Contributors to the Materials Chemistry Frontiers Emerging Investigator Series 2025

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Abstract

The Materials Chemistry Frontiers Emerging Investigators Series highlights the best research being conducted by scientists in the early stages of their independent careers. This profile features the emerging investigators contributing to this series in 2025. Each contributor was recommended as carrying out work with the potential to influence future directions in materials chemistry. Congratulations to all the researchers, we hope you enjoy reading their work.

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Chuan Xia is a professor in the School of Energy and Materials at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). He obtained his PhD at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in 2018 followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University and Rice University, USA. In 2020 he joined UESTC, where he initiated an active research group focusing on developing methods for controlling the architecture of molecules and materials, understanding their fundamental properties, and utilizing such structures to develop novel catalysts that can be applied in the areas of electrocatalysis, energy generation, storage, and conversion.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00594A

Website: https://www.chuan-lab.com/

Dawid Janas is a full professor at the Department of Chemistry at the Silesian University of Technology in Poland, where he serves as the Vice-Dean for Science and Cooperation. His research interests focus on the synthesis, modification, and application of carbon nanostructures, particularly carbon nanotubes, to develop transformative materials for electronics and photonics. Before this role, he was a researcher at the University of Cambridge, where he also earned his PhD in Materials Science in 2014. As a Principal Investigator of the Functional Nanomaterials Group, Dawid Janas has spearheaded national and international projects conducted in collaboration with leading research institutions worldwide. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications in prestigious journals, his research has established him as a global authority on the science and application of carbon nanostructures. Janas has received multiple awards for his work, including the Fulbright Fellowship and the Silesian Scientific Award.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4QM01104J

Website: https://www.fnano.eu/

Kenry is currently an assistant professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and BIO5 Institute at the University of Arizona. He is also a faculty member of the Clinical and Translational Oncology Program and the Cancer Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. He completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard University and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School and received his PhD from the National University of Singapore. His research focuses on AI-driven bioengineering and nanomedicine. Specifically, his group develops machine learning and relevant computational tools to engineer functional nanomaterials for disease theranostics and elucidate nanomaterial–biosystem interactions.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00559K

Website: https://www.drkenry.com

Qi Shao is the group leader of the Metastable-Phase Catalyst research team at the College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University. She received her Doctor of Philosophy in applied physics at the Department of Physics and Materials Science, City University of Hong Kong under the supervision of Prof. Ruotolo Antonio in 2016. After joining Soochow University as an assistant professor in 2016, she was promoted to professor in 2025. Her current research is focusing on the development of new synthetic approaches for preparing metastable-phase metals and metastable-phase two-dimensional oxides and exploring their potential applications in advanced electrocatalytic processes, including energy conversion and sustainable chemical synthesis.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4QM00682H

Website: https://chemistry.suda.edu.cn/6d/64/c35633a683364/page.htm

Qingshui Xie is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Materials, Xiamen University. He got his BS and MS degrees from Lanzhou University in 2009 and 2012, respectively. After that, he moved to Xiamen University as a PhD candidate and received his PhD in materials physics and chemistry in 2015. His research interests concentrate on the design and synthesis of high-capacity electrode materials for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries, including Li-rich cathode materials, lithium metal anode and so on, and the energy storage mechanisms and performance optimization strategy.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4QM01070A

Website: https://cm.xmu.edu.cn/info/1731/18184.htm

Rongrong Cheacharoen is a research group leader at the Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, where she heads the Renewable Rechargeable Reliability Laboratory. She earned her BS (summa cum laude) from Northwestern University, where she conducted research with Prof. Lincoln J. Lauhon, and completed her PhD in materials science and engineering at Stanford University in 2018 under the supervision of Prof. Michael D. McGehee. Her doctoral work was honored with the Excellent Dissertation Award by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). In recognition of her continued contributions to sustainable innovation, she was named a “Green Talent” by the German BMBF (2021) and recently received the 23rd L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award (2025). Her group specializes in functional materials for next-generation solar cells and safe rechargeable batteries. Distinctively, her research integrates green processing techniques with the utilization of abundant materials—ranging from earth-abundant elements to agricultural waste. This dual focus aims to achieve environmentally friendly and low-cost energy solutions, fostering a bio-circular economy that aligns device accessibility with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00493D

Website: https://rongrongc.wixsite.com/rrreliabilitylab/home

Rui Hao is a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He received his BSc in chemistry from Tsinghua University and his PhD from Peking University under the supervision of Prof. Yanglong Hou. He conducted postdoctoral research in Prof. Liming Dai's group at Case Western Reserve University and Prof. Bo Zhang's group at the University of Washington. His research focuses on developing new optical microscopic methods for spatiotemporal-chemical multi-resolved imaging of electrochemical interfaces.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00642B

Website: https://faculty.sustech.edu.cn/haor/en/

Tao Yu is a professor at the Institute of Flexible Electronics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China, and a director of the Flexible Electronics Engineering Center in Xi'an. He received his PhD from the University of Hong Kong and conducted postdoctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Vivian W.-W. Yam. After serving as an associate professor at Sun Yat-Sen University in 2015, he joined Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2018 as a professor. His research interests focus on organic optoelectronic functional materials, including photochromic, mechanoluminescent, and phosphorescent systems.

EMI article: https://doi.org/10.1039/D5QM00508F

Website: https://teacher.nwpu.edu.cn/7B0F2DBEFE99530AE053650A280A5ADE.html

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