Bin Liu received his B.Eng. with 1st Class Honours (2002) and M.Eng. (2004) in chemical engineering from the National University of Singapore and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota (2011). Following this, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher (2011-2012) in the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He joined School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering (SCBE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in June 2012 as an Assistant Professor, and then was promoted to an Associate Professor in March 2017.

Novel electrocatalysts We use well defined materials to derive mechanistic understanding and tune their surface reactivity for desired catalytic activity. The knowledge obtained from above research provides solid foundation for the development of more efficient catalysts that could meet for practical application requirements. Catalyst design Due to sophistication of electrocatalytic systems such as OER, ORR and CO2 reduction, no ideal catalysts could meet all requirements for large scale application. Special design to solve particular problems is necessary. For example, for the catalysts with relatively low activity but good stability and large abundance, to identify the origin of their activity limitation and rationally improve activity is the most important. In our research, we are specially interested in the fundamental relations that govern the activity and surface reactivity. Electrodes with better charge transport properties In a photoelectrochemical cell, the most concerned issue in nanostructured electrode is the charge transport, which consists of the internal movement of electrons in nanostructures and the intergrain charge transfer. We developed several strategies to improve charge transport property, such as synthesis of one-dimensional anatase TiO2 nanostructures with lower density of trap states, surface rutilization of anatase TiO2 nanorods to reduce recombination at intergrain of nanostructures.

"Unraveling the Intrinsic Structures that Influence the Transport of Charges in TiO2 Electrodes", J Chen*, HB Tao, B Liu*. Advanced Energy Materials, 2017, 10.1002/aenm.201700886. (in press) "Use of Platinum as the Counter Electrode to Study the Activity of Nonprecious Metal Catalysts for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction", R Chen, C Yang, W Cai, HY Wang, J Miao, L Zhang, S Chen*, B Liu*. ACS Energy Letters 2 (5), 1070-1075. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.7b00219 "Unraveling Oxygen Evolution Reaction on Carbon­based Electrocatalysts: Effect of Oxygen Doping on Oxygenated Intermediates Adsorption", L Li, H Yang, J Miao, L Zhang, HY Wang, Z Zeng, W Huang, X Dong*, B Liu*. ACS Energy Letters, 2017. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00681 "An ambipolar azaacene as a stable photocathode for metal­free light­driven water reduction", PY Gu, Z Wang, FX Xiao, Z Lin, R Song, QF Xu, JM Lu*, B Liu*, Q Zhang*. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 2017. DOI:10.1039/C6QM00113K "Revisiting one­dimensional TiO2 based hybrid heterostructures for heterogeneous photocatalysis: a critical review", J Zhang, G Xiao, FX Xiao*, B Liu*. Materials Chemistry Frontiers, 2017. DOI:10.1039/C6QM00141F "In Situ Spectroscopic Identification of ?-OO Bridging on Spinel Co3O4 Water Oxidation Electrocatalyst", HY Wang, SF Hung, YY Hsu, L Zhang, J Miao, TS Chan, Q Xiong, B Liu*, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 7 (23), 4847­4853, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b02147 "Sustainable hydrogen and chemical production via photo­electrochemical reforming of biomass­derived alcohols, L Zhang, R Chen, J Luo, J Miao, J Gao, B Liu*, Nano Research 9 (11), 3388­3393, 2016. DOI: 10.1007/s12274-016-1216-5 "Modulation of Crystal Surface and Lattice by Doping: Achieving Ultrafast Metal­Ion Insertion in Anatase TiO2", HY Wang, HY Chen, YY Hsu, U Stimming, HM Chen*, B Liu*, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 8 (42), 29186­29193, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b11185 "Sulfur­Mediated Self­Templating Synthesis of Tapered C­PAN/g­C3N4 Composite Nanotubes toward Efficient Photocatalytic H2 Evolution", F He, G Chen*, J Miao, Z Wang, D Su, S Liu, W Cai, L Zhang, S Hao, B Liu*, ACS Energy Letters 1 (5), 969­975, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.6b00398 "Tuning chemical bonding of MnO2 through transition­metal doping for enhanced CO oxidation", J Gao, C Jia, L Zhang, H Wang*, Y Yang, SF Hung, YY Hsu, B Liu*, Journal of Catalysis 341, 82­90, 2016. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcat.2016.06.009 "Controllable synthesis of ?­MoC 1­x and ?­Mo2 C nanowires for highly selective CO2 reduction to CO", J Gao, Y Wu, C Jia, Z Zhong, F Gao, Y Yang, B Liu*, Catalysis Communications 84, 147­150, 2016. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.catcom.2016.06.026 "Adsorption Separation of R?22, R?32 and R?125 Fluorocarbons using 4A Molecular Sieve Zeolite", DK Wanigarathna, J Gao, T Takanami, Q Zhang*, B Liu*, ChemistrySelect 1 (13), 3718­3722, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/slct.201600689 "Identification of surface reactivity descriptor for transition metal oxides in oxygen evolution reaction", HB Tao, L Fang, J Chen, HB Yang, J Gao, J Miao, S Chen*, B Liu*, Journal of the American Chemical Society 138 (31), 9978­9985, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b05398 "Linker­assisted assembly of 1D TiO2 nanobelts/3D CdS nanospheres hybrid heterostructure as efficient visible light photocatalyst", J Zhang, FX Xiao, G Xiao, B Liu*, Applied Catalysis A: General 521, 50­56, 2016. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2015.10.046 "Cadmium selenide­sensitized upright­standing mesoporous zinc oxide nanosheets for efficient photoelectrochemical H2 production", J Miao, B Liu*, Journal of Energy Chemistry 25 (3), 371­374, 2016. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jechem.2016.02.013 "Identification of catalytic sites for oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution in N­doped graphene materials: Development of highly efficient metal­free bifunctional electrocatalyst", HB Yang, J Miao, SF Hung, J Chen, HB Tao, X Wang, L Zhang, R Chen, L. M. Dai*, B Liu*, Science Advances 2 (4), e1501122, 2016. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501122 "Niobium Doping Enhances Charge Transport in TiO2 Nanorods", HY Wang, H Yang, L Zhang, J Chen, B Liu*, ChemNanoMat 2016. DOI: 10.1002/cnma.201600035 "Tunneling interlayer for efficient transport of charges in metal oxide electrodes", J Chen, L Zhang, Z Lam, HB Tao, Z Zeng, HB Yang, J Luo, L Ma, B Li, J Zheng, S Jia, Z Wang, Z Zhu, B Liu*, Journal of the American Chemical Society 138 (9), 3183­3189, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b13464 "Iridium Oxide?Assisted Plasmon?Induced Hot Carriers: Improvement on Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Hot Carriers", SF Hung, FX Xiao, YY Hsu, NT Suen, HB Yang, HM Chen*, B Liu*, Advanced Energy Materials 2016. DOI: 10.1002/aenm.201501339 "Full Characterization and Photoelectrochemical Behavior of Pyrene?fused Octaazadecacene and Tetraazaoctacene", Z Wang, J Miao, G Long, P Gu, J Li, N Aratani, H Yamada, B Liu*, Q Zhang, Chemistry-An Asian Journal 11 (4), 482­485, 2016. DOI: 10.1002/asia.201501276