Research
Research
The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR) offers a compelling route to energy storage and high-value chemical manufacturing. It enables the use of increasingly abundant renewable energy to drive the conversion of CO2 to renewable fuels, base chemicals and feedstocks, like carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid (HCOOH), methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4), and ethanol (C2H5OH), which reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and helps to mitigate net CO2 emissions.
To improve the efficiency and selectivity of CO2RR, research has focused on the adjustment of the catalyst structure and composition, which tunes the activity and selectivity of the electrocatalysts. However, it is extremely important to understand the relationship between structural and catalytic properties due to continuous alterations of the structure, morphology, composition, and chemical state of the electrocatalysts during CO2RR. In-situ electrochemical Atomic Force Microscopy (EC-AFM) is a useful technique for observing the structural and morphological evolution of electrocatalysts during CO2RR. In this project, we will use in-situ EC-AFM to reveal what happens on the surface of electrocatalysts during the CO2 reduction process, in order to couple the catalyst structure to the performance under reaction conditions.
C.V.
C.V.
Oct. 2021 – present
Ph.D. candidate – Utrecht University – the Netherlands
Supervisors: Prof. dr. ir. Bert M. Weckhuysen & dr. Ward van der Stam
Sep. 2020 – Sep. 2021
Research assistant – Westlake University – P.R. China
Sep. 2017 – May 2020
MSc Materials Science – Northwestern Polytechnical University – P.R. China
Master thesis: Design and Synthesis of Gas Cathode for Li-CO2 Batteries
Supervisors: Prof. Bingqing Wei & Prof. Keyu Xie
Nov. 2018 – Nov. 2019
Exchange Student – Nanyang Technological University – Singapore
Supervisors: Zexiang Shen
Sep. 2013 – Jun. 2017
BSc Composite Materials and Engineering – Northwestern Polytechnical University – P.R. China
Dec. 1995
Born in Bozhou – P.R. China
Publications
Identical Grain Atomic Force Microscopy Elucidates Facet-Dependent Restructuring of Copper for CO2 Electroreduction Journal Article
In: Angewandte Chemie - International Edition, 2025, (Cited by: 0).
Halide-guided active site exposure in bismuth electrocatalysts for selective CO2 conversion into formic acid Journal Article
In: Nature Catalysis, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 796 – 806, 2023, (Cited by: 9; All Open Access, Green Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access).
Waste-Derived Copper-Lead Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction Journal Article
In: ChemCatChem, vol. 14, no. 18, 2022, (Cited by: 7; All Open Access, Green Open Access, Hybrid Gold Open Access).