Rui’s proposed research at DKU involves an interdisciplinary research program that will focus on Enabling Broad Classes of Bond-Forming Reactions through Multi-Red or NIR Photon Photoredox Catalysis.

He published 13 peer-reviewed papers including J. Am. Chem. Soc., ACS Macro Lett., ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., J. Inorg. Biochem., and other journals.

His teaching goal is to provide a motivating and enriched environment for students to learn and use chemistry and chemistry related knowledge in their professional development and career. He aims to create a dynamic and interactive learning and training environment that encourages students to explore fundamental concepts and new scientific frontiers driven by their innate curiosity. He is particularly interested in teaching organic chemistry, photochemistry, and photophysics.

Rui earned his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Jiangsu University, China, where he did undergraduate research with Prof. Zhongping Ou on electrochemical properties and oxygen reductions with metallocorroles. He earned his PhD from NC State University, NC, USA, with Prof. Jonathan S. Lindsey with a focus on molecular architectures for panchromatic light-harvesting and retention of fluorophore brightness in water. His postdoctoral research at Duke University with Prof. Michael J. Therien features chromophore design and polymer synthesis to build novel hybrid materials relevant to energy transducing, electro-optical, and information processing applications.