I'm currently a postdoc working on DNA origami (what's this?) and its hybridization with plasmonic nanocrystals for materials with arbitrary optical functions. As a graduate student, I focused on the synthesis and structural modification of palladium-based nanocrystals and their catalytic applications. Structure-property relationship has always been an intriguing topic to me, and in the future I would like to integrate my skills in colloidal synthesis and DNA nanotechnology for the development of hybrid material platforms. I am also the president of postdoc teaching opportunities program (PTOP) at UC Berkeley. We work together to create more opportunities for postdocs at UCB to get access to teaching-related resources. Join us if you are eligible :)
Outside research, I love bird watching, reading and making crafts. You can check some of my photos and crafts in my gallery. I explored nature a lot over the past year, and it has been a very healing experience to me.
These tiny black rectangles are ~20 nm nanocubes made of a mixture of palladium and palladium hydride. I learned how to synthesize these beautiful nanocrystals with different shapes, sizes, and compositions. These features will affect their physicochemical properties and thereby their destination application. As a graduate student, I mainly focused on their applications on catalysis.
This is a gel-electrophoresis image of different gold nanocrystals wrapped by a rectangular DNA origami. The band migration indicates the mass and the charge a sample is carrying. The key concept in my postdoc research is to learn how to integrate the soft, programmable DNA origamis with inorganic nanomaterials to form complex structures. Checkout my latest preprint (May 2026) here.
Things I see, made, and like. Click each photo for complete collection : )
Teaching & Outreach
Recently I gave a guest lecture on DNA and polymerization, as part of the course of "Chemical and Reaction Engineering" at University of Alabama. It was a really nice experience to teach, share, and catch up with my friend.
I also participated in a few voluntary activities at different local organizations, including Women's Cancer Resource Center and Scientific Adventure for Girls.I've also been exchanging letters with young kids through "Letters to a pre-scientist" program for two years, where I share my personal research experience and demystify science to the students.
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Contact
If you have any thoughts suggestions on my research projects or website design, feel free to leave a comment here. You can also just say hi if you want : )
