Xiangyu Li

Biography

August 2022 – Present
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

June 2019 – July 2022
Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Personal Website

Education

• PhD, 2018, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• BS, 2012, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Research

• Building energy efficiency
• Radiative cooling
• Thermal energy storage
• High temperature heat exchanger
• Solar desalination
• Atmospheric water harvesting

Professional Service

• Reviewer for Nature Energy, Nature Communications, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Nano Energy, Journal of Heat Transfer, etc.
• Co-chair of poster session for 2021 Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting and Exhibit.

Awards and Recognitions

• 2021 Finalist for 2021 R&D 100 Awards
• 2021 Guinness World Record, World’s Whitest Paint

Publications

• Zhang, L.^†, Li, X.^† (co-first-author with equal contribution), Zhong, Y., Leroy, A., Xu, Z., Zhao, L., & Wang, E.N. (2022). Highly Efficient and Salt Rejecting Solar Evaporation via A Wick-Free Confined Water Layer. Nature Communications, 13(1), 1-12.
• Tong, Z., Peoples, J., Li, X., Yang, X., Bao, H., & Ruan, X. (2022). Atomistic characteristics of ultra-efficient radiative cooling paint pigments: the case study of BaSO₄. Materials Today Physics, 100658.
• Peoples, J., Hung, Y. W., Li, X., Gallagher, D., Fruehe, N., Yuksel, A., & Ruan, X. (2022). Concentrated Radiative Cooling. Applied Energy, 310, 118368.
• Li, X.^†, Wilson, C.^†, Zhang, L., Bhatia, B., Zhao, L., Leroy, A., Youngblood, J., Trice, R., & Wang, E.N., Design of A Multiscale Porous Ceramic Heat Exchanger for High-Temperature Applications with Ultrahigh Power Density. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 194, 122996.
• Li, X., Peoples, J., Yao, P., & Ruan, X. (2021). Ultrawhite BaSO4 Paints and Films for Remarkable Daytime Subambient Radiative Cooling. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(18), 21733-21739. Selected as a Cover Article and reported by news media globally including BBC, CNN, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Guardian.
• Li, X., Peoples, J., Huang, Z., Zhao, Z., Qiu, J., & Ruan, X. (2020). Full Daytime Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling in Commercial-like Paints with High Figure of Merit. Cell Reports Physical Science, 1(10), 100221. Covered by news media globally including BBC, Washington Post, The Conversation, Science Magazine, ABC.
• Zhu, J., Zhang, L., Li, X., Wilke, K. L., Wang, E. N., & Goddard, L. L. (2020). Quasi‐Newtonian Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (QN‐ESEM) for Monitoring Material Dynamics in High‐Pressure Gaseous Environments. Advanced Science, 7(19), 2001268.
• Peoples, J., Li, X., Lv, Y., Qiu, J., Huang, Z., & Ruan, X. (2019). A Strategy of Hierarchical Particle Sizes in Nanoparticle Composite for Enhancing Solar Reflection. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 131, 487-494.
• Li, X., Park, W., Wang, Y., Chen, Y. P., & Ruan, X. (2019). Reducing Interfacial Thermal Resistance Between Metal and Dielectric Materials by A Metal Interlayer. Journal of Applied Physics, 125(4), 045302.
• Li, X., Park, W., Chen, Y. P., & Ruan, X. (2017). Absence of Coupled Thermal Interfaces in Al₂O₃/Ni/Al₂O₃ Sandwich Structure. Applied Physics Letters, 111(14), 143102.
• Li, X., Park, W., Chen, Y. P., & Ruan, X. (2017). Effect of Particle Size and Aggregation on Thermal Conductivity of Metal-Polymer Nanocomposite. Journal of Heat Transfer, 139(2).
• Park, W., Li, X., Mandal, N., Ruan, X., & Chen, Y. P. (2017). Compressive Mechanical Response of Graphene Foams and Their Thermal Resistance with Copper Interfaces. APL Materials, 5(3), 036102.
• Park, W., Guo, Y., Li, X., Hu, J., Liu, L., Ruan, X., & Chen, Y. P. (2015). High-Performance Thermal Interface Material Based on Few-Layer Graphene Composite. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 119(47), 26753-26759.