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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Dr Yongpeng Liu

Research Associate

Experience

Isaac Newton Trust Early Career Fellow at Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry
University of Cambridge, Jan. 2024-Jun. 2024
SNSF Postdoc.Mobility Fellow at Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry
University of Cambridge, Jan. 2022-Dec. 2023
BNF Visiting Research Fellow at Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
University of Geneva, Sept. 2021-Dec.2021

Education

Ph.D. with Thesis Distinction in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Feb. 2017-Jul. 2021
M.Sc. with Distinction in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
University of Glasgow, Sept. 2015-Sept. 2016
B.Eng. in Materials Science and Engineering
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Sept. 2011-Jun. 2015

Honors & Awards

2021     EDCH Top 8% Thesis Distinction
The doctoral program in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, EPFL, Switzerland
Highlighted in EPFL News Link
2021     Best Oral Presentation Award
Virtual Materials Research Society Spring Meeting, Online Conference, United States
2020     Helvetica Best (virtual) Poster Award
3rd Swiss Industrial Chemistry Symposium 2020, Online Conference, Switzerland
Highlighted in in CHIMIA, 2020, 74 (12), 1029. Link and Symposium Website Link
2020     Best Poster Presentation Award Runner-up
Swiss Chemical Society Fall Meeting 2020, Online Conference, Switzerland
Highlighted in Swiss Chemical Society Website Link and EPFL News Link
2019     Chemistry Travel Award
Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences & Swiss Chemical Society, Switzerland
Highlighted in CHIMIA, 2019, 73 (6), 514-517. DOI: 10.2533/chimia.2019.514
2019     Best Poster Award Runner-up
Swiss Chemical Society Photochemistry Symposium 2019, Fribourg, Switzerland
Highlighted in CHIMIA, 2019, 73 (10), 840. DOI: 10.2533/chimia.2019.840 and EPFL News Link
2018     Sustainable Energy & Fuels Poster Prize
nanoGe Fall Meeting 2018 (NFM18), Torremolinos, Spain
Highlighted in EPFL News Link
2018     Best Presentation Award
Energy Materials and Nanotechnology Summit (EMN 2018), Chengdu, China
Highlighted in EPFL News Link
2017     Best Presentation Award
5th Chinese French Symposium on Advanced Materials (CFSAM-5), La Rochelle, France

Reviewer for Journals

Web of Science Records
Joule, Advanced Materials, ACS Energy Letters, iScience, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, ChemSusChem, Solar RRL, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Energy & Fuels, Advanced Engineering Materials, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, Micromachines

Biography

Born in Guilin, China, Yongpeng Liu studied at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan from 09/2011 to 06/2015, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering.

Motivated by optoelectronics and nanofabrication, he continued his studies at the University of Glasgow where obtained his master’s degree with distinction in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in 09/2016. His master’s thesis on optoelectronic tweezers contributed 2 second author papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Inspired by semiconducting materials for solar energy conversion, he pursued doctoral study at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) under the supervision of Prof. Kevin Sivula and Dr. Néstor Guijarro. He earned his Ph.D. degree with distinction in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 09/2021 with thesis entitled “Novel Interfacial Characterization and Surface Engineering in Semiconductor Electrodes for Optimized Solar Fuel Production”. His doctoral research consists of solution-processed photoelectrodes (metals oxides and chalcopyrite) and operando spectroelectrochemistry. His doctoral works have been published in 27 peer-reviewed scientific journals (9 first/co-first author, 5 second author, and 1 corresponding author) and have been presented in 15 conferences with 8 oral presentations (3 best oral presentation awards) and 10 poster presentations (4 poster awards).

With the aim of extending the knowledge beyond synthetic catalyst and semiconductors, Yongpeng Liu joined Prof. Ross Milton’s group as a BNF Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Geneva to study enzyme electrochemistry from 09/2021 to 12/2021. He developed a facile functionalization method for carbon electrodes, which enables efficient and stable electroenzymatic hydrogen production. The result has been published in JACS Au with him as the first and corresponding author.

Yongpeng Liu is currently a SNSF Postdoc.Mobility Fellow (01/2022 to 12/2023) in Prof. Erwin Reisner's group at the University of Cambridge. He is the awardee of the Isaac Newton Trust Early Career Fellowship from 01/2024 to 06/2024.

Publications

A semiconducting polymer bulk heterojunction photoanode for solar water oxidation
HH Cho, L Yao, JH Yum, Y Liu, F Boudoire, RA Wells, N Guijarro, A Sekar, K Sivula
– Nature Catalysis
(2021)
4,
431
(doi: 10.1038/s41929-021-00617-x)
Spray Synthesis of CuFeO2 Photocathodes and In-Operando Assessment of Charge Carrier Recombination
F Boudoire, Y Liu, F Le Formal, N Guijarro, CR Lhermitte, K Sivula
– Journal of Physical Chemistry C
(2021)
125,
10883
(doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c02282)
Spectroelectrochemical and Chemical Evidence of Surface Passivation at Zinc Ferrite (ZnFe2O4) Photoanodes for Solar Water Oxidation
Y Liu, M Xia, L Yao, M Mensi, D Ren, M Grätzel, K Sivula, N Guijarro
– Advanced Functional Materials
(2021)
31,
2010081
(doi: 10.1002/adfm.202010081)
A Direct Z-Scheme for the Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from a Water Ethanol Mixture on CoTiO3/TiO2 Heterostructures
C Xing, Y Liu, Y Zhang, X Wang, P Guardia, L Yao, X Han, T Zhang, J Arbiol, L Soler, Y Chen, K Sivula, N Guijarro, A Cabot, J Llorca
– ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
(2021)
13,
449
(doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c17004)
Key factors boosting the performance of planar ZnFe2O4photoanodes for solar water oxidation
A Polo, F Boudoire, CR Lhermitte, Y Liu, N Guijarro, MV Dozzi, E Selli, K Sivula
– Journal of Materials Chemistry A
(2021)
9,
27736
(doi: 10.1039/d1ta07499g)
Defect engineered nanostructured LaFeO3 photoanodes for improved activity in solar water oxidation
Y Liu, J Quiñonero, L Yao, X Da Costa, M Mensi, R Gómez, K Sivula, N Guijarro
– Journal of Materials Chemistry A
(2021)
9,
2888
(doi: 10.1039/d0ta11541j)
A hybrid bulk-heterojunction photoanode for direct solar-to-chemical conversion
L Yao, Y Liu, HH Cho, M Xia, A Sekar, B Primera Darwich, RA Wells, JH Yum, D Ren, M Grätzel, N Guijarro, K Sivula
– Energy & Environmental Science
(2021)
14,
3141
(doi: 10.1039/d1ee00152c)
MIL-101(Fe)/g-C3N4 for enhanced visible-light-driven photocatalysis toward simultaneous reduction of Cr(VI) and oxidation of bisphenol A in aqueous media
F Zhao, Y Liu, SB Hammouda, B Doshi, N Guijarro, X Min, CJ Tang, M Sillanpää, K Sivula, S Wang
– Applied Catalysis B Environmental
(2020)
272,
119033
(doi: 10.1016/j.apcatb.2020.119033)
Understanding Surface Recombination Processes Using Intensity-Modulated Photovoltage Spectroscopy on Hematite Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting
Y Liu, N Guijarro, K Sivula
– Helvetica Chimica Acta
(2020)
103,
ARTN e2000064
(doi: 10.1002/hlca.202000064)
Establishing Stability in Organic Semiconductor Photocathodes for Solar Hydrogen Production
L Yao, N Guijarro, F Boudoire, Y Liu, A Rahmanudin, RA Wells, A Sekar, H-H Cho, J-H Yum, F Le Formal, K Sivula
– J Am Chem Soc
(2020)
142,
7795
(doi: 10.1021/jacs.0c00126)
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Research Group

Telephone number

01223 336396 (shared)

Email address

yl862@cam.ac.uk

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