Scientist, Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2004-2006)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington (2001-2003)
• Ph.D., Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China (2001)

• Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (2007)
• DOE’s Office of Science Early Career Scientist and Engineer Award (2007)
• Ranked No. 5 among the Top 100 Materials Scientists with the highest citations (2011)
• Ranked No. 62 among the Top 100 Chemists with the highest citations (2011)

• Co-organized 2012 APS/CNM/EMC User Meeting-Cross-facility Thematic Workshop A (Operando characterization of energy systems)
• Co-organized 2009 CNM User Meeting Workshop (Nanoscale heterostructures)
• Co-organized 2009 MRS Spring Meeting Symposium Y (Nanocrystalline materials as precursors for complex multifunctional structures through chemical transformations and self assembly)
• Serve on the Proposal Review Panel for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)
• Served on NSF proposal review panels (DMR)
• Serve on the Editorial Board of Materials Today
• Serve on the Advisory Editorial Board of Particle & Particle Systems Characterization, Frontiers of Materials Science

• Design and synthesis of nanostructures with tailored properties
• Development of in-situ synchrotron x-ray techniques for noninvasive probing reaction kinetics involved in nanoparticle synthesis
• Investigation of novel properties of the synthesized nanostructures in the context of nanophotonics, photocatalysis, sensing, and energy conversion/storage

As a chemist and materials scientist, I started to know the synchrotron x-ray techniques while I was establishing my independent research career at the Center of Nanoscale Mateirals, a neighbor user facility of the APS. Although my research activities were concentrated in nanomaterial synthesis, I had a lot of opportunities to discuss with the beamline scientists at APS regarding the potential applications of synchrotron x-ray techniques in the area of nanomaterials. In the past several years, I have used various APS beamlines, including 1-BM, 1-ID, 10-BM, 11-ID, 12-BM, 12-ID, 16-BM, 16-ID, and 32-ID to explore their capabilities as real-time probes of reaction kinetics and phase transition in nanomaterials. The promising outcomes strongly convinced me that the APS is an extremely important facility not only for traditional research areas but also for emerging topics in nanoscience. My goal is to serve as the users’ liaison with APS and to advocate APS to develop new capabilities for emerging research areas. My ultimate goal is to ensure the users can enjoy working at APS and carry out world-class science.