Li Can received his PhD degree in 1988 from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. He was promoted to full professor in 1993 and appointed  the director of State Key Laboratory of Catalysis in 1998. Li Can worked in Northwestern University (USA) as a postdoctorial fellow during 1994-1996, and respectively worked in shortterm as visiting professor/scholar in LuvainlaNeuve Universite (Belgium), University of Liverpool (UK), Lehigh University (USA), The University of Tokyo (Japan), and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie (France).

Prof. Li has published about 280 peerreviewed papers, authorized 15 patents and delivered about 40 invited and plenary lectures at national and international conferences. Under his supervision, 8 graduate students have obtained their MS degrees and 25 obtained their PhD degrees. He is on the editor boards of 8 international journals and 9 domestic journals. Among the prestigious awards he received are the International Catalysis Award (2004), National Science and Technology Innovation Prize of China (1999), Hong Kong “QiuShi” Outstanding Young Scientist Award (1997), and National Award for Outstanding Young Scientists in China (1998). He was elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003, vice president of the International Association of Catalysis Societies in 2004, and member of TWAS (The Academy of Sciences for Developing Countries) in 2005.

Prof. Li has been studying catalysis at molecular level and making effort to reveal the essential relationship between catalytic performance and the catalyst structure. He has applied these understandings of the fundamental principles of catalysis to the design and development of more and more selective and active catalysts for practical applications in energy, fine chemicals and environmental areas.

Prof. Lis major scientific achievements in catalysis include following parts:

1.  Developed and applied modern spectroscopy including FTIR, Fluorescence, visible and UV Raman spectroscopy for the applications to catalysis study under working conditions. As one of the pioneers using UV Raman spectroscopy for catalysis studies, Can Li has characterized such sophisticated catalytic systems as the highly dispersed metal oxides on supports, coke species on catalysts, phase transformation of metal oxides, and for the first time identified the framework transition metal ions in microporous and mesoporous materials based on the UV resonance Raman effect.

2. Synthesized catalysts incorporated with atomically isolated transition metal ions for selective oxidations via new approaches, e.g., TiMCM41 TiSBA15 and FeSBA15 were synthesized by accelerating the hydrolysis of silicon precursor with fluoride; Ti/SiO2, Fe/SiO2 and V/SiO2 were prepared by ion beam implantation.

3. Succeeded in immobilizing chiral homogeneous catalysts (e.g., Sharpless and Mn(salen) complexes) into mesoporous materials through organoinorganic hybrid and chemical grafting. The enantioselectivity of the heterogeneous catalysts were significantly improved for the chiral epoxidation of olefin in the pores. It is found that the transition state of the chiral reaction can be delicately adjusted by the pore and surface effect, resulting in the improvement of the enantioselectivity.

4. Developed a green and ultradeep desulfurization process for diesel fuel based on an oxidationextraction approach. Heteropolytungstate oxidation catalysts were assembled in emulsion droplets operating efficiently with aqueous H2O2, capable of being recycled and reused. The sulfur content of diesel is reduced from the several hundredppm range down to only a few ppm that meets the stringent environmental regulations.

5. Using insitu FTIR and isotope technique, the adsorption and activation of small molecules such as O2, CO and CH4 on catalysts have been extensively studied. The adsorbed dioxygen intermediates, peroxide and superoxide formed on ceria were detected for the first time; It was found that the Td symmetry of methane can be significantly distorted by surface oxygen anions and metal cations at low temperatures; The surface sites of fresh molybdenum nitride, carbide and phosphide were probed by CO adsorption.