Positions

Research Areas research areas

Overview

  • We utilize our expertise in surface chemistry and catalysis to develop innovative catalytic materials for sustainable energy applications. A process of particular interest is solar fuel generation by CO2 reduction using molecular catalysts and single-atom catalysts on solid-state surfaces. Spectroscopic, microscopic, and electrochemical techniques are employed to characterize such catalytic materials and establish structure-function relationships. In addition, we integrate research with education by organizing STEM workshops for K-12 science teachers and students. Our projects have received support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF), including a prestigious NSF CAREER Award.

    The Li group is currently accepting new graduate students.

    • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title
    2024 Solar CO2 reduction using a molecular Re(I) catalyst grafted on SiO2via amide and alkyl amine linkages..  Dalton Transactions: an international journal of inorganic chemistry.  53:2645-2652. 2024
    2023 Well-defined surface catalytic sites for solar CO2 reduction: heterogenized molecular catalysts and single atom catalysts..  Chemical Communications.  59:9301-9319. 2023
    2022 Revealing the Structure of Single Cobalt Sites in Carbon Nitride for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.  The Journal of Physical Chemistry C: Energy Conversion and Storage, Optical and Electronic Devices, Interfaces, Nanomaterials, and Hard Matter.  126:8596-8604. 2022
    2022 Probing active sites for carbon oxides hydrogenation on Cu/TiO2 using infrared spectroscopy..  Commun Chem.  5:32. 2022
    2022 Solving the structure of "single-atom" catalysts using machine learning - assisted XANES analysis..  Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.  24:5116-5124. 2022
    2022 Photocatalytic and Photoelectrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction.  CHEMPHOTOCHEM.  6. 2022
    2021 Effect of Carbon Doping on CO2-Reduction Activity of Single Cobalt Sites in Graphitic Carbon Nitride.  ChemNanoMat.  7:1051-1056. 2021
    2021 Surface Basicity of Metal@TiO2 to Enhance Photocatalytic Efficiency for CO2 Reduction..  ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.  13:38595-38603. 2021
    2021 Tunable Photocatalytic Production of Syngas Using Co@C3N4 and Black Phosphorus.  CHEMPHOTOCHEM.  5:674-679. 2021
    2020 Photoelectrochemical NADH regeneration is highly sensitive to the nature of electrode surface..  Journal of Chemical Physics.  153:064703. 2020
    2020 Hybrid Carbon Dioxide Reduction Photocatalysts Consisting of Macrocyclic Cobalt(III) Complexes Deposited on Semiconductor Surfaces.  CHEMPHOTOCHEM.  4:420-426. 2020
    2020 Highly Crystalline Mesoporous Titania Loaded with Monodispersed Gold Nanoparticles: Controllable Metal-Support Interaction in Porous Materials..  ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.  12:9617-9627. 2020
    2019 The stability and oxidation of supported atomic-size Cu catalysts in reactive environments.  Journal of Chemical Physics.  151:054702. 2019
    2019 Infrared studies of surface carbonate binding to diimine-tricarbonyl Re(I) and Mn(I) complexes in mesoporous silica.  Journal of Coordination Chemistry.  72:1336-1345. 2019
    2018 Selective CO2 Reduction Catalyzed by Single Cobalt Sites on Carbon Nitride under Visible-Light Irradiation..  Journal of the American Chemical Society.  140:16042-16047. 2018
    2018 Synergy between Defects, Photoexcited Electrons, and Supported Single Atom Catalysts for CO2 Reduction.  ACS Catalysis.  8:10464-10478. 2018
    2018 Visible-light degradation of Orange II using an Fe(II)–terpyridine complex grafted onto TiO2 surface.  Canadian Journal of Chemistry.  96:890-895. 2018
    2018 Co-Template Directed Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in Mesoporous Titanium Dioxide..  Chemistry: A European Journal.  24:9651-9657. 2018
    2017 Microwave-assisted deposition of a highly active cobalt catalyst on mesoporous silica for photochemical CO2 reduction..  Dalton Transactions: an international journal of inorganic chemistry.  46:10721-10726. 2017
    2016 CO2 reduction with Re(i)-NHC compounds: driving selective catalysis with a silicon nanowire photoelectrode..  Chemical Communications.  52:14258-14261. 2016
    2016 Molecular deposition of a macrocyclic cobalt catalyst on TiO2 nanoparticles.  Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical.  423:293-299. 2016
    2016 Three-Dimensional Graphene-TiO2 Nanocomposite Photocatalyst Synthesized by Covalent Attachment..  ACS Omega.  1:351-356. 2016
    2016 Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction by a Molecular Cobalt(II) Catalyst on Planar and Nanostructured Si Surfaces..  Chemistry: A European Journal.  22:13064-13067. 2016
    2016 Photocatalytic CO2reduction by highly dispersed Cu sites on TiO2.  Journal of Photonics for Energy.  7:012004-012004. 2016
    2016 Heterogenization of a macrocyclic cobalt complex for photocatalytic CO2 reduction.  Journal of Coordination Chemistry.  69:1748-1758. 2016
    2016 Re(I) NHC Complexes for Electrocatalytic Conversion of CO2..  Inorganic Chemistry: including bioinorganic chemistry.  55:3136-3144. 2016
    2016 Solar CO2Reduction Using Surface-Immobilized Molecular Catalysts.  Comments on Inorganic Chemistry.  36:38-60. 2016
    2016 Effect of ligand derivatization at different positions on photochemical properties of hybrid Re(I) photocatalysts.  Molecular Catalysis.  411:272-278. 2016
    2014 Infrared studies of a hybrid CO2-reduction photocatalyst consisting of a molecular Re(I) complex grafted on Kaolin.  Molecular Catalysis.  395:145-150. 2014
    2014 Photocatalytic CO2 reduction using a molecular cobalt complex deposited on TiO2 nanoparticles..  Chemical Communications.  50:6221-6224. 2014
    2014 Involvement of surface-adsorbed water in photochromism of spiropyran molecules deposited on NaY zeolite.  Chemical Physics Letters.  598:53-57. 2014
    2014 Photoelectrochemical oxidation of a turn-on fluorescent probe mediated by a surface Mn-II catalyst covalently attached to TiO2 nanoparticles.  Journal of Catalysis.  310:37-44. 2014
    2013 Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction and Surface Immobilization of a Tricarbonyl Re(I) Compound Modified with Amide Groups.  ACS Catalysis.  3:655-662. 2013
    2012 Covalent attachment of a molecular CO2-reduction photocatalyst to mesoporous silica.  Molecular Catalysis.  363-364:208-213. 2012
    2012 Enhanced Charge Separation in Nanostructured TiO2 Materials for Photocatalytic and Photovoltaic Applications.  Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research.  51:11841-11849. 2012
    2012 Adsorption and Photochemical Properties of a Molecular CO2 Reduction Catalyst in Hierarchical Mesoporous ZSM-5: An In Situ FTIR Study..  Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.  3:486-492. 2012
    2011 Reduction of CO2 on a tricarbonyl rhenium(I) complex: modeling a catalytic cycle..  The Journal of Physical Chemistry A: Isolated Molecules, Clusters, Radicals, and Ions; Environmental Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Astrochemistry; Theory.  115:2877-2881. 2011

    Chapter

    Year Title
    2013 Chapter 4. Nanostructured photocatalysts for solar water-splitting.  SPR Nanoscience. 81-97. 2013
    2013 Innovative Photocatalysts for Solar Fuel Generation by CO2 Reduction.  219-241. 2013

    Principal Investigator On

    Investigator On

    Teaching Activities

  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course
  • Surface Chemistry Taught course
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2024
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2023
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2023
  • Physical Chemistry II Taught course 2023
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2022
  • Physical Chemistry II Taught course 2022
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2021
  • Physical Chemistry III Taught course 2021
  • Surface Chemistry Taught course 2021
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2021
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2021
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2021
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2021
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemistry Taught course 2021
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2020
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2020
  • Surface Chemistry Taught course 2020
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2019
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2019
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2019
  • Presentation Portfolio Taught course 2019
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemistry Taught course 2019
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2019
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2019
  • Physical Chemistry II Taught course 2019
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2018
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2018
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2018
  • Presentation Portfolio Taught course 2018
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2018
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2018
  • Presentation Portfolio Taught course 2018
  • Surface Chemistry Taught course 2018
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2017
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2017
  • Independent Study Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2017
  • Doctoral Research Taught course 2016
  • Graduate Writing Portfolio Taught course 2016
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2016
  • Presentation Portfolio Taught course 2016
  • Thesis Taught course 2016
  • Thesis Taught course 2016
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemistry Taught course 2016
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2015
  • Thesis Taught course 2015
  • Adv Rsrch Exp/Chemistry Taught course 2014
  • Independent Study Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry I Taught course 2014
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemical Engineering Taught course 2014
  • Thesis Taught course 2014
  • Independent Study Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2014
  • Physical Chemistry Laboratory Taught course 2014
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemical Engineering Taught course 2014
  • Rsrch Exp/Chemistry Taught course 2014
  • Thesis Taught course 2014

    • Education And Training

  • B.S. Chemical Education, Hebei Normal University
  • M.S. Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Ph.D. Chemistry, University of Iowa

    • Full Name

  • Gonghu Li