For Jiali Liu, the year 2023 was a year of glowing achievements. She published her research work in a top journal, successfully defended her doctoral thesis, and is now officially Dr. Jiali Liu. 

However, these personal triumphs also meant bidding farewell to Westlake University, her home for the past four years, as well as to her professors, friends and lab mates.

Though she feels emotional about leaving, she is excited about all the possibilities that lie ahead of her. She says she hopes to engage in more creative research projects in her future endeavors, leveraging the scientific knowledge and expertise she acquired at Westlake.

As a doctoral researcher at Westlake University’s Department of Chemistry, she focused her research on intermolecular interactions and their potential applications in the development of molecular machines and soft materials.

She worked at the Laboratory of Supramolecular Organic Functional Assemblies (SOFA LAB) under the guidance of Prof. Zhichang Liu. He is a leading scientist focusing on the development of Molecular-Strain Engineering (MSE) and Supramolecular Organic Functional Assemblies (SOFA). 

“Prof. Liu is meticulous in guiding his students, regularly checking on them to ensure that their experiments are heading in the right direction,” she said. “Also, he places great emphasis on collaboration and individual growth. All that enabled us to undertake independent projects early on and to learn through problem solving.”

She credits her professor’s meticulous mentorship for her team’s breakthrough research on polycatenane, which was published last October in the prestigious journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. She is the lead author of the study. 

In the study titled “Infinite Twisted Polycatenanes,” Liu and her collaborators describe a novel method for the construction of twisted polycatenanes, successfully synthesizing figure-of-eight shaped polycatenanes. 

Polycatenanes have exceptional mechanical bonding properties that give them tremendous potential for use in the development of molecular machines and soft materials. Synthesizing these compounds offers new opportunities for designing and synthesizing advanced functional materials.

“Our results confirm the potential of multi-stranded metallohelicates for creating sophisticated mechanically interlocked molecules and polymers, which could pave the way for exploration in the realms of molecular nanotopology and materials design,” explained Liu, who was also part of other collaborative research projects undertaken by Prof. Liu’s team during her doctoral studies.    

Jiali Liu (front row, second from the right) with Prof. Zhichang Liu (back row, center) and other doctoral students from Prof. Liu’s Laboratory of Supramolecular Organic Functional Assemblies (SOFA LAB). 

Liu enrolled at Westlake University after completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Soochow University.

“It was during my time at Soochow that I developed a strong interest in the area of organic synthesis and gradually began considering getting a doctoral degree. On the recommendation of my master’s supervisor, I then joined Prof. Liu’s team in 2019,” she recalled.

She regards Westlake’s strong chemistry faculty and its open, collaborative international academic environment as among the distinctive factors that made her Westlake journey a truly enriching learning experience.

Now, as she steps into a new chapter in her life, she aims to shift her research focus from supramolecular chemistry to polymer chemistry, a relatively new research area that she believes holds great potential for more practical applications.

“There is much to explore in the field of polymer chemistry, and I feel Westlake has prepared me well to take on this new challenge and chase bigger dreams.”