Team

CX Xiang - PI
Prof. Xiang is a Research Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science in Division of Engineering and Applied Science at California Institute of Technology. He received his Ph. D in Chemical and Material Physics in University of California, Irvine in 2009 with Reg Penner. Dr. Xiang then worked with Nate Lewis as a Postdoctoral Scholar at California Institute of Technology from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Xiang worked in Hight-Throughput Experimentation project before became the Project Lead for the Prototyping and Scale-up project in Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP).

Lihao Han - Staff Scientist
Dr. Han received his Ph.D. degree in silicon-based photovoltaics and photoelectrochemistry in the Delft University of Technology in January 2015, after completing his Master study on photovoltaics and microelectronics in Tsinghua University. Then he continued his research on photoelectrochemistry in Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) as a postdoc. He was a visiting scholar in California Institute of Technology between 2013 and 2014, and a guest scientist in the University of Tokyo in 2016. He returned to Caltech in October 2016 and has been working on multiple sustainable technologies such as solar water splitting and CO2 reduction as a Staff Scientist.

Monica Hwang - Staff Scientist
Dr. Hwang received a B.S. in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in 2013, where she conducted transdermal drug delivery research with Nancy Lape. She then received a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2019, where she conducted fuel cell research with Yossef (Joe) Elabd, exploring different materials and fabrication methods to produce a cost-efficient, high-performance fuel cell. She joined Prof. Xiang’s team in 2022 as a research scientist to investigate sustainable energy and carbon dioxide reduction and removal technologies.

Ian Sullivan - Staff Scientist
Dr. Sullivan received a Ph.D. in chemistry from North Carolina State University in 2016, where he researched Cu-based p-type metal oxide semiconductors for photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction and water splitting. He joined the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) at Caltech in 2018, investigating CO reduction in hybrid-MEA structured cells. His current research with LiSA focuses on operando measurements of catalyst microenvironments for CO2 reduction, gas diffusion electrochemistry, as well as synthesis, characterization and benchmarking novel electrocatalysts.

Ibadillah Digdaya - Staff Scientist
Dr. Digdaya graduated with a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Bandung Institute of Technology in 2009. He then moved to the Netherlands and completed his M.Sc. in sustainable energy technology in 2013, and received a Ph.D. from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology in 2018. In 2019, he joined the group of Dr. Chengxiang Xiang as a research scientist in Joint Center for Artificial Synthesis at California Institute of Technology. His current research interest includes design, fabrication, and optimization of devices for CO2 capture and conversion using electrochemical and thermochemical processes.

Zhiyuan Qi - Staff Scientist
Dr. Qi received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Iowa State University in 2018, where he researched on nanomaterials and electrocatalysis with Prof. Wenyu Huang. He then worked with Prof. Gabor Somorjai as a postdoc at UC Berkeley to investigate catalytic interfaces using operando spectroscopies. In 2022, he joined the group of Prof. Xiang as a research scientist to develop catalytic materials and study reaction mechanisms for electrochemical CO2 reduction, (photo)electrochemical hydrogen generation and compression.
Projects and Collaborators (2022)
- DOE-BES Energy Innovation Hub: Liquid Sunlight Alliance
- DOE-ARPA-E OPEN: A Hybrid Electrochemical and Catalytic Compression System for Direct Generation of High-Pressure Hydrogen at 700 Bar: Wei Wang @PNNL; Kathy Ayers @Nel Hydrogen; Harry Atwater @Caltech
- DOE-ARPA-E: Development of An Off-Shore, Stand-Alone System For Efficient CO2 Removal from Oceanwater: Harry Atwater @Caltech; Shane Ardo @UC-Irvine
- DOE-EERE HydroGEN Benchmarking Project: Kathy Ayers@Nel Hydrogen; Ellen Stechel@ASU; Olga Marina@PNNL
- DOE-BES SBIR Phase-IIA: Improved Membranes for Solar Fuels Generators: Chris Topping, Rahula Jayasinghe and Earl Wagener@Tetramer Technologies
Projects and Collaborators (2021)
- DOE-BES Energy Innovation Hub: Liquid Sunlight Alliance
- DOE-ARPA-E: Development of An Off-Shore, Stand-Alone System For Efficient CO2 Removal from Oceanwater: Harry Atwater (Eowyn Lucas)@Caltech; Shane Ardo (Leanna Schulte)@UC-Irvine
- DOE-EERE HydroGEN Benchmarking Project: Kathy Ayers@Nel Hydrogen; Ellen Stechel@ASU; Olga Marina@PNNL
- DOE-BES SBIR Phase-II: Improved Membranes for Solar Fuels Generators: Chris Topping, Rahula Jayasinghe and Earl Wagener@Tetramer Technologies
- SoCalGas: Sustainable Generation of Methane: Harry Atwater (Lucy Li, Alex Welch)@Caltech
- LDRD-Carbon Utilization: Eric Duoss, Siwei Liang and Sarah Baker@LLNL