Zeyan Liu received the Ph.D. degree in 2022 from University of California, Los Angeles under the supervision of Prof. Yu Huang, with research interests focusing on the design of novel catalysts for electrochemical reaction and PEM fuel cell. He joined the Sargent group as a postdoctoral fellow in July 2023, and his current research is on electrocatalytic carbon reduction and electrified carbon capture and release.
Dr. Yuanjun Chen
Yuanjun Chen received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University in 2020, under the supervision of Prof. Yadong Li. His Ph.D. studies mainly focused on the controllable synthesis and catalytic properties of single-atom catalysts and well-defined nanocatalysts. He joined the Sargent Group as a postdoctoral fellow in March 2021 with research interests in electrochemical CO2 reduction and energy conversion.
Dr. Rong Xia
Rong Xia is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University under the mentorship of Prof. Edward H. Sargent. She obtained both her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University in 2017 and 2021, advised by Prof. Xinbin Ma. She expanded her research skills further during her time as an exchange doctoral student and subsequently as a postdoc at the University of Delaware from 2019 to 2022, under the guidance of Prof. Feng Jiao. With a dedication to climate change solutions, her research primarily focuses on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the valorization of carbon in the chemical industry. Her expertise lies in advancing electrochemical systems for producing high carbon footprint chemicals and CO2/CO electroreduction.
Dr. Heejong Shin
Heejong Shin received his Ph.D. degree in Aug. 2020 under the supervision of Prof. Yung-Eun Sung at the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University. From 2020 to 2022, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the IBS Center for Nanoparticle Research in the Republic of Korea. In Feb. 2023, he joined the Sargent group as a postdoctoral fellow. His research primarily focuses on the development of electrocatalytic technologies for synthesizing chemical fuels and feedstocks, as well as understanding the dynamics within the electrochemical interface to design highly functional and robust electrocatalytic systems.
Dr. Huihui Zhu
Huihui graduated from Pohang University of Science and Technology in 2022 with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She focused on high-performance perovskite transistors and phototransistors under the supervision of Prof. Yong-Young Noh. Starting from March 2023 at Northwestern, Huihui is a postdoc co-supervised by Prof. Edward Sargent and Prof. Mercouri Kanatzidis, working on low bandgap materials, dot-in-matrix, and IR detectors.
Dr. Deokjae Choi
Deokjae received his Ph.D. degree in Feb. 2022, from the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea. His Ph.D. studies mainly focused on the atomic layer deposition (ALD) for next-generation silicon optoelectronics, including solar cells and sensors. He was awarded the prestigious 2022 Sejong Science Fellowship ($100,000 per year for 5 years), a young scientist grant by Korean Government. Deokjae joined the Sargent group as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Jan. 2023. His current research interests focus on the development of novel charge transport layer for perovskite tandem solar cells.
Dr. Ao Liu
Ao Liu graduated from Pohang University of Science and Technology in 2022 with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering with the main research interest in novel inorganic semiconductor synthesis and its application in transistors and circuits. Starting from March 2023 at Northwestern, Ao is a postdoc co-supervised by Prof. Edward Sargent and Prof. Mercouri Kanatzidis, working on narrow bandgap inorganic materials and IR detection.
Dr. Abdulaziz Bati
abdulaziz.bati@northwestern.edu
Abdulaziz Bati is currently an Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics at the University of Queensland (UQ) between 2021 and 2023. He obtained his Ph.D. in nanotechnology from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at UQ in 2021. His research interests mainly focus on functional nanomaterials and their applications in third-generation photovoltaics, particularly solution-processed solar cells.
Dr. Yi Yang
Yi Yang received her Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Prof. Songyuan Dai in Dec. 2021, from the Department of Renewable Energy and Clean Energy, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China. She studied as a visiting Ph.D. student under the supervision of Prof. Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, Switzerland, from 2019-2021. Her Ph.D. studies mainly focused on the orientation control and defect passivation of two-dimensional perovskite solar cells. She joined the Sargent group in May 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow and is jointly advised by Prof. Mercouri G. Kanatzidis. Her current research interest is high-performance perovskite photovoltaic devices.
Dr. Jiaqi Yu
jyu@northwestern.edu
Jiaqi (Jackie) Yu received her Ph.D. in analytical chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Wenyu Huang, from the Department of Chemistry at Iowa State University. During her doctoral studies, she constructed a library of heterostructured intermetallic nanomaterials using the colloidal synthesis method. She also delved into thermocatalysis, including propane dehydrogenation and methane reforming. In September 2022, she joined the Sargent Group at Northwestern University as a postdoctoral researcher. Her current research centers on anodic hydrocarbon upgrading and tandem thermo-electrocatalysis.
