chemistry phd ucla

• Detailed PhD Degree Requirements

(2) Chemistry and Biochemistry 268 ( Graduate-level biochemistry seminar. E ach quarter in year one).

(3) Chemistry and Biochemistry 258 (Proposal writing course. Fall quarter year two. This class satisfies the  Oral Qualifying Examination     requirement)

(4) Chemistry and Biochemistry 595 (one quarter course in teaching methods)

Duan, Xiangfeng

Dr. Duan is an Associate Professor at UCLA. He received a B.S degree in chemistry from University of Science and Technology and China, Hefei, China, in 1997; M.A. degree in chemistry and Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, in 1999 and 2002, respectively.

From 2002 to 2008, he was a Founding Scientist, Principal Scientist and Manager of Advanced Technology at Nanosys Inc., a nanotechnology startup founded based partly on his doctoral research. In 2008, he joined the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Duan’s research in inorganic nanostructures contributed significantly to recent advancements in nanoscience and nanotechnology. His doctoral research in semiconductor nanowires pioneered the recent blossom in nanowire based research and technology. While at Nanosys, Dr. Duan was responsible for identifying new technological opportunities based on inorganic nanostructures and advancing the newest ideas into compelling technological demonstrations. He is the leading inventor of a number of the most important nanotechnology inventions. His current research interests include heteointegration of nanoscale materials, development of novel nanoscale device concepts and exploration of their potential in future electronics, energy science and biomedical science. Dr. Duan has published about 100 technical papers in leading scientific journals, and holds more than 50 patents or patent applications.

Research Interests

The Duan Lab’s research interests include nanoscale materials, devices and their applications in future electronics, energy technologies and biomedical science. The research focuses on rational design and synthesis of highly complex nanostructures with precisely controlled chemical composition, structural morphology and physical dimension; fundamental investigation of new chemical, optical, electronic and magnetic properties; and exploration of new technological opportunities arising in these nanoscale materials. A strong emphasis is placed on the hetero-integration of multi-composition, multi-structure and multi-function at the nanoscale, and by doing so, creating a new generation of integrated nanosystems with unprecedented performance or unique functions to break the boundaries of traditional technologies.

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Honors & Awards

• 2022   Herbert Newby McCoy Award, UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry
• 2020   Honorable Mention – Outstanding Discovery Award, UCLA College, Division of Physical Sciences
• 2020   MRS Middle Career Award
• 2018   Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 2018   Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry
• 2018   Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers in Materials Science
• 2018   Finalist for 2019 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists
• 2017   Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers in Materials Science
• 2017   Intl Society of Electrochemistry Zhao-Wu Tian Prize for Energy Electrochemistry
• 2017   Xingda Lectureship from Peking University
• 2016   Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers in Materials Science
• 2016   Elsevier Most Cited Researchers in Materials Science and Engineering
• 2015   Finalist for 2015 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists
• 2015   NanoKorean Award
• 2013  Beilby Medal and Prize
• 2012  Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship
• 2012  IUMRS MRS Singapore Young Researcher Award
• 2012  Dupont Young Professor
• 2012  Department of Energy Early Career Scientist
• 2012  Human Frontier Science Program Young Investigator
• 2012  Office of Naval Research Young Investigator
• 2012  3M Non-tenured Faculty Award
• 2011  UCLA Herbert Newby McCoy Research Award
• 2011  Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
• 2011  Alpha Chi Sigma Glen T. Seaborg Award
• 2011  Ranked 41st among Top-100 Most Cited Chemists during 2000-2010 (Thomson Reuters)
• 2011  Ranked 20th among Top-100 Most Cited Materials Scientists during 2000-2010
• 2010  Camille and Henry Dreyfus Environmental Chemistry Mentor
• 2010  National Science Foundation CAREER Award
• 2008  National Institute of Health Director’s New Innovator Award
• 2006  NASA Nanotech Brief “Nano 50” Innovator Award
• 2006  American Chemical Society Regional Industry Innovation Award
• 2003  MIT Technology Review Top 100 Young Innovators Award
• 2001  National Inventors Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventors Competition Award
• 2001  Materials Research Society Graduate Student Award Gold Medal
• 1996  President Guo Moruo Scholarship, University of Science and Technology of China

Representative Publications

Below is the list of selected and most recent publications.  for the full list, please visit here ..

• Experimental Sabatier plot for predictive design of active and stable Pt-alloy oxygen reduction reaction catalysts Jin Huang, Luca Sementa, Zeyan Liu, Giovanni Barcaro, Miao Feng, Ershuai Liu, Li Jiao, Mingjie Xu, Denis Leshchev, Sung-Joon Lee, Mufan Li, Chengzhang Wan, Enbo Zhu, Yang Liu, Bosi Peng, Xiangfeng Duan, William A Goddard, Alessandro Fortunelli, Qingying Jia, Yu Huang, Nature Catalysis   5 , 1-11 (2022)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-022-00797-0
• Chiral molecular intercalation superlattices Qi Qian, Huaying Ren, Jingyuan Zhou, Zhong Wan, Jingxuan Zhou, Xingxu Yan, Jin Cai, Peiqi Wang, Bailing Li, Zdenek Sofer, Bo Li, Xidong Duan, Xiaoqing Pan, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Nature   606 , 902-908 (2022) [ Link ]
• Hypocrystalline ceramic aerogels for thermal insulation at extreme conditions Jingran Guo, Shubin Fu, Yuanpeng Deng, Xiang Xu, Shujin Laima, Dizhou Liu, Pengyu Zhang, Jian Zhou, Han Zhao, Hongxuan Yu, Shixuan Dang, Jianing Zhang, Yingde Zhao, Hui Li, Xiangfeng Duan, Nature   606 , 909-916 (2022)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00755-5
• Graphene charge-injection photodetectors Wei Liu, Jianhang Lv, Li Peng, Hongwei Guo, Chen Liu, Yilun Liu, Wei Li, Lingfei Li, Lixiang Liu, Peiqi Wang, Srikrishna Chanakya Bodepudi, Khurram Shehzad, Guohua Hu, Kaihui Liu, Zhipei Sun, Tawfique Hasan, Yang Xu, Xiaomu Wang, Chao Gao, Bin Yu, Xiangfeng Duan, Nature Electronics   5 , 281-288 (2022)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-022-00755-5
• Endoepitaxial growth of monolayer mosaic heterostructures Zhengwei Zhang, Ziwei Huang, Jia Li, Di Wang, Yue Lin, Xiangdong Yang, Hang Liu, Song Liu, Yiliu Wang, Bo Li, Xiangfeng Duan, Xidong Duan, Nature Nanotechnology   17 , 493-499 (2022)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-022-01106-3
• The promises, challenges and pathways to room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries Lei Wang, Tao Wang, Lele Peng, Yiliu Wang, Meng Zhang, Jian Zhou, Maoxin Chen, Jinhui Cao, Huilong Fei, Xidong Duan, Jian Zhu, Xiangfeng Duan, National Science Review   9 , (2022)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/nsr/nwab050
• Highly stretchable van der Waals thin films for adaptable and breathable electronic membranes Zhuocheng Yan, Dong Xu, Zhaoyang Lin, Peiqi Wang, Bocheng Cao, Huaying Ren, Frank Song, Chengzhang Wan, Laiyuan Wang, JIngxuan Zhou, Xun Zhao, Jun Chen, Yu Huang and Xiangfeng Duan, Science   375 , 852-859 (2022)  doi:10.1126/science.abl8941  [ Full Text ]
• Approaching the intrinsic exciton physics limit in two-dimensional semiconductor diodes Peng Chen, Timothy L. Atallah, Zhaoyang Lin, Peiqi Wang, Sung-Joon Lee, Junqing Xu, Zhihong Huang, Xidong Duan, Yuan Ping, Yu Huang, Justin R. Caram & Xiangfeng Duan, Nature   599 , 404–410 (2021)  doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03949-7  [ Full Text ]
• Silver nanoparticles boost charge-extraction efficiency in Shewanella microbial fuel cells Bocheng Cao, Zipeng Zhao, Lele Peng, Hui-Ying Shiu, Mengning Ding, Frank Song, Xun Guan, Calvin K. Lee, Jin Huang, Dan Zhu, Xiaoyang Fu, Gerard C. L. Wong, Chong Liu Kenneth Nealson, Paul S. Weiss, Xiangfeng Duan, Yu Huang. , Science   373 , 1336-1340 (2021)  doi:10.1126/science.abf3427
• Probing and pushing the limit of emerging electronic materials via van der Waals integration Peiqi Wang, Xiangfeng Duan, MRS Bulletin   46 , (2021)  doi:10.1557/s43577-021-00130-3  [ Full Text ]
• High-yield exfoliation of 2D semiconductor monolayers and reassembly of organic/inorganic artificial superlattices Zhaoyang Lin, Zhong Wan, Frank Song, Bolong Huang, Chuancheng Jia, Qi Qian, Joon Sang Kang, Yutong Wu, Xingxu Yan, Lele Peng, Chengzhang Wan, Jingyuan Zhou, Zdenek Sofer, Imran Shakir, Zeyad Almutairi, Sarah Tolbert, Xiaoqing Pan, Yongjie Hu, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Chem  (2021)  doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2021.03.022
• The promises, challenges and pathways to room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries Lei Wang, Tao Wang, Lele Peng, Yiliu Wang, Meng Zhang, Jian Zhou, Maoxin Chen, Jinhui Cao, Huilong Fei, Xidong Duan, Jian Zhu, Xiangfeng Duan, Natl. Sci. Rev.  (2021)  doi:10.1093/nsr/nwab050
• High-order superlattices by rolling up van der Waals heterostructures Bei Zhao, Zhong Wan, Yuan Liu, Junqing Xu, Xiangdong Yang, Dingyi Shen, Zucheng Zhang, Chunhao Guo, Qi Qian, Jia Li, Ruixia Wu, Zhaoyang Lin, Xingxu Yan, Bailing Li, Zhengwei Zhang, Huifang Ma, Bo Li, Xiao Chen, Yi Qiao, Imran Shakir, Zeyad Almutairi, Fei Wei, Yue Zhang, Xiaoqing Pan, Yu Huang, Yuan Ping, Xidong Duan, Xiangfeng Duan, Nature   591 , 385-390 (2021)  doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03338-0
• Autobifunctional Mechanism of Jagged Pt Nanowires for Hydrogen Evolution Kinetics via End-to-End Simulation Geun Ho Gu, Juhyung Lim, Chengzhang Wan, Tao Cheng, Heting Pu, Sungwon Kim, Juhwan Noh, Changhyeok Choi, Juhwan Kim, William A Goddard III, Xiangfeng Duan, Yousung Jung, J. Am. Chem. Soc.  143 , 5355–5363 (2021)  doi:10.1021/jacs.0c11261
• Toward Rational Design of Single-Atom Catalysts Bosi Peng, Haotian Liu, Zeyan Liu, Xiangfeng Duan, Yu Huang, J. Phys. Chem. Lett.  12 , 2837-2847 (2021)  doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c00049
• Promises and prospects of two-dimensional transistors Yuan Liu, Xidong Duan, Hyeon-Jin Shin, Seongjun Park, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Nature   591 , 43-53 (2021)  doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03339-z
• Van der Waals epitaxial growth of air-stable CrSe2 nanosheets with thickness-tunable magnetic order Bo Li, Zhong Wan, Cong Wang, Peng Chen, Bevin Huang, Xing Cheng, Qi Qian, Jia Li, Zhengwei Zhang, Guangzhuang Sun, Bei Zhao, Huifang Ma, Ruixia Wu, Zhongming Wei, Yuan Liu, Lei Liao, Yu Ye, Yu Huang, Xiaodong Xu, Xidong Duan, Wei Ji, Xiangfeng Duan, Nat. Mater.  (2021)  doi:10.1038/s41563-021-00927-2
• Hidden vacancy benefit in monolayer 2D semiconductors Xiankun Zhang, Qingliang Liao, Zhuo Kang, Baishan Liu, Xiaozhi Liu, Yang Ou, Jiankun Xiao, Junli Du, Yihe Liu, Li Gao, Lin Gu, Mengyu Hong, Huihui Yu, Zheng Zhang, Xiangfeng Duan, Yue Zhang, Adv. Mater.   33 , 2007051 (2021)  doi:10.1002/adma.202007051
• Van der Waals Heterostructures by Design: From 1D and 2D to 3D Peiqi Wang, Chuancheng Jia, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Matter   4 , 552-581 (2021)  doi:10.1016/j.matt.2020.12.015
• Large-area synthesis and patterning of all-inorganic lead halide perovskite thin films and heterostructures Yiliu Wang, Chuancheng Jia, Zheng Fan, Zhaoyang Lin, Sung-Joon Lee, Timothy L Atallah, Justin R Caram, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Nano Lett.   21 , 1454-1460 (2021)  doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c04594
• Elastic ceramic aerogels for thermal superinsulation under extreme conditions Xiang Xu, Shubin Fu, Jingran Guo, Hui Li, Yu Huang, Xiangfeng Duan, Materials Today   42 , 162-177 (2021)  doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2020.09.034
• Chemical vapour deposition growth of large single crystals of monolayer and bilayer graphene H. Zhou, W. J. Yu, L. Liu, R. Cheng, Y. Chen, X. Huang, Y. Liu, Y. Wang, Y. Huang and X. Duan, Nature Commun. In press, (2013) doi:10.1038/ncomms3096
• Nanoscale devices: Untangling nanowire assembly N. O. Weiss and X. Duan. Nature Nanotech. 8, 312-313 (2013) doi:10.1038/nnano.2013.83
• Transferred wrinkled Al2O3 for highly stretchable and transparent graphene/carbon nanotube transistors S. H. Chae, W. J. Yu, J. J. Bae, D. L. Duong, D. Perello, H. Y. Jeong, Q. H. Ta, T. H. Ly, Q. A. Vu, M. H. Yun, X. Duan, and Y. H. Lee, Nature Mater. 12, 403-409 (2013) doi:10.1038/nmat3572
• Vertically stacked multi-heterostructures of layered materials for logic transistors and complementary inverters W. J. Yu, Z. Li, H. Zhou, Y. Chen, Y. Wang, Y. Huang and X. Duan, Nature Mater. 12, 246–252 (2013) doi:10.1038/nmat3518
• A low-temperature method to produce highly reduced graphene oxide H. Feng, R. Cheng, X. Zhao, X. Duan and J. Li, Nature Commun. 4, 1539 (2013) doi:10.1038/ncomms2555
• High frequency self-aligned graphene transistors with transferred gate stack R. Cheng, J. Bai, L. Liao, H. Zhou, Y. Chen, L. Liu, Y. Lin, S. Jiang, Y. Huang, and X. Duan, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 11588-11592 (2012) doi:10.1073/pnas.1205696109
• Plasmon resonance enhanced multicolour photodetection by graphene Y. Liu, R. Cheng, L. Liao, H. Zhou, J. Bai, G. Liu, L. Liu, Y. Huang and X. Duan, Nature Commun. 2, 579 (2011) doi:10.1038/ncomms1589
• High speed graphene transistors with a self-aligned nanowire gate L. Liao, Y. Lin, M. Bao, R. Cheng, J. Bai, Y. Liu, Y. Qu, K.L. Wang, Y. Huang, and X. Duan, Nature 467, 305-308 (2010) doi:10.1038/nature09405
• Very large magnetoresistance in graphene nanoribbons J. Bai., R. Cheng, F. Xiu, L. Liao, M. Wang, A. Shailos, K. L. Wang, Y. Huang, and X. Duan, Nature Nanotech. 5, 655-659 (2010) doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.154
• High-yield self-limiting single-nanowire assembly with dielectrophoresis E. M. Freer, O. Grachev, X. Duan, S. Martin, and D.P. Stumbo, Nature Nanotech. 5, 525-530 (2010) doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.157
• High-k oxide nanoribbons as gate dielectrics for high mobility top-gated graphene transistors L. Liao, J. Bai, Y. Qu, Y. Lin, Y. Li, Y. Huang, and X. Duan, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 6711-6715 (2010) doi: 10.1073/pnas.0914117107
• Graphene nanomesh J. Bai, X. Zhong, S. Jiang, Y. Huang, and X. Duan, Nature Nanotech. 5, 190-194 (2010) doi:10.1038/nnano.2010.8

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Graduate Program: Chemistry – Master of Applied Chemical Sciences

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