Jing Li

Jing Li is a professor at Rutgers University, She and her research group are engaged in solid state inorganic and materials chemistry [ [http://rutchem.rutgers.edu/~jingli/ The Jing Li research group at Rutgers] ] . Her current research focuses on new materials for applications in the field of renewable and sustainable energy.

Li’s research has resulted in 2 patents (one pending) and over 150 publications (articles, book chapters, and review papers), in high impact factor journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and Angewandte Chemie International Edition. In June 2008, her research on white light LEDs made of hybrid semiconductors was highlighted in Chemical & Engineering News.

Education

Li completed her undergraduate studies in China, and received her master’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany.She obtained her Ph.D degree in January 1990 at Cornell University under the supervision of Professor Roald Hoffmann, the 1981 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry. [ [http://www.roaldhoffmann.com/ Roald Hoffman’s website] ] . She continued to work at Cornell as a postdoc for two years (1989-1991) with Professor Frank DiSalvo [ [http://www.chem.cornell.edu/fjd3/home.html Frank DiSalvo’s group] ] before taking an academic position at Rutgers University.

Professional career

Li joined the Rutgers Faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1991, where she was promoted to Associate Professor in 1996 and Full Professor in 1999. Her current research group consists of nine graduate students, two postdoc associates, two visiting scientists, and several undergraduate students.Dr. Li has received over 6 million in external research funds and developed and taught more than ten different undergraduate and graduate courses since her first appointment with the university.

Research

Jing Li’s current research focuses on two areas of sustainable/renewable energy. Firstly, Li works on hybrid semiconductors, which consist of both inorganic and organic structure motifs. These materials combine the good features of the two components, resulting in enhanced and improved properties. A possible application is to use these material as a coating for energy efficient LED’s. The next step is to use them as a direct white light source. The second research line concerns microporous materials, e.g. metal organic frameworks (MOFs). These materials consist of metals such as transition metals or rare earth metals, combined with organic ligands such as carboxylate groups and nitrogen containing molecules e.g. pyridine and 4,4’-bipyridine. MOFs are promising for use in hydrogen cars as hydrogen storage media, or for use in gas separations.

Awards

Jing Li’s received numerous awards for her academic achievements [ [http://sciencewomen.rutgers.edu/profiles/index.php?q=myCV&id=123, Jing Li’s resume] ] , including:
• Liu Memorial Award, Cornell University, 1987
• Howard Neal Wachter Prize, Cornell University, 1989
• Wentink Prize, Cornell University, 1989
• Henry Rutgers Research Fellow, Rutgers University, 1991-1993
• Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation, 1994-1998
• The Board of Trustees Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence, Rutgers University, 1996
• Presidential Faculty Fellow, National Science Foundation, 1995-2000
• NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 1995
• Outstanding Achievement Award, Chinese Association of Science and Technology, USA, 2002
• Cheung Kong Guest Chair Professor Award, The Ministry of Education, China, 2008

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