Contributors to the Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators 2025 collection

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Abstract

Our 2025 Emerging Investigators themed collection gathers some of the best research being conducted by scientists in the early stages of their independent career. Each contributor was recommended as carrying out work with the potential to influence future directions in materials chemistry. Congratulations to all the researchers featured, we hope you enjoy reading this collection.

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Iwnetim Iwnetu Abate is the Chipman Career Development Professor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. He completed his PhD at Stanford and postdoc at UC Berkeley. His research group focuses on materials for energy storage, computing, and mining technologies. Before his PhD, he worked at IBM Almaden and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Abate has been recognized as one of the “Talented 12” by C&E News, a Bose Fellow by MIT, and a Miller Fellow and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow by UC Berkeley. He also received the Young Investigator Award from the International Solid State Ionics Society, and Daniel Cubicciotti Award from the Electrochemical Society.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA00971A.

Dr Jihwan An has been an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and also an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Semiconductor Technology and the Department of Battery Engineering at POSTECH, Korea, since 2023. Before joining POSTECH, he worked at SeoulTech, Korea (2014–2022). He received his PhD degree (2013) in Mechanical Engineering (major)/Materials Science (minor) from Stanford University. He is a member of the Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology (Y-KAST) and the recipient of the Top 10 Nanotechnologies award in 2023, awarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Korea. His research interests include interface and surface engineering of next-generation energy conversion and storage devices.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01063B.

Michael Aubrey is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in the electrochemistry of materials. Prof. Aubrey graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2011 with a BS in Chemistry while developing ceramic materials for the purification of aluminum, earned his PhD at UC Berkeley under the supervision of Jeffrey Long on the electrochemical and conductive properties of metal–organic frameworks, and completed post-doctoral research under Hemamala Karunadasa at Stanford University on layered perovskite heterostructures. Since 2021, his research group has focused on 2D inorganic materials and the solid-state electrochemistry of di- and trivalent metals.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02659H.

Dr Hrishit Banerjee, MRSC, MInstP, has been a Lecturer in Physics at the University of Dundee, UK, since January 2024. He is a theoretical condensed matter physicist and has 13 years of experience in the field of electronic structure theory focussing on energy and quantum materials. He received his PhD from University of Calcutta and has held postdoctoral positions at CNR SPIN Institute, Graz University of Technology, and University of Cambridge. He has been awarded several fellowships including TRIL Fellowship of ICTP and ESPRIT fellowship of FWF. He has won numerous awards for talks and posters and delivered several invited lectures.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03794H.

Jesús Barrio Hermida received his BSc and MSc in Chemistry and Nanoscience from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He began his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces and completed it at Ben-Gurion University (Israel) in 2020 under Prof. Menny Shalom. He then joined Imperial College London as a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Prof. Ifan Stephens. In 2023, he was awarded an Imperial College Research Fellowship to start his independent career in the Department of Chemical Engineering, working with Prof. Magda Titirici. His group develops porous materials for electrochemical technologies.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04831A.

Fanxing Bu is an associate professor in the School of Cultural Heritage and Information Management at Shanghai University, which he joined in 2021. He received his PhD from the East China Normal University in 2016. He then worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Fudan University in the Yuxi Xu group and Dongyuan Zhao group. His research interests include tailored design of mesoporous MOFs, COFs, 2D materials and cementitious materials for energy and heritage conservation applications. He has authored more than 50 scientific papers in J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., Adv. Funct. Mater., ACS Nano, etc.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01526J.

Yunhao Cai is an Assistant Professor at the School of Materials Science and Opto-Electronic Technology, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She received her PhD in Chemistry and Environmental Science from Beihang University in 2019, and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research in the same group. Her current research focuses on organic photovoltaic materials and devices.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04207K.

Johan Cedervall (PhD 2017) is a researcher in inorganic chemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden, which he joined in 2023 after a post-doc at ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, UK. His main research interests are within the fields of sustainable magnetic materials, including permanent magnets and magnetic refrigeration. He has expertise within high temperature synthesis, crystallography (including magnetic structure solution) and neutron scattering, which is used to synthesise novel magnetic materials and evaluate their structural and intrinsic magnetic properties. Cedervall has published ∼40 scientific papers and has received research grants from the Swedish Research Council and ÅForsk.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03047A.

Biswarup Chakraborty obtained his PhD in chemistry in 2014 from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), India. He performed postdoctoral research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Before joining the Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi as an Assistant Professor in 2020, he spent more than a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany. He currently works as an Associate Professor at IIT Delhi, and his research interests are photo(electro)catalytic water splitting and CO₂ and NO_x reductions, focusing on the structure–activity correlation and establishing reaction pathways.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01738F.

Bo Chen received his B.S. degree, M.S. degree, and PhD degree from Lanzhou University (2009), Shandong University (2012), and Nanyang Technological University (2017), respectively. Then, he worked as a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University (2017–2020) before moving to the City University of Hong Kong as a research associate (2020–2023). Currently, he is a Professor at the School of Chemistry and Life Sciences, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His current research interests include the synthesis, characterization, and applications of nanomaterials with unconventional phases.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02448J.

Lai Chen is a Distinguished Research Fellow and PhD supervisor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Deputy Director of the Beijing Institute of Technology Chongqing Innovation Center. He was selected for the 4th Youth Talent Support Program of the China Association for Science and Technology and the Beijing Nova Program. He has led over ten projects as principal investigator, including the National Key R&D Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Yibin ‘Jie Bang Gua Shuai’ Project. He has also participated in major initiatives such as the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) and the National Key R&D Program on New Energy Vehicles. Since 2013, he has published over 60 SCI papers including in Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, and Materials Today, holds 32 granted patents, and has authored three academic books. His research focuses on lithium-ion and other electrochemical energy storage systems, particularly lithium-rich cathode materials, nickel-rich cathodes, and high-energy-density batteries.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03813H.

Hongfei Cheng is currently an assistant professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. She received her PhD in 2020 from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, under the supervision of Prof. Hua Zhang. Then, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at NTU and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. She joined Tongji University in November, 2022 and established her research group, which is currently developing new nanomaterials for catalytic-related applications, such as electrocatalytic hydrogen generation, fuel cells, and nanozymes.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05397H.

Jun Cheng, a researcher at Northwest Institute for Non-ferrous Metal Research, Xi’an high-level talents-local leading talents (Class I), is the deputy director of Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Biomedical Metal Materials. His research direction is metallic functional materials. He has presided over more than 20 scientific research projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, published more than 140 research papers, and authorized more than 20 national patents. He participated in the revision of two national standards and one enterprise standard. He is a reviewer of more than 20 journals such as Rare Metals, Tribology International, Materials Characterization, Materials Science & Engineering A, and International Journal of Hydrogen Energy and so on.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08817D.

Ningyan Cheng is currently affiliated with the Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, China. She received her PhD degree in 2020 from the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM), University of Wollongong (UOW), Australia. She conducted a two-year research stay at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung (MPIE) in Germany as a Humboldt Research Fellow. Her research interests focus on the application of advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques to investigate the structural and chemical properties of materials at the nanoscale and atomic level, aiming to establish fundamental structural–property relationships.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03352G.

Jeffrey A. Christians is an Associate Professor of Engineering at Hope College where he teaches, directs the Hope College Green Revolving Fund, and leads an undergraduate research team focused on halide perovskites. His research has focused on material stability questions for halide perovskites with a significant focus on phase changes and phase stability, among other topics. Prior to joining Hope, Jeff was an EERE postdoctoral fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2015–2018) under Dr Joseph Luther and received his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 2015 while studying under Dr Prashant Kamat.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03723A.

Cheng-Feng Du is currently a distinguished research fellow in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU). He received his PhD degree in 2016 from the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and then worked at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), as a research fellow from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, he joined NPU, affiliated with the Center of Advanced Lubrication and Seal Materials. His current research interests focus on the synthesis, structure, and failure behaviors of MAX and MXene-based materials.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02706C.

Austin Evans was born and raised in Oklahoma. Austin completed his PhD in Chemistry (2022) at Northwestern University as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Austin was a postdoctoral Schmidt Science Fellow at Columbia University working with Professors Latha Venkataraman and Colin Nuckolls. Austin is currently an assistant professor at the University of Florida, where he is a member of the Butler Polymer Laboratory. His research focuses on the precise structural control of macromolecular materials. In his free time, Austin enjoys competing in triathlons.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA03617D.

Kun Fan is an Associate Professor at the School of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology. He obtained his PhD degree in 2019 from Nanjing University and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. His current research focuses on novel conjugated organic materials and conjugated coordination polymers for electrochemical energy storage.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04805B.

Huihuang Fang is an Associate Professor at the College of Chemical Engineering, Fuzhou University. He received his PhD in Physical Chemistry at Xiamen University and conducted joint doctoral research at the University of Oxford. He has been recognized as a Minjiang Youth Scholar (2024), Talents in Quanzhou City (2022), and Qishan Scholar (2021), and serves on the Youth Editorial Board of Chin. J. Struct. Chem. His research interests primarily focus on energy catalytic materials, reaction mechanisms, modelling and process technologies for ammonia–hydrogen energy conversion, including ammonia catalysis, hydrogen production, and ammonia/hydrogen fuel cells.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03435C.

Dr Jipeng Fu received his PhD from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (supervised by Academician Hongjie Zhang) and Technische Universität Dresden, Germany (supervised by Prof. Henning Heuer). His research focuses on advanced materials for sustainable energy applications, including solid-state batteries and optoelectronic detection instruments. He has held research positions at the Fraunhofer Institute (Germany), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and was a visiting scholar at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) and University of Technology Sydney (Australia). Dr Fu has authored a textbook Semiconductor Physics and Devices and co-authored in the Wiley-VCH book Energy Storage Materials Characterization. He has been honored as a Lindau Nobel Laureate Young Scientist and Journal of Materials Chemistry Emerging Investigator.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05340D.

Wenbo Gao received his PhD in January 2020 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Ping Chen. Shortly thereafter, he received the Outstanding Young Doctoral Talent award and was appointed as an Associate Professor at DICP in October 2020. He has pioneered a novel metal hydride/imide/amide-mediated chemical looping process for ammonia synthesis and decomposition and has developed a series of highly efficient alkali (and alkaline earth) metal hydride catalysts for low-temperature thermo-catalytic ammonia synthesis. His current research is dedicated to advancing green ammonia synthesis, including thermo-catalysis, chemical looping, and electrochemistry.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA04520C.

Mingzheng Ge is a professor at the School of Textile and Clothing, Nantong University. He received his PhD degree from the College of Textile and Clothing Engineering at Soochow University in 2018. During 2016–2017, he was a visiting scholar at Nanyang Technological University. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Applied Physics and Materials Engineering at the University of Macau from 2020 to 2022. He has been listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists for 2023 & 2024. His research interest focuses on advanced materials for intelligent textiles, wearable electronics and high energy density/safety energy storage devices, such as lithium-ion batteries and aqueous Zn-ion batteries.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01040C.

Dr Dibyajyoti Ghosh has been an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi since July 2021, specializing in computational materials science and condensed matter physics. He completed his PhD from the JNCASR, Bengaluru, India, in 2016 and then worked at the University of Bath, UK, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA, as a post-doctoral fellow until 2021. His work employs advanced computational techniques, such as density functional theory, ab initio and non-adiabatic molecular dynamics and machine learning, to discover new materials and tailor their properties for technological applications. He is actively involved in teaching and mentoring students, fostering a collaborative research environment.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08867K.

Ning Han earned his PhD from KU Leuven, Belgium, and is currently an A3MD research fellow at the University of Toronto, Canada. He has been honored with the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Students Abroad (2021), ECS Outstanding Student Award (10 per year, 2023), Top 2% World Scientists by Stanford University (2023, 2024), and as an Emerging Investigator of Royal Society of Chemistry (J. Mater. Chem. A, 2025). His research focuses on applying artificial intelligence to accelerate material discovery and understanding of mechanisms, particularly for renewable fuel production.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04564A.

Sumei Han received her B.E. degree at the University of Science and Technology Beijing in 2018. She received her PhD degree at the University of Science and Technology Beijing in 2024 followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Science and Technology Beijing as well. Her research interests are related to the synthesis, properties and application of noble metal nanomaterials in electrocatalytic reactions.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03751D.

Dr Ye-Chuang Han received his PhD from Xiamen University in 2022 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. Zhong-Qun Tian from 2022 to 2024. After completing his postdoctoral training, he joined the Fujian Science & Technology Innovation Laboratory for Energy Materials of China (IKKEM) in 2024 as a titled associate research scientist. His research interests focus on synthetic methodology in a non-equilibrium high-temperature environment, advanced solid catalysts, and catalysis under multi-field coupling conditions.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01646K.

Dr Biao Huang is currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the National University of Singapore. He obtained his B.E. and M.S. degrees from Chongqing University (China) in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Then, he received his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Hua Zhang from City University of Hong Kong (China) in 2024. His research focuses on the synthesis of metal-based nanomaterials and their catalytic applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04223B.

Haowei Huang obtained his PhD from KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2020. After that, he conducted his postdoc research at KU Leuven and UC Berkeley. In 2024, he joined Southeast University, China, as a professor. His research has been primarily focused on solar energy conversion and utilization, with an emphasis on both fundamental and applied aspects of photocatalysis, photothermal catalysis and photoelectrocatalysis. Specifically, his work centres on the design and synthesis of highly efficient catalysts for resources and carbon cycle, the optimization of catalytic processes, and the exploration of microscopic molecular interaction mechanisms.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04143K.

Peng Huang is a Research Professor at Southwest Jiaotong University, where he leads the Smart Optoelectronics Device group. He earned his PhD from Soochow University in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Yongfang Li. He was subsequently awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship, carrying out research at BCMaterials, Spain and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). In 2023, he was selected for both the Sichuan Tianfu-Emei and the Chengdu Rongpiao Youth Talent Program. His research focuses on perovskite solar cells and emerging 2D optoelectronic materials. He has published over 40 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04393J.

Qianli Huang is currently an associate professor at the State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy at Central South University. He obtained his BE degree in engineering in 2012 at Central South University (China) and received his PhD degree in engineering in 2017 from Tsinghua University (China). He then worked as a research fellow in Prof. Yong Liu’s group at Central South University. His research interests focus on inorganic materials for sensing, biomedical and catalytic applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03615A.

Ying Huang received her PhD degree from the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, in 2018. Currently, she is an associate professor at Southwest University of Science and Technology. Her research interests focus on the design, synthesis and application of functional composite materials, with an emphasis on enhancing their self-healing and recyclable capabilities through dynamic bonds.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03799A.

Femi Igbari focuses on the understanding of reversible processes in multicomponent perovskites towards achieving sustainability in corresponding photovoltaic devices. This is a build-up on his previous work as a PhD Student and Researcher at Soochow University, Slovak Academy of Sciences and Polish Academy of Sciences. He is currently a UKRI Fellow at the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London. Femi is a recipient of the Horizon Europe Guarantee Funding having successfully applied for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships. He has also previously attracted funding from the China Scholarship Council and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04375A.

Jinxia Jiang holds a Doctor of Engineering degree and serves as a lecturer. She obtained her doctorate from Chongqing University in June 2020 and subsequently joined Chongqing Medical and Pharmaceutical College to engage in teaching and research work. She has long been dedicated to the research on fuel cells, electrochemical catalysis, and new energy materials and devices. She has published over 10 SCI papers as the first/corresponding author in well-known international journals, such as Chem, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, and Electrochimica Acta.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA06049K.

Nan Jiang earned her doctorate (2018) in Chemistry from Utah State University, USA. She then joined the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) as a postdoctoral fellow. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Guizhou University. Her current research focuses on designing and developing electrode materials for various energy storage and conversion devices. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. She was awarded by High-Level Talents Returning to China Program in 2024 and was included on the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list for 2023 by Mendeley Data.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02755A.

Dr Qingqing Jiang’s research is focused on potassium-ion batteries and interfacial problems encountered in energy storage systems. She received her BSc degree from China University of Petroleum in 2008. In 2014, she obtained her PhD degree from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Advisor: Professor Can Li). Dr Jiang began her professional research career at South-Central Minzu University in 2014. She is currently an associate professor at the School of Chemistry and Materials Science in South-Central Minzu University.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03245H.

Prof. Hyeong Min Jin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Organic Materials Engineering at Chungnam National University. He earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from KAIST in 2017 under the supervision of Prof. Sang Ouk Kim. Following this, he served as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Chicago in 2018, working with Prof. Paul F. Nealey. From 2019 to 2022, he was a beamline scientist specializing in small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). His current research focuses on the synthesis of mesoporous organic/inorganic hybrid materials through molecular self-assembly for energy device applications, as well as in-depth structural analysis of porous materials using X-ray and neutron scattering techniques.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08388A.

Dr Kentaro Kadota received his PhD in chemistry from Kyoto University in 2020, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oregon from 2020 to 2022. He returned to Kyoto in 2022 as an Assistant Professor at Kyoto University. He has received an Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists. His research interest focuses on the design and synthesis of molecular-based frameworks derived from CO₂, as well as their applications for CO₂ capture and utilization.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08744E.

Stavroula (Alina) Kampouri is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Rice University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Chemistry. She earned her B.S./M.S. in Environmental and Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Crete (TUC) in 2015. In 2020, she completed her PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in the laboratory of Professor Berend Smit, under the co-supervision of Dr Kyriakos Stylianou at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Her doctoral research focused on designing photocatalytic systems based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) for hydrogen production and water remediation. Following this, she joined the research group of Professor Mircea Dincă in the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work on the design of conductive MOFs. Her research focuses on designing functional porous materials, particularly MOFs, and exploring structure–property relationships for applications in light-driven catalysis and solid-state batteries.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04415D.

Chae Bin Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at Pusan National University (PNU), South Korea. His research focuses on interfacial phenomena in polymers, including covalent adaptable networks, recyclable composites, functional adhesives, and thin films/coatings. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2016 and completed a postdoctoral appointment at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) before joining PNU.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03293H.

Dr Kalliopi Kousi is a Lecturer at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Surrey. Her research background is in Heterogeneous Catalysis and Materials Synthesis and Characterisation. She obtained her degree in Chemistry from the University of Patras, Greece in 2011, where she also got her MRes in 2013 and PhD in 2016. Her current research focuses around nanoengineering of materials for the conversion of greenhouse gases and the production of clean energy. She is also very interested in Science Communication and has been recognised for her work in the EDI space.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA05812G.

Hiang Kwee Lee is a Nanyang Assistant Professor at the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Nanyang Technological University. He earned both his PhD and bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry from Nanyang Technological University in 2018 and 2013, respectively. His research program combines chemistry, nanotechnology, materials science, and operando spectroscopy to develop next-generation catalytic ensembles aimed at addressing global energy and environmental crises.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04044B.

Junwoo Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Science and Technology at Ajou University in South Korea. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 2020. Following his doctoral studies, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at Yale University in the USA. His current research focuses on the synthesis of functional polymeric materials.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01220A.

Dr Guangchao Li obtained his PhD in physical chemistry in 2021 at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). He was a visiting PhD student at the University of Oxford (2019–2021). Later, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). Since 2023, he has worked as a research assistant professor in the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology at PolyU. His current research interests focus on the characterization and application of porous materials in energy conversion.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03275J.

Peng Li received his PhD degree in 2021 from the Institute for Superconducting & Electronic Materials at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Currently, Dr Li is a Research Fellow at RMIT University, focusing on the rational design and development of efficient materials and structures, as well as the fundamental understanding of electrochemical processes including water-splitting reactions and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS).

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03392F.

Yanrui Li is an Associate Professor in Xi’an University of Science and Technology. Dr Li received her doctorate from the University of Science and Technology of China, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Xi’an Jiaotong University. Her research focuses on exploring multifield coupling control over catalytic reactions, and developing energy coupling mechanisms for molecule transformations. This research is based on a high-performance photocatalyst for CO₂ conversion into high value-added products and water-splitting into hydrogen. Her works have been published in Advanced Materials, Chemical Science, Advanced Functional Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, and Small.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02281A.

Dr Gemeng Liang received his PhD in 2021 from the University of Wollongong, Australia, and is currently an Australian Research Council (ARC) DECRA Fellow at the University of Adelaide. His research centres on energy storage and conversion, with a focus on Li-ion, Na-ion, and K-ion batteries. He specialises in applying synchrotron and neutron-based characterisation techniques to probe structural evolution, phase transitions, and reaction mechanisms in functional materials. His work seeks to deepen the fundamental understanding of electrochemical processes and inform the rational design of next-generation energy storage devices with enhanced performance and durability.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04747A.

Dr Huihui Lin is a Staff Scientist in Energy and Environment (ISCE2) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the National University of Singapore. He received his PhD from the School of Physics at Nanjing University in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Libo Gao, and subsequently served as a Research Fellow with Prof. Jiong Lu at the National University of Singapore. His current research focuses on the atomic-level engineering of novel 2D materials and the development of new applications, including 2D electronic devices, sustainable energy solutions, and biomedical technologies.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01124H.

Dr Heng Liu is currently a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPIAIMR), Tohoku University, Japan. He earned his PhD degree from the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester, UK in 2024, and his MS degree in material engineering from Central South University, China, in 2020. His primary research interests focus on first-principles calculations and new computational methodology development for understanding modern energy and environmental technologies.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04222D.

Wei Liu received his B.E. degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) in 2012, and PhD from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in 2017. After postdoctoral research at the Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, USTC, he was promoted to an associate professor at the School of Chemistry, Dalian University of Technology (DUT) in 2020. His research interests focus on synchrotron radiation and its applications in photo-electrocatalysis for clean energy conversion.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04412J.

Yahui Liu received his BS degree from Beijing Normal University in 2013. He joined Prof. Zhishan Bo’s group for his doctoral research and received his PhD degree from Beijing Normal University in 2018. He then worked as a research assistant in Prof Bo’s group and joined Qingdao University in 2020. His research interest is focused on the design and application of functional materials such as conjugated polymers, fused and nonfused ring electron acceptors, and fullerene derivatives. He has published more than 70 papers as the first/corresponding author, which have been cited more than 4000 times.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA00232J.

Bang-An Lu obtained his PhD degree from Xiamen University, China, in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Dr Shi-Gang Sun. After serving as an Assistant Research Scientist at Xiamen University (2019–2020), he held the position of Associate Professor at Zhengzhou University (2020–2023). Currently, Dr Lu is a Professor in the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Zhengzhou University. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of highly efficient electrocatalysts for fuel cells and water splitting, the kinetics of electrode/electrolyte interface processes, and electrochemical in situ spectroscopic characterization techniques. Dr Lu has authored over 50 publications in leading international journals, including Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., Joule, ACS Catal., ACS Nano, and J. Catal.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04787K.

Mingchuan Luo is currently working as an assistant professor at School of Materials Science and Engineering, Peking University, China. He obtained his PhD degree from Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 2016. After graduation, he carried out post-doctoral research at Peking University (2016–2018), University of Toronto (2018–2020) and Leiden University (2020–2023, Marie Curie Fellow) before joining Peking University as a PI in 2023. His research focuses on understanding the chemistry of electrified interfaces and transferring the knowledge to advancing electrocatalysis for renewables-based conversions.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02105G.

Wen-Bin Luo is a professor at the School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wollongong, Australia, in 2015. Professor Luo has been recognized as a national-level distinguished young talent, a young top-tier talent under Liaoning Revitalization Talents Program, and a high-level leading talent in Shenyang City. Currently, he serves as the Director of the Institute for Energy Electrochemistry and Urban Mines Metallurgy at Northeastern University. His research interests focus on the development and application of materials for secondary ion batteries, metal-based batteries, and catalytic materials. He has published extensively in prestigious journals such as Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, eScience, ACS Catalysis, Energy Storage Materials, Nano Energy, and Journal of Energy Chemistry. Additionally, he has led numerous national, provincial, and ministerial-level projects, as well as university–industry collaborative initiatives.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01346A.

Dr Wenyuan Ma is an emerging investigator at the Advanced Energy Materials Laboratory, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). His research focuses on extreme-environment materials, specializing in corrosion-resistant thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), research on high-entropy lanthanum zirconate ceramics (e.g., La₂Zr₂O₇), and electrospun ceramic fibers for thermal management. He develops ceramic membranes preventing thermal runaway in lithium-ion batteries. Dr Ma has published 2 SCI papers on phase stability of high-entropy La₂Zr₂O₇ TBCs and holds 1 patent for flexible high-entropy La₂Zr₂O₇ fiber membranes with high insulation capability.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02532J.

Fanpeng Meng received his BS degree and PhD degree from the Shandong University of Technology (2016) and Tiangong University (2021), respectively. Then, he worked as a Lecturer at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Liaocheng University. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of advanced photocatalytic and electrocatalytic materials, with a primary goal of addressing key challenges in sustainable energy utilization and environmental remediation.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03390J.

Dr Akanksha Menon is an Assistant Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She directs the Water – Energy Research Lab (https://amenonlab.me.gatech.edu/) that uses thermal science and functional materials to develop sustainable technologies for clean energy and water. Prior to this, she was a Rosenfeld Postdoctoral Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and received a PhD from Georgia Tech. Dr Menon is a recipient of the 2023 NSF CAREER Award, and the 2023 ACS Doctoral Young Investigator Award. Dr Menon was awarded the ASME Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal in 2023, and she was featured by the U.S. Department of Energy in their Women @ Energy initiative.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA07575G.

Zachariah A. Page is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, where his group develops light-driven methods to create and manipulate plastics. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Juniata College and a PhD in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Todd Emrick. He then completed postdoctoral training with Craig Hawker at UC Santa Barbara. Since joining UT Austin in 2018, he has advanced photopolymerization chemistries and pioneered visible light 3D printing, publishing 90+ papers and 20+ patents. His honors include PECASE, Sloan, NSF CAREER, AFOSR YIP, Camille Dreyfus, and Cottrell Scholar awards.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05756F.

Jungjin Park is a senior research scientist in the Energy Storage Research Center at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and associate professor in the Division of Energy & Environment Technology at Korea University of Science and Technology (UST). He received his PhD (2015) from the School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University. He was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University. He is currently working on developing anode and cathode materials for lithium/sodium ion batteries and understanding their reaction mechanism through electrochemical and synchrotron X-ray-based spectroscopic/microscopic analyses.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA02338B.

Dr Haonan Peng is a professor in physical chemistry at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University. He obtained his PhD in 2015 from the Toulouse Coordination Chemistry Laboratory (LCC-CNRS), University of Toulouse, France, with a research focus on spin crossover nanomaterials. His current research interests center on the development of high-performance film-based CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear) sensors. He investigates the dependence of film-based sensor performance on the properties of sensing units and the structural characteristics of active layers, aiming to elucidate the underlying physicochemical mechanisms governing these effects.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03808A.

Ana E. Platero-Prats is a group leader at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), where she develops hybrid porous materials—particularly metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs)—for environmental remediation, water treatment, and catalysis. Fascinated by atomic structure, she uses synchrotron-based techniques, such as Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis, to link structural details with material performance. She earned her PhD at the ICMM-CSIC, with research stays at the Institute Lavoisier de Versailles and the Università degli Studi di Milano, and held postdoctoral positions at Stockholm University and Argonne National Laboratory. Outside the lab, she is a mother of two girls, mastering time management as an exact science.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03279B.

Chenxin Ran received his PhD degree in Electronic Science and Technology from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2016 with Prof. Minqiang Wang. He worked as a Visiting Scholar from 2014 to 2015 with Prof. Liming Dai at Case Western Reserve University and as a Lecturer at Xi’an Jiaotong University from 2016 to 2019. Now he works as an Associate Professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University. His research interests include the photo-physics of Pb-based/Pb-free perovskite materials and their optoelectronic applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04568A.

Alexander J. E. Rettie is an Associate Professor in Electrochemical Conversion and Storage in the Department of Chemical Engineering, UCL (UK). His interests are in the experimental discovery and characterisation of electrochemical energy materials and their incorporation into devices, with a focus on electronic and ionic charge transport. Prior to joining UCL, he was a post-doc at Argonne National Laboratory where he focused on materials design and total scattering techniques. He received his PhD (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015, investigating metal oxide photoelectrodes and his M. Eng. degree (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Edinburgh.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA04347B.

Dr Xabier Rodríguez-Martínez is UDC-Inditex InTalent Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate Researcher at the University of A Coruña, Spain. After completing his BSc and MSc degrees in nanotechnology (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain), he obtained his PhD degree (Materials Science Institute of Barcelona, Spain) for the high-throughput optimization of organic solar cells by combinatorial methods in 2020. Soon after, he moved to Linköping University (Sweden) as a postdoctoral researcher on laminated organic photovoltaics for their integration into buildings. Following this, he earned a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship to develop carbon-based thermoelectric composites at the Institute for Physical Chemistry in Heidelberg University, Germany. His research interests include organic and sustainable electronics for energy harvesting: photovoltaics and thermoelectrics.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03744A.

Dr Christina Rost is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Virginia Tech and a pioneer in high-entropy ceramics. Her research leverages disorder to create materials with tunable properties for advanced technologies. She has co-authored 40 peer-reviewed publications totaling over 5000 citations and received the 2025 NSF CAREER Award. Dr Rost holds a PhD from NC State University and previously held positions at James Madison University and the University of Virginia. She actively serves in the American Ceramic Society and on review panels at the Advanced Photon Source, contributing broadly to materials science and spectroscopy communities.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03815D.

Linsey Seitz is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University. Before joining Northwestern in 2018, she was a Helmholtz Postdoctoral Fellow at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and completed her PhD at Stanford University. Prof. Seitz’s research develops and applies diagnostic tools and experimental platforms at the interface of electrocatalysis and spectroscopy to investigate dynamic catalyst materials and reaction environments towards the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. She is also passionate about outreach, teaching, and learning. Prof. Seitz has received the ACS Catalysis Early Career Award (2024) and the NSF CAREER Award (2022).

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA04613G.

Lin Song received his PhD degree in the physics department from Technische Universität München (Garching, Germany) in 2017. He continued to work as a postdoc at the physics department of Technische Universität München. Now he is a professor at Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics (FSCFE) and Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) of Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) in Xi’an, China. His research interest is mainly on the study of hybrid photovoltaics using advanced X-ray and neutron scattering techniques.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03804A.

Dr Shijing Sun is an assistant professor at the University of Washington, leading the UW Sun Lab. Her research focuses on collaborative intelligence, augmenting human expertise, robotics, and artificial intelligence to accelerate development of energy materials. Before joining University of Washington, Dr Sun was a senior research scientist at the Toyota Research Institute, where she researched AI-powered solutions for accelerated materials discovery and design for electric vehicle batteries and fuel cells. She was a research scientist at MIT, leading the Accelerated Materials Team on development of machine learning-guided high-throughput experimentation for photovoltaics. Dr Sun completed her academic studies at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where she earned her BA in Natural Sciences, and MS and PhD in Materials Science.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03199K.

Tao Sun is a full professor at the School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, China. His research focuses on the design of nanostructured materials applied in energy conversion technologies and pollutant degradation, such as fuel cells, water-splitting devices and metal–air batteries, as well as photocatalysis in hydrogen generation and pollutant decomposition. He has published over 100 high profile SCI papers, and more than 50 papers as the first and corresponding author have been reported in high-level journals, such as Nature Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, ACS Catalysis, etc. Citations received >7000, and his H-index = 38. He is also a youth editor in EcoEnergy, Advanced Powder Materials and Carbon Energy journals.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03784K.

Dr Dongxing Tan received his PhD degree from the School of Chemical Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2020. After completing his postdoctoral research at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, he joined the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Qufu Normal University (China) in 2023. His research interests focus on the functional design of advanced energy materials for the catalytic conversion of clean energy, including electrocatalytic/photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide, water splitting and organic electrocatalytic conversion.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA07348G.

Peng-Yi Tang received a BS degree in chemical engineering and technology from Hunan Normal University (2010) and MS degree in physical chemistry from Lanzhou University (2013). Then, he obtained a PhD degree in materials science from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2018). In 2019–2021, he worked at the Ernst Ruska-Centre (ER-C) for Microscopy and Spectroscopy, Forschungszentrum Jülich as a Humboldt postdoc. Since 2021, he has been working as an associate professor at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests include solar fuel materials, such as photoelectrochemical water splitting, carbon dioxide electrochemical reduction, and material microstructure etc.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02501J.

Dr Hao Tian is a research associate at the Centre for Clean Energy Technology, University of Technology Sydney. He received his B.S. and M.S. from Lanzhou University in 2009 and 2012, his M.S. from the University of New South Wales in 2014, and his PhD from Curtin University in 2018. His current research mainly focuses on the design and synthesis of nanostructured materials in the fields of lithium-ion batteries, lithium–sulfur batteries, zinc–air batteries, electrocatalysis, thermal-catalysis and photocatalysis. He also serves as an Assistant Editor for Nano-Micro Letters.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03735B.

Hung Ba Tran is currently an Assistant Professor at the Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Japan (2024–now). He received his PhD degree in engineering from Osaka University, Japan (2018–2021), and his MEng degree in engineering from Osaka University, Japan (2017–2018). His doctoral thesis focused on applying computational materials science to study various types of magnetocaloric effects, including conventional, giant, inverse, and anisotropic effects. His current research interests include magnetocaloric materials, permanent magnets, 2D materials, and transition-metal oxides, with an emphasis on magnetostructural coupling and phase transitions for the design of advanced energy and magnetic materials.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03354C.

Chen Wang is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah. He received his BS in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Beijing University of Chemical Technology. He earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Colorado Boulder and his thesis was focused on polymer colloids and dynamic covalent polymer chemistry. Prior to his academic career, he received training in industry (Formlabs Inc.) and national labs (National Renewable Energy Laboratory). His current research focuses on “orthogonal reactions in neat polymerization” for applications such as 3D printing and composite materials processing.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA05417B.

Dr Haozhi Wang received his PhD from the School of Chemical Engineering at Dalian University of Technology in 2020. After a postdoctoral stint at the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Tianjin University, he joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Hainan University in 2022. His research focuses on the theoretical design of energy-related catalytic materials and on the development of novel materials through high-throughput screening and machine learning approaches.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01226K.

Dr Jianbiao Wang is a Scientist at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. He received his PhD in 2021 from Fuzhou University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as a Special Researcher at Nagasaki University, Japan. His research interests include the development of novel electrode materials, the investigation of energy storage mechanisms involving Li⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and Zn²⁺ ion batteries, and the optimization of electrolyte systems.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03608A.

Jiayu Wang received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2014. Then he joined Prof. Xiaowei Zhan’s group at Peking University and obtained his PhD in Advanced Materials and Mechanics in 2019. After working as a research assistant in Prof. Xiaowei Zhan’s group at Peking University and a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Xinhui Lu’s group at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr Wang joined College of Polymer Science and Engineering, Sichuan University as an associate professor in 2022. His research interests are focused on the design and synthesis of organic functional materials and their applications in optoelectronics.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03837E.

Junpeng Wang received a B.S. in Chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China (2010) and a PhD from Duke University under the guidance of Prof. Stephen Craig (2015). From 2016 to 2018, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Luping Yu at University of Chicago and Prof. Jeremiah Johnson at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2019, he started his independent career at University of Akron, where he is now an Associate Professor of Polymer Science. He has received a Sloan Research Fellowship and an NSF CAREER award. His research aims to address challenges in materials science by applying physical organic chemistry approaches.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04890G.

Dr Lei Wei is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology. He obtained a doctorate from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology after earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Xi’an Jiaotong University. Currently, he serves as Associate Director of the Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Storage and Associate Editor of the Journal of Energy Storage. His research focuses on high-performance flow batteries, thermal runaway mitigation strategies for electrochemical storage systems, and AI-driven materials design, with fundamental investigations into enhanced energy-mass transfer mechanisms in electrochemical systems. He has published over 100 SCI papers, with an H-factor over 40, and more than 30 Chinese patents have been authorized.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03767K.

Jörg G. Werner received his Diploma in Chemistry from the Johannes Gutenberg University in 2011 and his PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Cornell University in 2016. After postdoctoral research at Harvard University, he started his independent research group at Boston University as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering in 2020. His research focuses on spatially controlled synthesis utilizing bottom-up polymer self-assembly and phase separation, as well as electrochemical methods to study composition–structure–performance relationships across scales of mesostructured architected materials and devices applied to energy and sustainability technologies.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03811A.

Hao Wu earned his PhD from Fudan University in 2016, followed by postdoctoral training at the National University of Singapore (2016–2018) and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (2018–2020). He is a Professor in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Shandong University, where he leads a research group focused on electrocatalysis and electrosynthesis, with an emphasis on designing novel metal–organic framework (MOF) catalysts for applications in renewable energy conversion and green chemical production. Dr Wu has served as a Session Presider at the ACS Fall Meetings (2023 and 2024).

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01949D.

Junxiong Wu received his B.S. from Fuzhou University and M.E. from Tsinghua University in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2020 and joined the College of Environmental and Resource Sciences and College of Carbon Neutral Modern Industry at Fujian Normal University in 2021. His research focuses on new materials and advanced characterizations for alkali metal–sulfur batteries.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA00999E.

Dr Tong Wu, a master’s supervisor, has extensive experience in the application research of lithium secondary batteries. In recent years, his research has increasingly focused on the intersection of nanoscience and energy chemistry. Specifically, he has explored the structure–activity relationships between material catalysis, energy storage properties, and nanoscale microstructures from the perspectives of intermolecular interactions, atomic valence states, and charge transfer mechanisms. Dr Wu has published nine peer-reviewed academic papers in prestigious international journals such as Journal of Power Sources, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, and Electrochimica Acta. Additionally, he has successfully obtained funding for two scientific research projects from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Science Foundation.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08542F.

Qiuying Xia is an associate professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology. He received his B.E. (2014) and PhD (2020) degrees from the Nanjing University of Science and Technology. His research interests focus on lithium-ion batteries and all-solid-state thin film lithium batteries.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03758A.

Dr Meiling Xiao is currently a professor at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She received a PhD degree in physical chemistry from CIAC in 2017. After graduation, she worked at the University of Waterloo as a postdoctoral researcher and then joined CIAC in 2021. She was selected for the Special Talent Program B of CAS and the Outstanding Youth Foundation of Jilin Province. Her research interests include single-atom heterogeneous catalysis, fuel cells and water electrolysers. She has published over 40 papers in J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., etc., with over 7300 citations and an H-factor of 37.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA00038F.

Fangxi Xie is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Sun Yat-sen University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Adelaide under the supervision of Prof. Shizhang Qiao, and subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at both the University of Adelaide and the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of electrode materials for rechargeable batteries, as well as the development of operando and in situ characterization techniques for battery systems.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03806E.

Qingshui Xie is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Materials, Xiamen University. He got his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Lanzhou University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. After that, he moved to Xiamen University as a PhD candidate and received his PhD degree in Materials Physics and Chemistry in 2015. His research interests concentrate on advanced electrode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02568K.

Dr Zihao Xing is an Associate Professor at Northeast Normal University. He was recognized by the Young Talent Lift Project in Jilin Province. Dr Xing graduated with a bachelor’s degree in applied chemistry from Jilin University in 2013 and a PhD in Physical Chemistry in 2019. He conducted postdoctoral research at Shenzhen University from September 2019 to May 2022 and was a visiting scholar at Ilmenau University of Technology in Germany in 2020. His research focuses on the design and controlled synthesis of low-cost non-precious metal electrocatalysts for fuel cells; dynamic restructuring and catalytic mechanisms during electrocatalysis; and the photocatalytic performance of advanced materials such as MOFs and COFs. He has published over 30 papers in journals including J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., and Adv. Energy Mater.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03720D.

Peixun Xiong received his PhD degree from Tianjin University in 2020. Then, he worked as a postdoc researcher in Prof. Ho Seok Park’s group at Sungkyunkwan University from 2021 to 2023. He is currently working in Prof. Stefan Kaskel’s group as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at Technische Universität Dresden. Dr Xiong’s research focuses on the electrolyte/electrode interphase for high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices. He has co-authored over 100 journal articles, which have received more than 8400 citations with an H-index of 48.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03762J.

Xianqiang Xiong is currently an Associate Professor at Taizhou University. He received his BS in Applied Chemistry from Central South University in 2013 and his PhD in Chemistry from Zhejiang University in 2018. His research focuses on energy-related small molecule conversion and environmental pollutant remediation, primarily through photocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic approaches. Dr Xiong’s work aims to develop efficient catalytic materials and systems for sustainable energy and environmental applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03030G.

Jie Xu received his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST) in 2020. After being a postdoctoral fellow for two years (2020–2022) at Fudan University under the supervision of Prof. Yongyao Xia and Prof. Yonggang Wang, he joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Anhui University of Technology (AHUT). His current research interests focus on organic-derived energy storage materials for wide-temperature secondary batteries, including Li–S batteries, Li/Na/Zn-ion batteries, and full-organic energy storage devices.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03689E.

Jijian Xu received B.S. and PhD degrees from Zhejiang University in 2014 and 2019. He worked as a postdoc at the University of Maryland from 2019–2022 and was then promoted to Assistant Research Scientist. He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at City University of Hong Kong. Dr Xu’s research interests focus on developing advanced electrolytes and electrode materials for high-energy batteries. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed papers in Nature, Nature Energy, etc.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA07449A.

Dr Weinan Xu is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He obtained his PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and did his postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. He then started his independent career at the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron before moving to Tennessee. His current research focuses on the development of sustainable/functional polymer composites and their advanced manufacturing, with applications in energy, electronics, and biomedicine. He has been recognized with several awards, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award, Polymer Processing Society Early Career Award, NSF LEAP award, and Best PhD Thesis Award from Sigma Xi and Georgia Tech.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04676A.

Dr Chang Yan has been an Assistant Professor in the Sustainable Energy and Environment Thrust at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) since 2022. He was awarded his PhD degree in Photovoltaic Engineering from UNSW in 2017, supervised by Prof. Martin A. Green and Xiaojing Hao. Then he worked as a postdoc and lecturer at UNSW before his appointment at HKUST(GZ). His current research interest focuses on the use of artificial intelligence and automation-robot to develop next-generation ultra-high efficiency tandem solar cells and flexible & transparent solar cells based on perovskite, kesterite & chalcopyrite. He was included in the top 2% list of global applied physics scientists assessed by standardized citation metrics in the single year of 2024.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04703J.

Xiaoli Yan received her BSc from Zhengzhou University in 2016. In 2022 she received her PhD from Tianjin University under the supervision of Prof. Long Chen. From 2022 to 2024, she underwent postdoctoral training with Prof. Yi Liu and Lei Wang at Shenzhen University. She is currently a lecturer at the Institute of New Energy on Chemical Storage and Power Sources, College of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Yancheng Teachers University. Her current research focuses on the design and synthesis of 2D conjugated porous polymers for photocatalysis and energy-related applications.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03752B.

Jun Yang received his PhD degree from Nanjing Tech University (P. R. China) in 2018. He worked as an exchange student at Nanyang Technological University from 2014 to 2018. He is now working as a lecturer in Jiangsu University of Science and Technology. He focuses on functional materials for energy and environment related applications, such as sodium batteries, aqueous batteries, capacitive deionization and organic anticorrosive coating repair. He has published more than 120 papers with over 5000 total citations.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01862E.

Mei Yang is an associate professor and master tutor in the School of Chemistry at Xiangtan University. Her research interests include the design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials and high-performance electrodes, surface-interface structure regulation, and its application in energy-related fields. Her representative publications are in Energy & Environmental Science, Advanced Functional Materials, Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, Energy Storage Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Carbon and other internationally renowned journals.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA02466D.

Shuliang Yang is a full professor at the College of Energy, Xiamen University. He obtained his PhD from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in 2016 under the supervision of Professor Weiguo Song. From 2017 to 2023, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (supervisor: Professor Karthish Manthiram), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (supervisor: Professor Wendy L. Queen), and Northwestern University in the USA (supervisor: Professor J. Fraser Stoddart). Now, by leveraging innovative porous supports and graphdiyne-based materials, his research is dedicated to developing high-performance nanocatalysts for the efficient conversion and utilization of carbon dioxide, water, and plastics.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA02469A.

Wooseok Yang is an Assistant Professor of the school of chemical engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) in South Korea. He earned his PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Yonsei University in 2018. From 2019 to 2021, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof. David Tilley at the University of Zurich before joining SKKU in 2022. His current research focuses on novel chalcogenide light absorbers (AgBiS₂, BaZrS₃, etc.), (photo-)electrochemical energy conversion to produce H₂ and NH₃, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for battery analysis, and electrochemical CO₂ capture.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA08848D.

Hang Yin is a Professor at the School of Physics, Shandong University. He is also a member of the State Key Laboratory of Crystal Materials. He obtained his BS degree from Qufu Normal University and MS and PhD degrees from Hong Kong Baptist University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His major research interest is in the physics and chemistry of thin film materials, including charge carrier transport and defect analysis of organic semiconductors, fabrication of organic solar cells and thin film transistors, and device physics for energy applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01481F.

Hong Yu is currently an associate professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern Polytechnical University. She received her PhD degree in 2016 from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Nanyang Technological University. She continued her research as a postdoctoral research fellow in Nanyang Technological University prior to joining Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2017. Currently, her research focuses on the design and synthesis of advanced functional materials for energy storage and tribological applications.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05278E.

Xiaoliang Yu obtained his BSc and PhD degrees both from Tsinghua University and is now leading the Smart Battery Lab at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research focuses on smart sodium battery manufacturing, from electrolyte formulation and electrode preparation to cell fabrication. He has received a variety of funding including Young Collaborative Research Grant and Innovation and Technology Fund in Hong Kong, with a total amount of over HK$12 million. He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers in Adv. Mater., ACS Nano, Adv. Funct. Mater., etc. He serves as Lead Guest Editor of Frontiers in Chemistry and an Organizing Committee Member of IMLB2024. He was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials in 2024.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04066C.

Dr Wenyu Yuan is an associate professor at the School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering in Shaanxi Normal University. He obtained his PhD degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2019. After graduation, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) (Japan, 2019–2020) and Tokyo Metropolitan University (Japan, 2020–2021). His research interests are in two-dimensional heterostructures and metal–organic frameworks for energy conversion applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA00012B.

Kai Zeng is currently working as an assistant professor at the Institute of Smart City and Intelligent Transportation, Southwest Jiaotong University, China. He received his B.S. degree in new energy materials and devices from the Southwest Petroleum University in 2017 and obtained his PhD degree in new energy science and engineering from the Soochow University in 2022. His research interests focus on the design, fabrication and application of advanced electrocatalysts for water electrolysis, metal–air batteries and fuel cells, etc.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA05976C.

Gen Zhang received his PhD in chemistry from Lanzhou University in 2013. After his postdoctoral research at the University of Manchester (2013–2015) and at Kyoto University (2016–2019), he started independent work at Nanjing University of Science and Technology. The research in his laboratory focuses on functional organic porous materials for energy and environmental applications.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04563K.

Dr Huan Zhang received her B.S. degree from Northwest University (China) and her PhD degree from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Jian Xu. She completed her postdoctoral training at Shenzhen University with Prof. Ning Zhao and Prof. Cuihua Li. Currently, she holds a lecturer position at the School of Materials, Henan University, China. Her research focuses on polymeric materials with high performance and versatility, including high strength, high stretchability, high toughness, recyclability, self-healing as well as UV-blocking, and more.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA06335J.

Dr Jinqiang Zhang is currently a Lecturer of Chemistry and ARC DECRA Fellow at the School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia. He is also an adjunct Lecturer at the School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Adelaide. He received his PhD from Edith Cowan University and completed postdoctoral research at The University of Adelaide. His research focuses on nanostructured catalysts for solar-driven chemical transformations, including green energy production, C1 conversion and environmental remediation. Dr Zhang is particularly interested in photothermal and photocatalytic mechanisms, aiming to enhance solar-to-chemical energy conversion through advanced material design. He leads a DECRA project and a Discovery Project and is committed to advancing sustainable energy solutions through collaborative, interdisciplinary research.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01976A.

Dr Panpan Zhang is a full professor at School of Materials Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT). Then, he obtained his PhD degree in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Xinliang Feng at Technische Universität Dresden (TUD). Afterwards, he held a post-doctoral position in Prof. Feng’s group from 2019–2021. His research interests focus on 2D crystalline materials and their energy storage applications. He has published more than 80 papers with total citations over 9000 and an H-index of 54.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04140F.

Xiaoyu Zhang has been a Research Fellow at the Zhejiang University of Technology in China since 2022. She received her B.E. degree from the University of Jinan in 2013 and her PhD from Shandong University in 2019. From 2019 to 2022, she worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Zhejiang University. Her research focuses on electrocatalysis, fuel cells, and lithium/potassium-ion batteries, with particular emphasis on designing novel electrocatalytic materials and understanding the fundamental electrochemical processes for CO₂ reduction, water splitting, and hydrogen oxidation reactions. She has published more than 20 papers as the first or corresponding author and has received multiple research grants.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02938D.

Prof. Xin-Yu Zhang is an academic professor at Shandong University of Science and Technology. He serves as a youth editor for EcoEnergy, Chinese Chemical Letters, MetalMat and Energy Lab journals. His research interests cover electro-catalysts for hydrogen production. To date, he has published 32 papers in SCI journals. He has presided over more than 6 projects including the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation and Postdoctoral General Project. He also won the Second Prize for Qingdao Science and Technology Award and the First Prize for Science and Technology from the Chemical and Chemical Engineering Society of Shandong Province.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03321G.

Di Zhao is currently an associate professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology. She received her PhD degree from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, in 2017. She worked as a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Prof. Yadong Li at the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, from 2017 to 2020. Her research interests include the design, synthesis and characterization of single-atom materials, nanostructured materials and their applications in electrocatalytic energy conversion.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA00678C.

Lihong Zhao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston. He received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Tsinghua University (2014) and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2020). His research focuses on the electro-chemo-mechanics of cathode materials, metal anode mechanics, operando characterization, and machine learning in battery diagnostics. Dr Zhao has first-authored multiple publications in journals including Nat. Commun., Adv. Energy Mater., and ACS Energy Lett. He is a recipient of the 2025 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA04678E.

Dr Ruizheng Zhao is an Associate Professor at Zhengzhou University. She received her PhD degree in 2020 from Shandong University under the supervision of Prof. Longwei Yin, and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of Prof. Dongyuan Zhao at Fudan University from 2021 to 2022. She has published 50+ articles with more than 4500 citations (H-index of 28). She was awarded the Talent Development Funding Project of Shanghai in 2021, and recognized as an Excellent Young Scientist by Henan Province in 2024, etc. Her research mainly focuses on the development of advanced energy storage and conversion devices, including aqueous batteries, secondary batteries, supercapacitors, and so on.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03984C.

Yuanyuan Zhao is a professor in the College of Energy Storage Technology at Shandong University of Science and Technology in Qingdao, China. She obtained her PhD from Ocean University of China. Her research interests cover perovskite solar cells and electrocatalytic hydrogen production. To date, she has published over 30 papers in international journals, including Advanced Energy Materials, Nano Energy and Carbon Energy, as well as a book chapter. Additionally, she received the second prize for the Guangdong Province Science and Technology Award in China. She has authorized 6 national invention patents (China) and has led six research projects.

Her contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA01594D.

Rong-Lin Zhong was born and raised in Chongqing, China. He completed his PhD degree in 2015 with Prof. Zhong-Min Su at Northeast Normal University. Then, he joined Jilin University as a lecturer and was promoted as an associate professor in 2022. During 2016–2019, he worked as a post-doc in Kyoto University with the supervision of Prof. Shigeyoshi Sakaki. During 2021–2022, he was named a Hong Kong scholar and joined Prof. Fuk Yee Kwong’s group in The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests focus on the development and application of theoretical methods for simulating multi-component transition metal and polyoxometalate catalytic reactions.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02513C.

Dr Jingwen Zhou received his BS degree and MS degree with the guidance of Prof. Chunnian He and Prof. Naiqin Zhao from Tianjin University in 2014 and 2017. Supervised by Prof. Zhanxi Fan and Prof. Hua Zhang, he received his PhD degree from the City University of Hong Kong in 2024. Now, he is doing post-doctoral research in Prof. Hongjie Dai’s group at the University of Hong Kong. His research direction focuses on the design and synthesis of low-dimensional nanomaterials and their applications in novel electrochemical energy storage devices, such as flexible metal–gas batteries, alkali metal-ion batteries, and metal-catalysis coupled self-powered systems.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA03097H.

Zhonggao Zhou is a professor at the College of Chemistry and Materials Science at Gannan Normal University (GNNU) in China and has concurrently worked as Director of the Analytical and Testing Center since 2024. Before his PhD, he worked at Shicheng Middle School and GNNU. He obtained his PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from Fujian Normal University (FJNU) in 2017, under the supervision of Prof. Qidan Ling and Hongyu Zhen. He is very passionate about teaching and learning. His current research focuses on atomic-level construction of novel active sites from single atoms, dual-site metals, clusters and/or nanoparticles toward CO₂ capture, activation, and thermo-catalytic conversion.

His contribution to the 2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators collection can be read at https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TA02845K.

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