Christina Li
- Associate Professor | Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Chemistry
- Email: christinawli@purdue.edu
- Phone: 45294
- Office: BRWN 4130D
- Professor Christina Li's individual homepage
Effective carbon management is an essential part of our energy future, and new catalysts are needed in order to fundamentally change the way we utilize C-based fuels and handle waste CO2. My research program tackles catalysis problems in this area including hydrocarbon activation and electrochemical transformations relevant to fuel cells. We are particularly interested in the development of metal alloys, mixed-metal oxide, and chalcogenide frameworks with tunable defect chemistry to create unique surface redox and binding properties for C-H activation and CO2 adsorption. A major focus will be on building structure-activity relationships for these complex defect surfaces in order to elucidate general principles about heterogeneous activation of strong C-H and C-O bonds. Coupled to structural and mechanistic studies, these principles will inform the design and synthesis of more efficient catalytic materials. Students in the group gain experience in solid-state and nanomaterial synthesis, heterogeneous catalysis, electrochemistry, and a variety of spectroscopy and microscopy techniques for materials characterization. Education Harvard University, A.B., 2009 Ph.D., Stanford University, 2015 Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley, 2016 Awards Career Award, 2021 Outstanding Contributions to Teaching by an Assistant Professor, 2020 Seeds for Success Award, 2018 Stanford Graduate Fellowship, 2013 Graduate Research Fellowship, 2010