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Ferroelectric and Topological Catalysis: Novel Chemical Reactions driven by Physics

Abstract

Interdisciplinary research is a powerful tool for expanding the boundaries of current research by integrating traditional physical concepts, such as topological states and ferroelectricity, into chemical and energy conversion research. In this talk, we will introduce our recent works in the field of physically boosted chemical reactions, on ferroelectric-controlled chemical reactions and the impact of topological surface states on hydrogen evolution reaction. Specifically, our studies about the effects of reversible polarization on photocatalytic water splitting, gas adsorption, and CO2 reduction will be comprehensively discussed.

These findings represent a significant contribution to the field of physical chemistry and open a new era of research in the area of physically boosted chemical reactions. The integration of physical concepts into chemical and energy conversion research will allow us to expand our understanding of these important processes and develop new technologies with increased efficiency and effectiveness.

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Reference:

1. J. Shang, X. Tang, L. Kou, WIREs: Comp. Mol. Sci. 11, e1496, 2020
2. T. L. Wan, L. Ge, Y. Pan, Q. Yuan, L. Liu, S. Sarina, L. Kou, Nanoscale 13, 7096-7107, 2021
3. TL Wan, J Liu, X Tan, T Liao, Y Gu, A Du, S Smith, L Kou, Journal of Materials Chemistry A 10 (41), 22228-22235
4. L Ju, J Shang, X Tang, L Kou, Journal of the American Chemical Society 142, 1492, 2020
5. L Ju, X Tan, X Mao, Y Gu, S Smith, A Du, Z Chen, C Chen, L Kou, Nature Communications 12, 5128, 2021
6. X Zhang, W Meng, Y Liu, X Dai, G Liu, L Kou, Journal of the American Chemical Society 145, 5523-5535, 2023

Biography

A/Prof. Liangzhi Kou received his Ph.D. in 2011 from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Bremen Center of Computational Materials Sciences (BCCMS) in Germany during 2012–2014, a Research Associate at UNSW Australia in 2014, and ARC-DECRA fellow during 2015-2018. He has been a Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology since 2015 and promoted to senior lecturer in 2018 and Associate Professor in 2021. His research mainly focuses on computational discovery and design of novel 2D materials for energy applications and electronics devices. Until now, he has published over 170 papers with h-index of 52, including Nature Communications, JACS, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Adv. Sci, Adv. Func. Mater., which have been cited over 9900 times.