Education and Professional Experiences
2022.08 – Present Associate Professor, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, China. (PI: Prof. Le He)
2017.08 – 2022.05 Ph.D. in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Boston University, USA. (Advisor: Prof. Björn M. Reinhard)
2012.08 – 2016.06 B.S. in Materials Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China. (Advisor: Prof. Changzheng Wu)
Research Interests
Nanoplasmonic Photochemistry
Plasmonic Photocatalysis
Awards
Nanoscale Emerging Investigator (2026)
Jiangsu Provincial Young Science and Tech. Talent Support Program (2025)
Wiley outstanding contributor award (2025)
Nano Research Energy Young Star Researcher Award (2024)
Outstanding Young Scholar, Soochow University (2022)
Sugata Ray Memorial Award (2021)
Publications
Hu, X.; Liu, J.; Zhu Z.; Liu, S.; Wang, L.; Cheng, J.; Huang, X; Li, C.; Feng, K., Zhou, Y.; Xu, Y; Feng, Q., Zhang, B., Chen, X; Zhang, L., Zhang, Q.; Wu, B.*; Yin, J.* An, X.*; Zhang, X.*; He, L.*,"Activating plasmonic catalysis through light-mediated steady-state spin modulation", Nat. Commun. 2026, 17, 2849.
Ma, Y.; Genest, A.; Liu, S.; Shen, J.; Chen, S., Hu, X; Kang, S., Dong, X; Xi, Y.; Wang, Z., Zhou, Y.; Wu, Z.; Zhu, Z.; Li, C.; Fang, Y.; Zhang, X; Feng, K.*; Rupprechter, G.*; An, X.*; He, L.*, Thermoelectrics-Mediated Photon-Phonon-Electron Coupling Enables Unconventional Thermal Contributions in Plasmonic Catalysis, Adv. Funct. Mater., 2026, DOI: 10.1002/adfm.77363.
Chen, Z., Xiao, M., Li, C.*, Liu, J., Li, H, Zhang, J., Hua, W., An, X.*, He, L.*, "Direct Assembly of Magnetically Tunable Nanoallotropes as Photonic Inks", ACS Nano, 2026, 20, 18101-18110.
Xu, Y., Xue, Y., Li, C, Ji Y, Zhou, Y, Feng, Q, Shen, J, An, X.*, Feng, K.* He, L., "Light-driven ammonia synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen", J. Mater. Chem. A, 2026, 14, 2071-2083
Liu, S.; Hu, X; Xi, Y.; Feng, Q; Nie, K; Cao, L; Xue, Y.; Li, C.; Feng, K; Witoon, T.; Donphai, W.; Liu, J.; He, L.*; An, X.*, "Synchronizing carrier extraction and dielectric coupling in a hierarchical homometallic plasmonic catalyst for light-driven nitrate reduction", Nanoscale, 2026, 18, 4117-4126.
S. Liu, Z. Wu, Z. Zhu, K. Feng, Y. Zhou, X. Hu, X. Huang, B. Zhang, X. Dong, Y. Ma, K. Nie, J. Shen, Z. Wang, J. He, J. Wang, Y. Ji, B. Yan, Q. Zhang, A. Genest, X. Zhang, C. Li*, B. Wu, X. An*, G. Rupprechter, L. He*. Quantifying the Distinct Role of Plasmon Enhancement Mechanisms in Prototypical Antenna-Reactor Photocatalysts. Nat. Commun. 2025, 16, 2245.
K. Yu, K. Feng, M. Cai, H. Li, Y. Zhou, J. Shen, S. Liu, Z. Zhu, M. Sohail, V. Tolstoy, X. An*, C. Li*, L, He*. Nature-Inspired Nanoarray Catalyst toward Balanced Heat and Mass Transport in Photothermal Catalysis. ACS Nano, 2025, 19, 18674.
Z. Wu, J. Shen, Z. Li, S. Liu, Y. Zhou, K. Feng, B. Zhang, S. Zhao, D. Xue, J. He, K. Yu, J. Zhang, G. Dawson, Q. Zhang, L. Huang, C. Li*, X. An*, L. Chi, X. Zhang*, L. He*. Anisotropic Plasmon Resonance in Ti3C2Tx MXene Enables Site-Selective Plasmonic Catalysis. ACS Nano, 2025, 19, 1832.
X. Dong, Z. Zhu, Z. Chen, Z. Sun, S. Qian, Z. Wang, Y. Zhou, K. Nie, S. Liu, Z. Li, M. Xiao, J. Zhang, B. Yan, Y. Chen, C. Li, X. Zhang, X. An*, K. Feng*, Z. Hu*, L. He*. Boosting Solar Methanol Production over Hierarchical Carbon Nanocage-Supported In2O3-x via Photo-Enhanced Electron Buffering Effect. ACS Nano, 2025, 19, 27, 25403-25412.
Y. Zhou, C. Li*, Z. Wang, S. Liu, X. Hu, J. Zhang, X. Dong, Z. Zhu, K. Feng, X. An*, L. He*. Enhanced Methanol Production Through Photo-Assisted CO2 Hydrogenation Using Au@In2O3 Core-Shell Structures. ChemNanoMat, 2025, 11, 6, e202500129.
L. Zhang, C. Li, T. Witoon, X. An*, L. He*. Nano-thermometry in photothermal catalysis. Chin. J. Struct. Chem., 2025, 44, 100456.
X. Hu, Z. Zhu, Y. Zhou, S. Liu, C. Wu, J. Wang, Y. Shen, T. Yan, L. Zhang, J. Chen, K. Feng, A. Genest, G. Rupprechter, X. An*, C. Li*, L. He*. Enhanced photochemical effects of plasmonic cluster catalysts through aggregated nanostructures. Green Chem., 2024, 26, 6994 (Back cover).
J. Li#, L. Zhang#, X. An#, K. Feng, X. Wang, J. He, Y. Huang, J. Liu, L. Zhang, B. Yan, C. Li, L. He. Tuning Adsorbate-Mediated Strong Metal-Support Interaction by Oxygen Vacancy: A Case Study in Ru/TiO2. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2024, e202407025.
M. Cai#, C. Li#, X. An#, B. Zhong, Y. Zhou, K. Feng, S. Wang, C. Zhang, M. Xiao, Z. Wu, J. He, C. Wu, J. Shen, Z. Zhu, K. Feng, J. Zhong and L. He*, Supra-Photothermal CO2 Methanation over Greenhouse-Like Plasmonic Superstructures of Ultrasmall Cobalt Nanoparticles. Adv. Mater., 2024, 36, 2308859.
J. Wang, Z. Zhu, K. Feng, S. Liu, Y. Zhou, I. Urooj, J. He, Z. Wu, J. Shen, X. Hu, Z. Chen, X. Dong, M. Sohail, Y. Ma, J. Chen, C. Li*, X. An*, L. He*. Anisotropic Plasmon Resonance Enables Spatially Controlled Photothermal and Photochemical Effects in Hot Carrier-Driven Catalysis. Chin. J. Chem., 2024, 42, 1877. (Back cover)
Y. Xiao, K. Feng, G. Dawson, V. P. Tolstoy, X. An*, C. Li*, L. He*. A feasible interlayer strategy for simultaneous light and heat management in photothermal catalysis. iScience, 2024, 27, 109792.
Z. Zhu, R. Tang, C. Li*, X. An*, L. He*. Promises of Plasmonic Antenna‐Reactor Systems in Gas‐Phase CO2 Photocatalysis. Adv. Sci., 2023: 2302568.
X. An, J. C. Kays, I. V. Lightcap, T. Ouyang, A. M. Dennis, and B. M. Reinhard*. Wavelength-dependent bifunctional plasmonic photocatalysis in Au/chalcopyrite hybrid nanostructures. ACS Nano, 2022, 16, 6813.
X. An, A. Majumder, J. McNeely, J. Yang, T. Puri, Z. He, T. Liang, J. K. Snyder, J. E. Straub, and B. M. Reinhard.* Interfacial hydration determines orientational and functional dimorphism of sterol-derived Raman tags in lipid-coated nanoparticles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2021, 118, e2105913118.
X. An, D. Stelter, T. Keyes, and B. M. Reinhard*. Plasmonic photocatalysis of urea oxidation and visible-light fuel cells. Chem, 2019, 5, 2228.
Edited by Juan Yang