Interview: Liming Dai

Liming Dai joined Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, USA, in fall 2009 as the Kent Hale Smith Professor in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering. He is also the director of the Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon at CWRU. He received a BSc degree from the Zhejiang University in 1983, and a PhD from the Australian National University in 1991. He accepted a postdoctoral fellowship from the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, and 2 years later became a visiting fellow in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He spent 10 years with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Melbourne, Australia. Before joining the CWRU, he was an associate professor of polymer engineering at the University of Akron and the Wright Brothers Institute Endowed Chair Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Dayton. His expertise covers the synthesis, functionalization, and device fabrication of conjugated polymers and carbon nanomaterials for energy-related and biomedical applications. He has published more than 500 scientific papers with citations over 70 000 and an h-index of 138 (Google Scholar), and held about 30 issued/applied patents. He has also published a research monograph on intelligent macromolecules and five edited/coedited books on carbon nanomaterials for advanced energy systems and biomedical applications, including a recent two-volume edited a book on Carbon-based Metal-free Catalysts by Wiley-VCH. He serves as an associate editor of Nano Energy (Elsevier), and editorial board member of more than 10 international journals. He is listed in Clarivate Analytics “Highly Cited Researchers” (Chemistry, Materials), as well as being named as one of the “World's Most Influential Scientific Minds.” He has also been honored with many awards, most recently receiving the 2019 IUMRS-Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies, and the 2019 Australian Laureate Fellowship. He also severs as an Advisory Committee Member of the American Carbon Society. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Who/what inspires you to the field of energy and nanomaterials? I am lucky to have one of my elder brothers to tell me about sciences even when I was a child. However, it was only by chance that I started PhD in the School of Chemistryat ANU under the supervision of proffesor John W. White (FRS) (https://www.chemistryworld.com/research/liming-dai-integrating-nanochemistry-into-the-macroscopic-world/7849.article), who has been a big inspiration to me for being a research scientist and is a major figure to excite me to do creative research. Since then, I have been doing interdisciplinary and innovative research across the synthesis polymers and carbon nanomaterials for energy-related and biomedical applications. What is your great achievement in your research work so far? The Discovery of Metal-Free Carbon Electrocatalysts Traditionally, platinum has been regarded as the state-of-the-art catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells to directly generate electricity by electrochemically reducing oxygen and oxidizing fuel into the water with virtually no pollution. Unfortunately, limited resources and the high cost of platinum have also made these catalysts the primary barrier to mass-market fuel cells for commercial applications. For more than half a century, worldwide effort has been made to reduce/replace the expensive platinum (Pt)-based catalysts for ORR in fuel cells by using nonprecious metal catalysts, alloyed with or without Pt (Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 4823). Nevertheless, the nonprecious metal catalysts are either still too expensive for mass production of fuel cells, or too low in efficiency/stability when compared with Pt. In 2009, I, along with coworkers, discovered that nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs), as alternative metal-free catalysts for ORR, could dramatically reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of fuel cells. This pioneering work published in Science (Science 2009, 323, 760) has been cited over 5000 times (Google Scholar) and subsequently initiated a large body of studies worldwide (see, eg, Carbon Energy 2019, 1, 19), opening new pathways for clean renewable energy generation and storage with affordable and durable, earth-abundant metal-free carbon electrocatalysts that has emerged as a new field of research over the world. I have been widely recognized as a pioneer and one of the world leaders in the research and development of metal-free carbon electrocatalysts for renewable energy technologies (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-greener-catalysts-are-built-speed; https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/hall-of-fame-highlight-liming-dai/). Our seminal work on metal-free carbon electrocatalysts and my leadership in the field are also recognized by a two-volume book (Carbon-Based Metal-Free Catalysts: Design and Applications, Vol 2 (Ed: L. Dai), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2018) and a special issue in Advanced Materials commemorating the 10th anniversary of the discovery of the first metal-free carbon electrocatalysts (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/15214095/2019/31/13), both edited by myself with contributions from world-leading experts in the field, as well as the 2019 IUMRS-Somiya Award from the International Union of Materials Research Societies (https://iumrs.org/). What is your vision for future research in the field of carbon energy? The over-use of fossil fuel has posed serious energy and environmental challenges. One of the promising solutions is to develop clean energy conversion and storage technologies. Thus, renewable energy production with minimal air pollution is essential to keep up with the worldwide increasing energy demands. With the recent developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology, a large variety of carbon nanomaterials with well-controlled architectures (eg, vertically aligned CNTs, graphene foams, three-dimensional [3D] graphene-CNT pillards) have been reported. Owing to their unique electronic properties and multidimensional structures, carbon nanomaterials offer particular advantages as flexible electrical wires and electrode materials as well as metal-free electrocatalysts for energy conversion and storage. Continued research and development on the controlled synthesis of multidimentional and multifunctional carbon materials for energy conversion and storage will greatly advance renewable energy technologies and significantly improve the quality of human life. Where/How do you find new/hot research topics? I keep thinking of new questions, ideas, and concepts that are particularly stimulated by nature (eg, gecko-foot-mimicking CNT dry adhesives, photo-/electrocatalysis for artificial photosynthesis). In many instances, new/hot research topics can also be formulated by critically reading scientific literature, discussing/performing multidisciplinary studies with intelligent and well-trained researchers from different fields, and seminar/conference speakers in a variety of different settings. If you did not choose your current scientific research, what career would you pursue? Teaching, my desire to teach was inspired by several famous professors and/or celebrated educators who instructed me as early as at the time when I studied for my first degree at Zhejiang University. I enjoy teaching students the intellectual skills, including critical thinking and problem-solving, so that they can apply their learning to new situations and can become highly innovative. Much like my PhD supervisor did to me, I have helped many of my group members into professional scientists. What do you think the most important things as a scientist, academically as well as morally? The most important things as a scientist include: Scientifically: creative thinking, having an open mind to accept new concepts and discoveries and solving complicated problems in simple ways, and Morally: to be honest, respectful to colleagues, and an outstanding teacher with many students becoming good scientists As a top-tier scientist, what suggestions do you have for the young researchers? There is no secret to be a successful scientist, apart from working hard, thinking critically, having an open mind and a warm heart towards collaborations. What is your extramural interest, such as your favorite music and films? One of my hobbies is reading biographies, popular science, and so forth. In addition, I also like swimming, which makes me feel relaxed, free from stress, and facilitates critical thinking. Would you please share your booklist with us? I like to read famous scientist biographies, including Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, and many other scientists. I learned from these books about the ways and attitudes towards research by those top scientists and their experience with and thoughts about nature, which have constantly inspired me to foster their legacies by developing strong curiosity and creativity towards my own research.