Welcome to the Lu Lab!
We are an inorganic chemistry lab located in the Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong. We work on solid state materials and nanomaterials. We aim to combine our expertise in inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, and physical chemistry to address fundamental questions related to energy conversion, catalysis, and sustainability. We play with all forms of photons from UV to NIR spectrum and we apply photons to tackle synthetic challenges that are otherwise impossible with traditional methods.
We are an inorganic chemistry lab located in the Department of Chemistry, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong. We work on solid state materials and nanomaterials. We aim to combine our expertise in inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, and physical chemistry to address fundamental questions related to energy conversion, catalysis, and sustainability. We play with all forms of photons from UV to NIR spectrum and we apply photons to tackle synthetic challenges that are otherwise impossible with traditional methods.
News:
- 11/2024: Zixuan's paper on the electronic and structural origin of chiroptical activity in 2D perovskites is now published in Chemical Science. Congrats!
- 10/2024: Zhiyu's paper on efficient circularly polarized luminescence (with record-high Figure of Merit) based on helical perovskite-CLC superstructure is published in Advanced Optical Materials. Congrats!
- 10/2024: Qinxuan's Review article on Emerging Opportunities of Colloidal Quantum Dots for Photocatalysis is published in Advanced Materials. Congrats!
- 09/2024: Lu is listed among World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University, Elsevier BV, 2023.
- 09/2024: Chloe Wong (RedBird PhD Scholarship) and LEE Hyo Cheol (HKPFS) joined the group as PhD students. Welcome!
- 06/2024: Our group was awarded General Research Fund (GRF) 2024/25. We thank Research Grants Council (RGC) Hong Kong for the generous support!
- 06/2024: Our Review article is published in National Science Review. We provided a chemical perspective on the chiral induced spin selectivity effect. The article will appear in the special issue of Spin Chemistry. Congrats!
- 05/2024: Jingwen's spin-LED work is now published in JACS. Congrats!
- 05/2024: Our collaborative work with the Zhou group at HKUST, on turning thermal conductivity of hybrid perovskites, is published in Advanced Science.
- 04/2024: Our collaboration with the Zhu group at CityU, on using charge-transfer perovskites for efficient solar cells, is published in Nature Communications.
- 03/2024: Zhongwei's paper on the dilute magnetic perovskite semiconductor is now published in Nano Letter. Congrats!
- 02/2024: Congrats to Qinxuan and Rex for winning the Best TA awards 2022-2023! Good job in teaching!
- 02/2024: Zixuan's paper on the MCD study of Mn-doped perovskites is now published in ACS Nano. Congrats!
- 01/2024: Jianning's paper on the synthesis and spectroscopy of metastable silver-lanthanide double perovskite nanocrystals is now accepted in Inorganic Chemistry. Congrats!
- 12/2023: Xuejie's paper on extended honeycomb metal chloride antiferromagnets is now accepted in Chemistry of Materials. Congrats!
- 09/2023: Former UG student Chow, Chi Wa joined our group as a MPhil student. Chi Wa received his Bachelor degree with first class honors from HKUST. Welcome!
- 09/2023: Zhongwei's review article on magnetic hybrid transition metal halides is now accepted in Materials Chemistry Frontiers. Congrats!
- 08/2023: Our group was awarded Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) Tier-3 Seed fund. We thank ITC and our industrial partner for their sponsorship! Looking forwards to the development of chiral phosphor and circularly polarized LEDs!
- 07/2023: Our group was awarded General Research Fund (GRF) 2023/24. We thank Research Grants Council (RGC) Hong Kong for funding!
- 05/2023: Xuejie's paper on the Rashba band splitting and bulk photovoltaic effect induced by unusual halogen bonds in hybrid layered perovskites is now accepted in Angew. Congrats to her second first-author paper!
- 04/2023: Tanglue's paper on the spin control enabling efficient electrochemical oxygen evolution is accepted in Advanced Functional Materials. Congrats!
- 04/2023: Our collaborative work is now published in Nature Communications. Congrats!
- 03/2023: Our group received an external funding support from the Fei Chi En Education and Research Fund (2022-23). We will develop novel nanocatalysts and understand the fundamental mechanisms of carbon capture and conversion processes. We are extremely grateful for the generous support form the Y-Lot Foundation.
- 03/2023: Congrats to our UG student Pang Ho Yeung for being accepted into the 2023 Kyoto University Amgen Scholars Program. Pang Ho will conduct his Summer research in Kyoto University.
- 02/2023: Qinxuan's paper on the synthesis of chiral perovskite nanoplatelets with tunable CPL is accepted in Advanced Optical Materials. Well done!
- 12/2022: Zhiyu's paper on the design of chiral antimony-indium chlorides for white circularly polarized luminescence is accepted in Angew. Well done!
- 11/2022: Zixuan's paper on revealing the intrinsic chiroptical activity of chiral metal-halide semiconductors is now published in JACS. Well done!
- 11/2022: Congrats to Xue Jie on winning the poster presentation award at the 29th Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong. Well done!
- 09/2022: Our group was awarded the NSFC Young Scientist Fund (青年基金). Congrats!
- 09/2022: Two first-year postgraduate students, Rex Chang (IRE student from HKUST) and Jianning Feng (from South China University of Technology & University of Edinburgh) joined the group. Welcome!
- 08/2022: Zhongwei's paper on the photophysics of charge-transfer 1D perovskites is published in Journal of Chemical Physics. Congrats!
- 07/2022: Our review paper on chiral metal-halide semiconductors is published in Nature Reviews Chemistry. Congrats!
- 06/2022: Zhiyu's paper on the structural asymmetry and chiroptical activity of a new series of chiral antimony-halide hybrids is published in European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, Institute Feature: Hong Kong Universities.
- 04/2022: Xue Jie's CM paper is among the journal’s Top 20 most downloaded articles for the previous 30 days.
- 02/2022: Our group's first independent research work is now published in Chemistry of Materials. We reported a new series of hybrid magnetic semiconductors in double perovskite structure, where their bandgaps and magnetic properties are highly tunable! We are just beginning to explore these fascinating multifunctional materials.
- 02/2022: Three first-year postgraduate students Jie Xue (previous RA), Zhiyu Wang (previous RA) and Ka Kit Kong (BSc HKUST) joined the group. Welcome!
- 12/2021: Haipeng's postdoc work in collaboration with Fei Zhang and others is now published in Science. We showed that design of novel 2D DJ perovskites can enable efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PCE~24.7%), another great example to show the key role of chemistry and interfaces in device performance!
- 11/2021: Our Minireview paper, "Spin selectivity in chiral metal-halide semiconductors" was published in Nanoscale. It will appear in a special thematic issue for Nanoscale 2022 Emerging Investigators.
- 11/2021: Our collaborative work with NREL and SUSTech was published in JACS. We showed how spin-polarized lifetime can be tuned by exciton binding energy in 2D metal-halide perovskite.
- 10/2021: Our group was awarded the HKUST–SJTU Joint Research Collaboration Fund to develop chiral metal-halide semiconductors for next-generation photonic applications, in collaboration with Prof. Chun-Chao Chen from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).
- 08/2021: Postdoc Tanglue Feng (from Jilin University) and three first-year postgraduate students Qinxuan Cao (from Zhejiang University), Zhongwei Chen (from SUSTech) and Zixuan Zhang (from PolyU) joined the group. Welcome!
- 07/2021: Our research group was awarded Early Career Scheme (ECS) grant. We thank Research Grants Council (RGC) Hong Kong for funding!
- 04/2021: Paper published in ACS Nano. We showed that chiral copper chloride-carbon nanotube heterojunction can be used for direct circular polarized light detection.
- 03/2021: Haipeng's postdoc work in collaboration with Young-Hoon and Yaxin is now published in Science. We showed that chiral-induced spin selectivity in chiral 2D perovskites can enable room-temperature spin-LED without any magnetic field or ferromagnetic materials, another great example to show how fundamental studies can bring in new applications!
- 03/2021: Haipeng's postdoc work in collaboration with Eric Amerling is now published in ACS Energy Lett. We provide a comprehensive perspective on the electronic doping of metal halide perovskite semiconductors.
- 02/2021: MSc students Jie XUE and Zhiyu WANG joined the group to conduct their Analytical Research projects. Welcome!
- 01/2021: Haipeng's postdoc work in collaboration with Fei Zhang is now published in Chem. Check out how new crystal chemistry can help to improve the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells.
- 12/2020: Haipeng's postdoc work in collaboration with Jingying Wang is now published in ACS Nano. We show that chiral-induced spin selectivity in chiral 2D perovskites can enable spin-dependent photovoltaic devices.
- 12/2020: Haipeng is moving to The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor. The Lu group will focus on the development of new functional hybrid and nanomaterials for renewable energy and catalysis. Several postgraduate student and postdoc positions are available. Undergraduate students and visiting scholars are also welcomed. Please send CV to haipenglu@ust.hk.
