Contact
Biography
Dr Ming Li obtained his Ph.D. in 2008 from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield under the supervision of Professor Derek C. Sinclair. Upon completing his Ph.D., he remained in Sheffield working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) with Professor Sinclair until 2013. He then joined the group of Professor Matthew J. Rosseinsky FRS as a PDRA at the Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool. In 2014 he was awarded a Nottingham Research Fellowship and started his independent academic career at the University of Nottingham.
Dr Ming Li is part of the Advanced Materials Research Group.
Expertise Summary
Electronic conductors, ionic conductors (e.g., oxide ion conductors, proton conductors, Li ion conductors), mixed ionic/electronic conductors for a range of electrochemical and catalytic applications:
- Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs)
- Solid electrolytes for all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries
- Dense ceramic membranes for oxygen separation and hydrogen separation, catalytic membrane reactors
- Catalysts and catalyst supports based on conductive oxides
Ferroelectric and piezoelectric ceramics for electronic components (e.g. high-temperature, high-voltage multilayer ceramic capacitors)
Characterisation of electrical and dielectric properties of materials by Impedance Spectroscopy
Processing and sintering of electroceramics
Teaching Summary
ENGR4004 Energy Storage
MMME3071 Materials for Low-carbon Transport
MMME2045 Materials in Design
MMME1029 Materials and Manufacturing
Research Summary
Our research focuses on understanding electrical conduction mechanisms and defect chemistry in functional materials (mainly metal oxides) to design and manufacture new materials for energy and… read more
Selected Publications
LI, MING, NIU, HONGJUN, DRUCE, JOHN, TÉLLEZ, HELENA, ISHIHARA, TATSUMI, KILNER, JOHN A., GASPARYAN, HRIPSIME, PITCHER, MICHAEL J., XU, WEN, SHIN, J. FELIX, DANIELS, LUKE M., JONES, LEANNE A. H., DHANAK, VIN R., HU, DINGYUE, ZANELLA, MARCO, CLARIDGE, JOHN B. and ROSSEINSKY, MATTHEW J., 2020. A CO2-Tolerant Perovskite Oxide with High Oxide Ion and Electronic Conductivity Advanced Materials. 32(4), 1905200 LI, MING, PIETROWSKI, MARTHA J., DE SOUZA, ROGER A., ZHANG, HUAIRUO, REANEY, IAN M., COOK, STUART N., KILNER, JOHN A. and SINCLAIR, DEREK C., 2014. A family of oxide ion conductors based on the ferroelectric perovskite Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 Nature Materials. 13(1), 31-35 LEI, L., LI, M., GRANT, D. M., YANG, S., YU, Y., WATTS, J. A. and AMABILINO, D. B., 2020. Morphology and Defect Control of Metal Halide Perovskite Films for High-Performance Optoelectronics: Chemistry of Materials Chemistry of Materials. LI, MING, ZHANG, HUAIRUO, COOK, STUART N., LI, LINHAO, KILNER, JOHN A., REANEY, IAN M. and SINCLAIR, DEREK C., 2015. Dramatic influence of A-Site nonstoichiometry on the electrical conductivity and conduction mechanisms in the perovskite oxide Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 Chemistry of Materials. 27(2), 629-634
Current Research
Our research focuses on understanding electrical conduction mechanisms and defect chemistry in functional materials (mainly metal oxides) to design and manufacture new materials for energy and electronic applications.
Our particular expertise and the core theme underlying our research is probing the 'electrical microstructure' and defect chemistry of materials using various electrical characterisation techniques, particularly Impedance Spectroscopy. Metal oxides often exhibit low levels of nonstoichiometry (typically <1 at%) that is associated with impurities in raw materials, deliberate chemical doping or 'accidental' element loss/gain during sample processing. Such small compositional variations, although difficult to detect accurately by common chemical techniques, can induce significant changes in electrical conduction mechanism and conductivity as well as complex electrical inhomogeneity in a sample. We specialise in separating contributions to conductivity and permittivity from different regions (grains, grain cores, gran shells, grain boundaries, sample-electrode non-ohmic interfaces, surface layers, etc.) and identifying the nature of charge carriers (electrons, holes, ions, etc.) using Impedance Spectroscopy.
This approach and expertise allow for deep understanding of composition-structure-property relationships in metal oxides, which is crucial to design new materials as well as improve the performance of current materials.
Future Research
I welcome enquiries from highly motivated PhD candidates from home and international countries.