Liu_NanoThermal_NCSU

We are excited to share our latest work published in Nature Physics: “Orbital Seebeck induced by chiral phonons” Y. Nabei et al., Nature Physics (2026) 👉 nature.com/articles/s4156… #NaturePhysics #ChiralPhonons #OrbitalSeebeck #OrbitalAngularMomentum #SpinCaloritronics #Orbitronics

Our group’s second Perspective article is officially published today! Congratulations to Dr. Cong Yang and Shehzad Khan!! This is the first paper by Shehzad from our group! We’re also honored that this paper has been selected by the Editor-in-Chief as a Featured Article!

In this work, we review recent advances in the molecular engineering of hybrid 2D perovskites—highlighting how structural design can tune their thermal conductivity, elastic modulus, and chiral phonon behavior—and discuss the key challenges and future directions for the field.

Congratulations to my first-year Ph.D. student, Aryan Jouneghaninaseri, on publishing his first Perspective article in MRS Communications. link.springer.com/article/10.155…

Recently, our group collaborated with Prof. Fanxing Li’s group on two publications focusing on energy storage materials. Our team contributed by measuring the thermal conductivity of their materials and uncovering the composition-dependent trends.

In this new paper, we resolve the chiral phonons in the same material system and propose microscopic mechanisms that underlie CPASS. Here is the link: lnkd.in/eQzJPUer

Excited to share that our latest work has just been published in Physical Review Letters! This study presents a theoretical investigation of the Chiral-Phonon-Activated Spin Seebeck (CPASS) effect — a phenomenon we first reported in Nature Materials (2023).

Thrilled to share that my student, Saqlain Raza, has been awarded the Ziglar Fellowship! This honor is made possible through the Ziglar Graduate Fellowship Endowment. Congratulations, Saqlain!

We published a new paper, “Oscillations in Incident Electric Field Enhances Interfacial Water Evaporation,” in the journal Materials Horizons. See the news report here by Matt Shipman:news.ncsu.edu/2025/06/sun-wa…

Looking good!

It's that time of year — graduation season! Congratulations to Dr. Cong Yang on this incredible achievement! 🎓I’m deeply grateful to all Liu Group members for another productive and successful year. Excited for what's ahead!

“Early Career Distinguished Presenter” is a new title to highlight where their field stands today, to recognize important individual contributions to their field, and to amplify exciting new directions for the materials research community. I am grateful for this recognition!

It is great to collaborate with your colleague in the same department. Dr. Jingjie Hu (@JingjieHu1) has been doing really interesting biomaterials-related work and I am glad to contribute! Congratulations on this achievement! sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

“Early Career Distinguished Presenter” is a new title to provide symposium organizers with a means to highlight where their field stands today, to recognize important individual contributions to their field, and to amplify exciting new directions for the research community.

You are welcome to my invited talk at MRS as an Early Career Distinguished Presenter on Apr 7th at 1:30 pm in Room 348 Seattle Convention Center Summit. I will talk about thermal transport and chiral phonons in 2D hybrid perovskites. See you soon at 2025 MRS Spring Meeting!

These findings demonstrate the potential of SAM interlayers to enhance OPV efficiency and mechanical reliability and that adhesion is sensitive to small variations of the SAM structure.

It is great to collaborate with Prof. Brendan O'Connor in our MAE Department to publish on ACS Energy Letters. Our group did the molecular simulations and analysis. More details: lnkd.in/eYvXxhkZ

My Ph.D. student, Cong Yang, successfully defended his dissertation! He is smart, confident, and hard-working! Congratulations!