Dr Jie Xu

Argonne National Laboratory, USA

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Real-time correlation of crystallization and segmental order in conjugated polymers’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH00956D) 

Professor Dr Wee-Jun Ong

Center of Excellence for NaNo Energy & Catalysis Technology (CONNECT), Xiamen University, Malaysia

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Isotype heterojunction: tuning the heptazine/triazine phase of crystalline nitrogen-rich C₃N₅towards multifunctional photocatalytic applications’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH01115A)

Professor Dr Hai-Bo Zhao

National Engineering Laboratory for Eco-Friendly Polymer Materials (Sichuan), College of Chemistry, Sichuan University

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Controllable proton-reservoir ordered gel towards reversible switching and reliable electromagnetic interference shielding’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH01795H)

Associate Professor Dr Xuhui Zhang

Jiangnan University, China

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Soft–hard dual nanophases: a facile strategy for polymer strengthening and toughening’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH01763J) 

Professor Zhengbao Yang

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Exploring the Mpemba effect: a universal ice pressing enables porous ceramics’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH01869E)

Professor Yiyang Li

University of Michigan, USA

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Oxygen tracer diffusion in amorphous hafnia films for resistive memory’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/d3mh02113k)

Professor Jingjing Duan

Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Unlock flow-type reversible aqueous Zn–CO₂batteries’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4MH00219A) 

Professor Francesca Santoro

Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen, Germany

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘An organic brain-inspired platform with neurotransmitter closed-loop control, actuation and reinforcement learning’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH02202A)

Dr Sahnawaz Ahmed National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Kolkata, India Read the Editorial Read the Emerging Investigator article,‘Chemically fueled dynamic switching between assembly-encoded emissions’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4MH00251B)   Professor Edison Huixiang Ang National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Read the Editorial Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Construction of phase-separated Co/MnO synergistic catalysts and integration onto sponge for rapid removal of multiple contaminants’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D4MH00285G)

Dr Wei Zhai

National University of Singapore, Singapore

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Multifunctional sound-absorbing and mechanical metamaterials via a decoupled mechanism design approach’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MH00977C) 

Dr Yandong Ma

Shandong University, China

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Layer-polarized anomalous Hall effects in valleytronic van der Waals bilayers’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MH00906D) 

Dr Yue (Jessica) Wang

University of California, Merced, USA

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Read the Emerging Investigator article,  ‘Oligoaniline-assisted self-assembly of polyaniline crystals’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MH01344D) 

Dr Dominik J. Kubicki

University of Warwick, UK

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘MOF/polymer hybrids through in situ free radical polymerization in metal-organic frameworks’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MH01202B) 

Dr Megan Fieser

University of Southern California, USA

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Controlling selectivity for dechlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) with (xantphos)RhCl’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MH01293F) 

Professor Derek Ho

City University of Hong Kong, China

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Order–disorder engineering of RuO₂nanosheets towards pH-universal oxygen evolution’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH00339F)

Dr Jess M. Clough

Adolphe Merkle Institute, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Microscopic strain mapping in polymers equipped with non-covalent mechanochromic motifs’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH00650F)

Dr Kevin Golovin

University of Toronto, Canada

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Surface-engineered double-layered fabrics for continuous, passive fluid transport’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH00634D)

Dr Shanshan Yao

Stony Brook University, USA

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Read the Emerging Investigator article, ‘Decoding silent speech commands from articulatory movements through soft magnetic skin and machine learning’ (https://doi.org/10.1039/D3MH01062G)

Zhengyang Bin, Sichuan University, China

Zhengyang Bin received his Ph.D. degree at Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University in 2018, supervised by Prof. Yong Qiu. He is now working at College of Chemistry, Sichuan University. He was selected as Materials Horizons Emerging Investigator in 2021. His research interest focuses on developing structurally non-traditional organic materials for high-performance OLEDs.

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Shengyang in this Editorial.

Jingsong You, Sichuan University, China

Jingsong You received his Ph.D. degree from Sichuan University in 1998. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow or a research scientist at Chung-Hsing University (China), Institute für Organische Katalyseforschung (Germany), Iowa State University (USA), and University of California, Irvine (USA). In 2004, he joined the College of Chemistry of Sichuan University as Professor. His research interest focuses on developing new concepts and strategies to synthesize π-conjugated frameworks, especially via the transition metal catalyzed C−H functionalization of (hetero)arenes, and exploring their applications in the synthesis of organic optoelectronic materials.

You Ran, Sichuan University, China

Dr. You Ran was born in 1992 and received his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Chemistry from Sichuan University in 2021. His research focuses on efficient TADF host materials for TSF-OLEDs.

Dae Sung Chung, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Republic of Korea

Prof. Dae Sung Chung received his B.S. in 2005 and Ph.D in 2010 at Department of Chemical Engineering in Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Korea. He had been postdoctoral researcher supervised by Prof. Dmitri V. Talapin at University of Chicago for 2 years. He had worked for Chung-Ang University and Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST) for 4 year and 3 years, respectively, as an assistant and associate professor. In 2020, he joined Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) as an associate professor. His research interests include organic image sensors, printing M3D of organic electronics and molecular switch devices.

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Dae Sung in this Editorial.

Juhee Kim, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Republic of Korea

Juhee Kim received her B.S. in 2018 at Department of Chemical Engineering in Chonnam National University, Korea. She received her M.S. in 2020 at Department of Energy Science & Engineering in Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST) under the guidance of Prof. Dae Sung Chung. Since 2020, she has been her Ph.D. course at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) under the same supervisor. Her research interests include organic image sensors.

Danqing Liu, Shenzen University, China

Danqing Liu received her BSc degree in 2010 from the University of Science and Technology of China, and earned her PhD degree in Chemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2014. She joined Shenzhen University as an assistant professor in the College of Material Science and Engineering in 2015. Currently, her research group focuses on organic semiconductors and electronic devices, including organic/hybrid thermoelectrics and organic field effect transistors.

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Danqing in this Editorial.

Lei Wang, Shenzen University, China

Lei Wang conducted his MSc and PhD study in the Guangzhou Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, from 2001 to 2006. He then joined Shenzhen University and was promoted to full professor in 2011. Prof. Wang is currently the dean of College of Material Science and Engineering of Shenzhen University and the director of Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Polymer Science and Technology. His research interests include highly branched polymers, proton exchange membrane materials for fuel cells, conductive polymers, and organic thermoelectric materials.

Lai Wei, Shenzen University, China

Lei Wei received his MSc degree from East China Normal University in 2013, and obtained his PhD degree from Université Paris-Sud in 2018. He then completed Postdoctoral Fellowship in Shenzhen University from 2019–2020. He is now a senior scientist at BGI-Shenzhen. His research interests focus on organic semiconductor materials, natural product chemistry, and asymmetric organic catalysis.

Juan José Vilatela, IMDEA Materials, Spain

Juan José Vilatela has a PhD from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy of the University of Cambridge (2009). He leads a research group at IMDEA Materials, focused on the development of macroscopic materials made up of nanobuilding blocks in a way that the unique properties at the nanoscale are preserved through the assembly process and a new generation of high-performance engineering materials is produced. He has coordinated several academic and industrial research projects related to nanomaterials, including an ERC Starting Grant. He has been awarded the 2016 young investigator award by the European Society for Composite Materials and the 2018 “Miguel Catalán” under 40 investigator award by the Madrid Regional Government. In 2021 he co-founded Floatech, a spin-off company pursuing the industrialisation of a new sustainable process for the fabrication of Si anodes for the next generation of Lithium-ion batteries. Find the group on Twitter: @MNGMaterials

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Juan José in this Editorial.

Sahika Inal, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia

Sahika Inal is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering with affiliations in Electrical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). She has a B.Sc. degree in Textile Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (Turkey), an M.Sc. in Polymer Science, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics, both from the University of Potsdam (Germany). She completed her postdoctoral training at the Center of Microelectronics of Provence of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne (France). Her expertise is in polymer science and bioelectronic devices, particularly in the photophysics of conjugated polymers, characterization of polymer films and the design of biosensors and actuators. The Inal lab exploits the functionalities of organic electronic materials, investigates ionic/electronic charge transport, and designs electronic devices that record/stimulate biological signals. Find Sahika on Twitter: @InalSahika

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Sahika in this Editorial.

Malak Kawan, University of Cambridge, UK

Malak is currently a PhD candidate in Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge working on developing biohybrid implantable devices for the brain to improve biocompatibility and tissue integration. She received her BS from the University of Delaware in Neuroscience in 2017 with a focus on Chemistry and was working on neurobehavioural studies. She obtained her MS from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in 2019 in the research area of bioelectronics and worked on integrating lipid bilayers with electrochemical transistors for ion channel recordings. Find Malak on Twitter: @KawanMalak

Prashun Gorai, Colorado School of Mines, USA

Dr. Prashun Gorai is a research assistant professor in the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) with a joint faculty appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He obtained his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 2008, and his PhD (also in Chemical Engineering) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2014. Subsequently, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at CSM and NREL, from 2014-2017. He received a graduate student fellow award from the American Vacuum Society in 2009. In 2012 and 2013, he was a recipient of the Dow Chemical graduate fellowship. The Royal Society of Chemistry has recognized him as an outstanding peer reviewer for the J. Materials Chemistry A in 2018 and 2019. At CSM and NREL, his team utilizes first-principles computations and data informatics to accelerate the discovery of novel functional materials for thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, solid-state energy storage, and power electronics. In the quest to discover novel functional materials, his team aims to map unexplored/under-explored chemical spaces with targeted computational searches. Beyond discovery, his team is also interested in predicting and modelling defect properties of materials. Details about his team can be found on the 3D Materials Lab webpage.

Don’t forget to check out the Emerging Investigator series interview with Prashun in this Editorial.