Associate Professor
Liangzhi Kou
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Biography
Broad Area of Research: Chemical catalysis and Advanced Materials, Spintronics and electronics, Mechanical/electronic/magnetic coupling, Gas sensing and capture. My Google Scholar citations are available via the link below https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=RGm-YkGGiBoC&hl=enPhD project available: We are seeking highly motivated and creative individuals with solid backgrounds in chemistry, physics, and computational materials science to join our dynamic research team. Please contact me for more information (liangzhi.kou@qut.edu.au)
Main Research Area: Our research group mainly works on the physical/chemical properties of new 2D materials and their applications on electronics devices and energy conversions (chemical catalysis, photovoltaic solar cell), from accurate first-principles calculations based on VASP, SIESTA, DFTB+. It has led to significant advances in materials science, physical chemistry, and chemical physics. The main research directions are summarized
(i) 2D Functional Materials and Properties
- Mechanical/electronic/magnetic/topological properties and electric transport (IV curve) of 2D materials.
- Ferroelectric and multiferroic materials.
- Magnetoelectric coupling
- Heterostructures
- Spintronics and electronics applications
- Gas adsorption and capture
- Charge transfer and electric transport simulations
- Toxic gas detection and removal
- Hydrogen storage
- Water splitting; HER: OER
- N2 fixation
- CO2 reduction
- Ferroelectric catalysis: Controllable chemical reaction
- Topological catalysis
- ECARD (Early Career Academic Recruitment and Development; 2015-2018) award from QUT ($15,000)
- VC travel fellowship ($7,000)
- ARC Discovery Project (2019-2022) DP190101607 ($270,000)
- ARC Research Hub for Connected Sensors for Health ($5,000,000; IH210100040, 2021-2025)
- QUT Boost Grant ($233,924)
Career Path:
- Aug.2021-present: Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2017 – 2021:Senior Lecture, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2015 – 2017:Lecture, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2014 – 2015:Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW, Sydney.
- 2012 – 2014:Humboldt Fellow, University of Bremen, Germany.
- 2011:Visiting Scholar, UNLV, US.
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Mech., Medical & Process Engineering
Research field
Other Physical Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Other Chemical Sciences
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
Professional memberships and associations
Member of HEA
Editorial Board Member of Sci. Rep.
Editorial board of Chinese Chemistry Letter
Teaching
EGB321 Dynamics of Machines
EGB211 Dynamics
EGH413 Advanced Dynamics
EGH400 Research Project
EGH414 Advanced Materials
Experience
After finishing my phd degree in Nanomechanics in 2012, I worked as a research fellow in Germany (2012-2014) and Australia (UNSW, 2014-2015). Since then, I move to QUT as a staff
- Aug.2021-present: Associate Professor, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2017 – 2021:Senior Lecture, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2015 – 2017:Lecture & DECRA, Queensland University of Technology.
- 2014 – 2015:Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW, Sydney.
- 2012 – 2014:Humboldt Fellow, University of Bremen, Germany.
- 2011:Visiting Scholar, UNLV, US.
Publications
- Ju, L., Tan, X., Mao, X., Gu, Y., Smith, S., Du, A., Chen, Z., Chen, C. & Kou, L. (2021). Controllable CO2 electrocatalytic reduction via ferroelectric switching on single atom anchored In2Se3 monolayer. Nature Communications, 12(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/213356
- Tang, X., Kou, L., Ju, L. & Shang, J. (2020). Tunable Photocatalytic Water Splitting by the Ferroelectric Switch in a 2D AgBiP2Se6 Monolayer. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 142(3), 1492–1500. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208792
- Shang, J., Tang, X. & Kou, L. (2021). Two dimensional ferroelectrics: Candidate for controllable physical and chemical applications. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Computational Molecular Science, 11(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208846
- Jin, C., Tang, X., Tan, X., Smith, S., Dai, Y. & Kou, L. (2019). A Janus MoSSe monolayer: A superior and strain-sensitive gas sensing material. Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 7(3), 1099–1106. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208774
- Tang, X. & Kou, L. (2019). Two-Dimensional Ferroics and Multiferroics: Platforms for New Physics and Applications. Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 10(21), 6634–6649. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/208787
- Kou, L., Ma, Y., Tang, C., Sun, Z., Du, A. & Chen, C. (2016). Auxetic and ferroelastic borophane: a novel 2d material with negative Possion's ratio and switchable Dirac transport channels. Nano Letters, 16(12), 7910–7914. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103061
- Kou, L., Wu, S., Felser, C., Frauenheim, T., Chen, C. & Yan, B. (2014). Robust 2D topological insulators in van der Waals heterostructures. ACS Nano, 8(10), 10448–10454. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98210
- Kou, L., Yan, B., Hu, F., Wu, S., Wehling, T., Felser, C., Chen, C. & Frauenheim, T. (2013). Graphene-based topological insulator with an intrinsic bulk band gap above room temperature. Nano Letters, 13(12), 6251–6255. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98215
- Kou, L., Tang, C., Guo, W. & Chen, C. (2011). Tunable Magnetism in Strained Graphene with Topological Line Defect. ACS Nano, 5(2), 1012–1017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98226
- Kou, L., Li, C., Zhang, Z. & Guo, W. (2010). Tuning Magnetism in Zigzag ZnO Nanoribbons by Transverse Electric Fields. ACS Nano, 4(4), 2124–2128. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98231
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Liangzhi, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Cost-efficient 2D Heterostructures for Solar Overall Water Splitting
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP190101607
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
- Title
- Exploring A New Family of 2D Heterogeneous Topological Insulator
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DE150101854
- Start year
- 2015
- Keywords
- topological insulator; heterostructure; two-dimensional
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- Ammonia and Urea Synthesis via Heterogeneous Electrocatalysis
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Sarina Sarina - Advanced Physics Information Machine Learning framework for Structural Optimisation
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor YuanTong Gu, Adjunct Associate Professor Haifei Zhan - Two-dimensional ferroelectric materials on the applications of next-generation electronics
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor YuanTong Gu, Professor Ziqi Sun - Computational Exploration of Two-Dimensional Materials for Photocatalytic Water Splitting
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Aijun Du, Professor Ting Liao - Computational Discovery and Design of Nanomaterials for Solar Energy Applications
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Aijun Du, Professor Ting Liao