人物介绍fangyi cheng (程方益)
prof. cheng is a professor in the college of chemistry at nankai university. he received his b.s. in 2003 and ph.d. in 2009 from nankai university. his research interests encompass electrode materials for batteries and electrocatalysis. he has been recognized as a “highly cited scientist” by clarivate for the past two years.
q1: who helped you the most as you pursued your research career?
prof. cheng: many people, including teachers, friends, and colleagues, gave me a lot of help in my research career. in particular, my ph.d. supervisor, prof. jun chen, led me into the field of energy materials chemistry. i have been always inspired by the insight, passion, and persistence of prof. chen. i am also grateful to my wife and my parents for continuous support, making it possible for me to be fully immersed in my research.
q2: what are some difficult challenges you have faced during your research career? how did you overcome them?
prof. cheng: at the very beginning, it was quite challenging to choose a research topic that was worthy of a deep commitment, since there were so many attractive options but only limited resources and time. after attempting several projects, i learned to rush into anything before figuring out clearly the significance and scientific issues of the study. of course, there were many other difficulties, such as understanding and explaining new or unexpected results, which always requires and exhaustive multidisciplinary literature survey and hard thinking.
q3: who is(are) scientist(s) you most respect or admire? why?
prof. cheng: the past decades have witnessed the huge industrial success of energy storage devices, especially li-ion batteries, which has truly revolutionized our entirely lives. this accomplishment cannot be achieved without the pioneering work of prof. goodenough, prof. whittingham, and prof. yoshino. it is worth noting that prof. goodenough didn’t begin his research into battery life until he was almost sixty years old. what i think makes him a respectful scientist and spiritual mentor is his never-ending pace for chasing after truth and unremitting effort to broaden the boundary of knowledge.
q4: what do you see as the biggest obstacles and most promising applications in your research area?
prof. cheng: the fast development of portable electronics, electric transportation and renewable energy storage calls for electrochemical devices with high energy/power density, low cost, high safety, and long cycle life. exploration of new-generation battery technologies is desirable, yet challenging. specifically, for li-ion batteries, high-nickel layered oxides, li-rich manganese oxides, si-based materials, and organic compounds are promising because of advantages in capacity, cost, and resource abundance. for electrochemical technologies (either batteries or electrolyzers), formulation of electrode-compatible electrolytes and modulation of stable electrode/electrolyte interfaces deserves much more research effort.
q5: what advice do you have for younger students and researchers beginning their careers in chemistry, and in particular those interested in your field?
prof. cheng: electrochemical energy storage and conversion is an interdisciplinary field involving a broad spectrum of knowledge. i would like to share with beginners interested in my field that they keep reading the literature (although it’s not easy at beginning), which not only enriches your knowledge but also helps you in shaping new ideas. when selecting a research topic, it’s preferable to concentrate on one particular problem or dig into one family of materials. additionally, please bear in mind to balance hardworking and health.
q6: thank you for publishing your superb work in ccs chemistry! could you provide a brief summary of your article and research direction in a few sentences?
prof. cheng: defects play an important role in influencing the electronic structure and physi-chemical properties of electrode materials. we propose a mild and facile electrochemical reduction etching route to controllably generate cation vacancies in iron oxides. using fe-ni spinel oxides as an example, we demonstrate that the presence of fe vacancies enhances ni-o covalency, promotes water activation, and increases density of active sites, together significantly boosting electrocatalytic oxygen evolution. our research interests will be focused on the synthesis, mechanistic understanding and electrochemical applications of nonstoichiometric materials.
learn more: xiang chen, meng yu, zhenhua yan*(严振华), weiyi guo, guilan fan, youxuan ni, jiuding liu, wei zhang, wei xie, fangyi cheng*(程方益) & jun chen. boosting electrocatalytic oxygen evolution by cation defect modulation via electrochemical etching. ccs chem. 2020, 2, 675–685.
link: https://doi.org/10.31635/ccschem.020.202000194