The Stoddart Group welcomes the arrival of three new Postdoctoral Fellows – Dr. Bai-Tong Liu, Dr. Sayantan Mahapatra, Dr. Yi-Kang Xing – and one Visiting Predoctoral Fellow – Chan-Xing Zhao.
Bai-Tong Liu was born in Zibo, a small city in Eastern China. He obtained his BS degree from Qingdao University in September 2017, majoring in polymer materials. He then attended the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences to take a one-year theory courses, and carried out four-year scientific research in Professor Tian-Fu Liu and Rong Cao’s groups at Fujian Institute of Research on the structure of matter, working on porous organic frameworks (MOFs, COFs, and HOFs). Upon receiving his PhD, Bai-Tong joined Professor Fraser Stoddart’s group at Northwestern University as a Postdoctoral Fellow in December 2022. His current research focuses on porous supramolecular materials for advancements in energy and health.
Sayantan Mahapatra was born and brought up in West Bengal, India. After obtaining Master’s degree (2015-2017) from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), he moved to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) for his doctoral studies. He received his PhD from UIC in December 2022. His doctoral thesis focused on single-molecule imaging and spectroscopic investigations with specialized instruments such as Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS). He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Stoddart group at Northwestern University. His current research focuses on analyzing surface dynamics and single-molecule imaging of molecular machines. In his free time, Sayantan likes to watch soccer and movies and loves to play soccer and cricket.
Yi-Kang Xing was born and grew up in Hainan, a beautiful island in Southern China. He received his BE degree in Chemistry from Wuhan University in 2017. Afterwards, he moved to Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry to pursue his PhD under the supervision of Professor Tian-Sheng Mei. His graduate research focused on development of new transition metal catalyzed methods for C-H functionalization using electrochemistry. In January 2023, he joined the Stoddart group at Northwestern University as a Postdoctoral Fellow. His current research interests focus on the design, synthesis and functions of dynamic molecular machines.
Chang-Xin Zhao was born in Jilin in Jilin Province, China. He obtained his BE Degree in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2019. He is currently a PhD student working on lithium and zinc–air batteries under the guidance of Professor Qiang Zhang in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University. He joined the Stoddart group at Northwestern University as a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow in Dec 2022, working on spectroscopy characterization and electrochemistry of mechanically interlocked molecules. We are very happy to have you all on board and look forward to the wonderful research you will all undoubtedly perform!
Pictured below – Dr. Bai-Tong Liu, Dr. Sayantan Mahapatra, Dr. Yi-Kang Xing and Chang-Xin Zhao (Left to right):
