Biography

Dr. Jun Liu is the Washington Research Foundation Innovation Chair in Clean Energy, a Battelle Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL),  and both a Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Campbell Chair Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. He also serves as the director of the Innovation Center for the Battery500 Consortium, a multi-institute program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the goal of developing next generation batteries.

He has previously served as senior researcher at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Bell Laboratories and Sandia National Laboratories. He also served as the Department Manager for Chemical Synthesis and Nanomaterials at Sandia, Lead Scientist for Cross-Cutting Sciences for the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), and Division Director for Energy Processes and Materials Division at PNNL.

Liu has authored more than 400 peer reviewed publications, received more than 55 U.S. patents, and ranked in the top one percent of highly cited researchers since 2014 (Clarivate Analytics). 

Education

• Ph.D, Materials Science & Engineering, University of Washington
• Master's in Ceramic Engineering, University of Washington
• Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, Hunan University

Previous appointments

• Sandia National Laboratories, Department Manager for Chemical Synthesis and Nanomaterials
• Sandia National Laboratories, Thrust Leader the Complex Materials for the Integrated Center for Nanotechnologies
• PNNL, Laboratory Fellow, 2000-2001

Research Statement

Jun Liu’s main interest is developing fundamental principles to guide materials synthesis, characterization and application of advanced materials for energy, biomedicine and environment, development and deployment of new materials and technologies for electric vehicles, grid scale energy storage and modern communications.

Select publications

1. “Bridging the academic and industrial metrics for next-generation practical batteries,” Cao, YL; Li, M; Lu, J; Liu, J; Amine, K., Nature Nanotechnology, 2019.
2. “Non-flammable electrolytes with high salt-to-solvent ratios for Li-ion and Li-metal batteries,” Zeng, ZQ; Murugesan, V; Han, KS; Jiang, XY; Cao, YL; Xiao, LF; Ai, XP; Yang, HX; Zhang, JG; Sushko, ML; Liu, J., Nature Energy, 3, 674-681, 2018.
3. “Non-encapsulation approach for high-performance Li-S batteries through controlled nucleation and growth,” Pan, HL; Chen, JZ; Cao, RG; Murugesan, V; Rajput, NN; Han, KS; Persson, K; Estevez, L; Engelhard, MH; Zhang, JG; Mueller, KT; Cui, Y; Shao, YY; Liu, J, Nature Energy, 2, 2017.
4. “Mesoporous materials for energy conversion and storage devices,” Li, W; Liu, J; Zhao, DY, Nature Review Materials, 1, 2016.
5. “Reversible aqueous zinc/manganese oxide energy storage from conversion reactions,” Pan, HL; Shao, YY; Yan, PF; Cheng, YW; Han, KS; Nie, ZM; Wang, CM; Yang, JH; Li, XL; Bhattacharya, P; Mueller, KT; Liu, J, Nature Energy, 1. 2016.
6. “Sodium Ion Insertion in Hollow Carbon Nanowires for Battery Applications,” Cao, YL; Xiao, LF; Sushko, ML; Wang, W; Schwenzer, B; Xiao, J; Nie, ZM; Saraf, LV; Yang, ZG; Liu, J, NANO Letters, 12, 3783-3787, 2012.
7. “A Soft Approach to Encapsulate Sulfur: Polyaniline Nanotubes for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries with Long Cycle Life,” Xiao, LF; Cao, YL; Xiao, J; Schwenzer, B; Engelhard, MH; Saraf, LV; Nie, ZM; Exarhos, GJ ; Liu, J, Advanced Materials, 24, 1176-1181, 2012.
8. “Reversible Sodium Ion Insertion in Single Crystalline Manganese Oxide Nanowires with Long Cycle Life,” Cao, YL; Xiao, LF; Wang, W; Choi, DW; Nie, ZM; Yu, JG; Saraf, LV; Yang, ZG; Liu, J, Advanced Materials, 23, 3155-+, 2011.
9. “Ternary Self-Assembly of Ordered Metal Oxide-Graphene Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Energy Storage,” Wang, DH; Kou, R; Choi, D; Yang, ZG; Nie, ZM; Li, J; Saraf, LV; Hu, DH; Zhang, JG; Graff, GL ; Liu, J; Pope, MA; Aksay, IA, ACS Nano, 4, 1587-1595, 2010.
10. “Self-Assembled TiO2-Graphene Hybrid Nanostructures for Enhanced Li-Ion Insertion,” Wang, DH; Choi, DW; Li, J; Yang, ZG; Nie, ZM; Kou, R; Hu, DH; Wang, CM; Saraf, LV; Zhang, JG; Aksay, IA; Liu, J, ACS Nano, 3, 907-914, 2009.
11. “Complex and oriented ZnO nanostructures,” Tian, ZRR; Voigt, JA); Liu, J; McKenzie, B; McDermott, MJ; Rodriguez, MA; Konishi, H; Xu, HF, Nature Materials, 2, 821-826, 2003.
12. “Biomimetic arrays of oriented helical ZnO nanorods and columns,” Tian, ZRR; Voigt, JA; Liu, J; Mckenzie, B; Mcdermott, MJ, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 124, 12954-12955, 2002.
13. “Surfactant-assisted processing of carbon nanotube/polymer composites,” Gong, XY; Liu, J; Baskaran, S; Voise, RD; Young, JS, Chemistry of Materials, 4, 1049-1052, 2000.
14. “Functionalized monolayers on ordered mesoporous supports,” Feng, X; Fryxell, GE); Wang, LQ; Kim, AY; Liu, J; Kemner, KM, Science, 276, 923-926, 1997.

Honors & awards

• DOE Distinguished Achievement Award, 2018
• The Electrochemical Society Battery Division Technology Award, 2017
• PNNL Inventor of the Year, 2012 and 2017
• Battelle Distinguished Inventor, 2007
• R&D100 Award, 1999
• Materials Research Society, 2012
• AAAS, 2012
• Washington Academy of Science, 2016

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