley J., Akhade S., Weitzner S., Baker S., Duoss E. and Li Y. Cu2O/CuS Nanocomposites Show Excellent Selectivity and Stability for Formate Generation via Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide, ACS Materials Letters, 3, 100-109 (2021)
14. Kou T., Wang S., Shi R., Zhang T., Chiovoloni S., Lu J. Q., Chen W., Worsley M., Wood B. C., Baker S., Duoss E., Wu R., Zhu C. and Li Y. Periodic Porous 3D Electrodes Mitigate Gas Bubble Traffic during Alkaline Water Electrolysis at High Current Densities, Advanced Energy Materials, 10, 2002955 (2020) 
15. Kou T., Chen M., Wu F., Smart T., Wang S., Wu Y., Zhang Y., Li S., Lall S., Zhang Z., Liu Y., Guo J., Wang G., Ping Y. and Li Y. Carbon Doping Switching on the Hydrogen Adsorption Activity of NiO for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, Nature Communications, 11:590 (2020)
16. Yao B., Chandrasekaran S., Zhang H., Ma A., Kang J., Zhang L., Lu X.H., Qian F., Zhu C., Duoss E., Spadaccini C., Worsley M. and Li Y. 3D Printed Structure Boosts the Kinetics and Intrinsic Capacitance of Pseudocapacitive Graphene Aerogels, Advanced Materials, 1906652 (2020) 
17. Freyman M., Kou T., Wang S. and Li Y. 3D Printing of Living Bacteria Electrode, Nano Research, 13(5), 1318-1323 (2020)
18. Yao B., Chandrasekaran S., Zhang J., Xiao W., Qian F., Zhu C., Duoss E., Spadaccini C., Worsley M., Li Y. Efficient 3D Printed Pseudocapacitive Electrodes with Ultrahigh MnO2 Loading, Joule, 3, 459-470 (2019)
19. 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, Advanced Energy Materials, 8, 1703538 (2018)
20. Zhang F., Liu T., Li M., Yu M., Yang L., Tong Y., Li Y. Multi-scale Pore Network Boosts Capacitance of Carbon Electrodes for Ultrafast Charging, Nano Letters, 17, 3097-3104 (2017)
21. Zhu C., Liu T., Qian F., Han T., Duoss E., Kuntz J., Spadaccini C., Worsley M., Li Y.Supercapacitors Based on 3D Hierarchical Graphene Aerogels with Periodic Macropores, Nano Letters, 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