AIBN Seminar Series Super-wettability and Beyond - Quantum-confined Superfluid: Biological Energy Conversion, Chemical Reaction and Information Transfer

Abstract

Part (1) Understanding the Pathways from Research to Innovation
The benefits of research—particularly interdisciplinary research—include not only innovation but also contributions to a new knowledge and to the infrastructure that enables further research and the use of scientific discoveries. Before any innovation achieved, however, how to explore a research direction and identify systematic correlations between “known” and “unknown” domains are the challenge to PhD students and early career researchers. Through this talk I will share my experiences in research topic selection and organisation, in the form of implicational methodologies in reference crosschecking, results analysis, data presentation and manuscript. It is expected to answer the questions on how to make research successful.

Part (2) Bioinspired Super-wettability System and Beyond Quantum-confined superfluid: energy conversion, chemical reaction and biological information transfer
Superfluid was originally discovered in 4He below 2.17 K, which allows liquid to flow without loss of kinetic energy. A new concept of "quantum-confined superfluid (QSF)" has been proposed for ultrafast ions and molecules transmission in biological ion channels, which are in a quantum way of single molecular or ionic chain with a certain number of molecules or ions. The biomimetic systems also exhibit QSF phenomena, such as ultrafast ions transport in artificial ion channels (106ions per second), and liquid super-spreading on the super-amphiphilic silicon wafer surface. The introduction of QSF concept in the fields of chemistry and biology may create significant impact. As for chemistry, the QSF effect provides new ideas for accurate synthesis in organic, inorganic, polymer, etc. The implementation of the idea of QSF will also promote the development of QSF biochemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics, biomedical science, and even quantum ionics.

Bio

Lei Jiang is a Professor at the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (TIPC) and Beihang University. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, National Academy of Engineering, USA, and Australian Academy of Sciences (AAS). He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Jilin University, and PhD from the University of Tokyo. He worked as a post-doctoral fellow with Prof. Akira Fujishima and then as a senior researcher in the Kanagawa Academy of Sciences and Technology. In 1999, he joined Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2015, he and his group moved to TIPC. His scientific interests focus on bio-inspired, smart, multi-scale interfacial materials with superwettability. Prof. Lei Jiang has discovered and established the basic principle of the interfacial material systems with superwettability and extended them to successful innovative applications. His work has been followed by more than 1,400 research institutions in 94 countries around the world. He is the most original and influential scientist in the field of material science in China. Due to his contribution to the development of superwettability, he won the “TWAS Prize in Chemistry” in 2011, the Advanced Science and Technology Award of “THE HO LEUNG HO LEE FUNDATION” in 2013 and the “Outstanding Achievement Award” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014. In 2016, he won the “UNESCO Medals” for contributions to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies, and the “Nikkei Asia Prize”. In 2017, he won the “Humboldt Research Award” in Germany. In 2018, he was awarded the “Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award” and “Nano Research Award”. In 2020, he won the “ACS Nano Lectureship Award”.