Jian Liu
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Jian Liu
Assistant Professor, Chemistry
Bio
Jian (Ken) Liu is an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemistry & Materials Science at Rochester Institute of Technology, with affiliated appointments in the Chemical Engineering Department, Microsystems Engineering Department, and PHT180 Center at RIT. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Binghamton University - SUNY, followed by his postdoctoral training from Northwestern University.
Dr. Liu currently leads NSF funded research as PI (CBET No. 2347545) on creating stable, periodic molecular-scale liquid-liquid interfaces for chemical reactions, and he has additional support through internal RIT grants, such as FEAD, PLIG, AdvanceRIT Connect Grant, and Grant Writers Boot Camp Seed Funding. He won several awards at conferences and universities, such as postdoctoral trainee travel award from Northwestern (2019), best poster award in DoE ICDC (2017), distinguished honor Dissertation Award from Binghamton University (2016), and ACS Travel Award from Binghamton section (2014).
Dr. Liu’s research focuses on advanced multifunctional nanoporous materials and heterogeneous catalytic systems for thermal and photo-catalytic chemical transformations, with an emphasis on sustainable energy and environmental applications. His recent publications span topics such as water-enhanced CO2 capture in MOFs (Front. Chem., 2025) water capture and framework stability in hierarchically porous MOFs (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023), carbon-efficient conversion of natural gas and condensates via catalytic MOF chemistry (Energy & Environmental Science, 2022), and MOF-enabled confinement effects in catalysis (Chem. Soc. Rev., 2022).
In addition to his research and teaching, he is active in professional service, including serving as an alternate councilor for ACS Rochester local section and being an associate to ACS Committee on Meetings and Expositions.
Select Scholarship
1, A Nanocavitation Approach to Understanding Water Capture, Water Release, and Framework Physical Stability in Hierarchically Porous MOFs. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2023, 145, 27975-27983.
2, MOF-Enabled Confinement and Related Effects for Chemical Catalyst Presentation and Utilization. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2022, 51, 1045-1097.
3, Ammonia Capture with Zirconium Metal-organic Framework: Reversible and Irreversible Uptake. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, 13, 20081-20093.
4, Introducing Nonstructural Ligands to Zirconia-like Metal–Organic Framework Nodes To Tune the Activity of Node-Supported Nickel Catalysts for Ethylene Hydrogenation. ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 3198-3207.
5, Beyond the Active Site: Tuning the Activity and Selectivity of a Metal−Organic Framework-Supported Ni Catalyst for Ethylene Dimerization, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 11174-11178.