Polymer-Engineered Nanostructures for Advanced Energy Applications

Dr. Zhiqun Lin is currently Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2002. He did his postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Iowa State University as an assistant professor in 2004 and was promoted to associate professor in 2010. He moved to Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011 and became a professor in 2014. His research interests include polymer-based nanocomposites, block copolymers, polymer blends, conjugated polymers, functional nanocrystals of different architectures, solar cells (in particular, perovskite solar cells, organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells, and dye sensitized solar cells), lithium ion batteries, hydrogen generation, hierarchically structured and assembled materials, and surface and interfacial properties. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Materials Chemistry A and an editorial advisory board member for Nanoscale. Dr. Yingkui Yang is currently a professor at the School of Chemistry and Materials Science at South-Central University for Nationalities, China. He completed his Ph.D. degree in Polymer Chemistry and Physics at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2007. He has worked as a research fellow, postdoctoral fellow, and visiting professor at City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University over the past decade. He was also a visiting scholar at the University of Sydney (2010-2011) and Georgia Institute of Technology (2014-2015). He joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Hubei University in 2007 and was promoted to full professor in 2013. He then moved to South-Central University for Nationalities in 2016. His current research interests include surface/interface engineering of nanostructures, polymer-templated nanostructures, polymer-based nanocomposites, graphitic nanocarbons (in particular, graphene and carbon nanotubes) and their nanohybrids for actuators, electrochemical energy, electronics, environmental materials, and dielectric applications. Dr. Aiqing Zhang is currently working as professor and dean of the School of Chemistry and Materials Science at South-Central University for Nationalities, China. He obtained his B.Sc. (1983), M.Sc. (1990), and Ph.D. (1998) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. He served as a postdoctoral fellow (2000-2001) at Chonbuk National University, Korea. He worked at Shanxi Mining Institute (currently merged into Taiyuan University of Technology) from 1983 to 1987 and Wuhan Automotive Polytechnic University (now merged with Wuhan University of Technology) from 1990 to 1994. He then moved to South-Central University for Nationalities in 1998, where became a full professor. His scientific interests focus on the rational design and optimal synthesis of functional polymer materials for photosensitive, low-dielectric, and catalytic applications.