This document is a resume for Yanxin Li that outlines her education, honors, skills, research experience, projects, and presentations. She has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical and Biological Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology with a 4.0 GPA. Her research focused on electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction and advanced electrolyte membranes. She has won awards for her research posters and participated in various projects related to chemical engineering.
Electrodeposition of flower-like nickel oxide on single layer grapheneArun kumar
We demonstrated a non-enzymatic cholesterol sensor based on a nickel oxide (NiO) and high quality
graphene composite for the first time. Graphene was grown by a chemical vapor deposition technique
(CVD). The nanocomposite was fabricated through the electrodeposition of nickel hydroxide onto
the surface of the CVD-grown graphene, which was followed by thermal annealing. The successful
formation of the NiO/graphene composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The deposition of flower-like NiO onto the graphene surface
was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical analyses were conducted to
investigate the characteristics of the sensor during the detection of cholesterol. The sensor showed
a high sensitivity of 40.6 mA mM1 cm2, a rapid response time of 5 s, and a low detection of limit of
0.13 mM. We also investigated the effects of common interfering substances on the ability of the sensor
to detect cholesterol. Furthermore, we successfully determined the cholesterol in a milk sample using
the developed sensor. The composite electrode exhibited excellent detection of cholesterol with good
reproducibility and long-term stability owing to the combined effects of NiO and graphene.
Electrodeposition of flower-like nickel oxide on single layer grapheneArun kumar
We demonstrated a non-enzymatic cholesterol sensor based on a nickel oxide (NiO) and high quality
graphene composite for the first time. Graphene was grown by a chemical vapor deposition technique
(CVD). The nanocomposite was fabricated through the electrodeposition of nickel hydroxide onto
the surface of the CVD-grown graphene, which was followed by thermal annealing. The successful
formation of the NiO/graphene composite was confirmed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The deposition of flower-like NiO onto the graphene surface
was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical analyses were conducted to
investigate the characteristics of the sensor during the detection of cholesterol. The sensor showed
a high sensitivity of 40.6 mA mM1 cm2, a rapid response time of 5 s, and a low detection of limit of
0.13 mM. We also investigated the effects of common interfering substances on the ability of the sensor
to detect cholesterol. Furthermore, we successfully determined the cholesterol in a milk sample using
the developed sensor. The composite electrode exhibited excellent detection of cholesterol with good
reproducibility and long-term stability owing to the combined effects of NiO and graphene.
1. Yanxin Li
3140 S. MichiganAve 405 Email:yli227@hawk.iit.edu
Chicago,IL 60616 Phone:312-351-2128
EDUCATION
Bachelorof Science inChemical andBiological Engineering Graduation:May 2016
IllinoisInstituteof Technology,Chicago,IL CurrentGPA: 4.0/4.0
Scholarship:International Scholarship
Dean’sList:2012-present
Exchange StudentinChemical Engineering February—June 2014
Universityof Sheffield,Sheffield,UK
Scholarship:Universityof SheffieldinAmericanStudyAbroadScholarship
HONORS
Tau Beta Pi IllinoisBeta chapter Initiation:November2014
Member
Onlythe top 1/8of juniorclassiseligible.Basedonhighacademicachievementandexemplarycharacters.
American Institute ofChemical Engineers November2013
Sophomore AcademicExcellence Award
Only50 students are selected acrossthe country.
SKILLS
Proficient:AspenHYSYS,MATLAB, RotatingDiskElectrode, LinearSweepVoltammetry, MicrosoftOffice
Intermediate:CyclicVoltammetry, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy,WolframMathematica
WorkingKnowledge:LabVIEW, Spectrophotometry,C++,Adobe Illustrator
FluentinChinese
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
StudentResearchAssistant,“Electrocatalystsfor hydrogenevolutionreaction” July 2014-December2015
Departmentof Chemical andBiological Engineering, IllinoisInstituteof Technology,Chicago,IL
SynthesizedandtestedNi(OH)2 modifiedmetal catalysts(Pt) inRotatingDiskElectrode (RDE).Foundthe
optimal Ni(OH)2 loadingtobe 20% .
AnalysedSEM/TEMimagesof catalystsample tostudydistributionof Ni(OH)2 nanoparticles.
In solid-state alkaline water electrolyzers, tested the performance of precious metal catalysts (Pt,
Pt/Ni(OH)2, Pt/Ru, Ni and Ni/Ni(OH)2) for hydrogen revolution reaction. Confirmed the role of Ni(OH)2
clustersinimprovingmetal catalysts’ activity(10% decrease involtage consumptionforPt).
Proved the performance of synthesized Pt/Ni(OH)2 was comparable to expensive state-of-art catalyst
Pt/Ru.
Won 3rd
place of IIT Armour R&D Undergraduate Research Expo, with the poster “Hydrogen Evolution
ReactionCatalystsforSolid-StateAlkaline WaterElectrolysis”.
2. Student ResearchAssistant,“Advance electrolyte membrane” September-December2013
Departmentof Chemical andBiological Engineering, IllinoisInstituteof Technology,Chicago,IL
Measured conductivity foradvancedelectrolytemembranesandtracedthedecayingof thosemembranes.
FamiliarwithLinearSweepVoltammetryandElectrochemical ImpedanceSpectroscopy.
Won 2nd
place inenergythemeof IITUndergraduate ResearchExpo,with the poster“AdvanceElectrolyte
Membrane forEnergy Storage”.
PROJECTS
Zinc-AirBattery for Electric Car, IllinoisInstitute ofTechnology January-June 2015
Estimated theoreticalconsumptionof reactantstopoweran electriccarfor 300 mileswithoutcharging.
Designed compactprototype providingmaximumoxygencontactingareaandtrouble-freezincrenewal.
Proposedsolutionsforleakage problemandformationof zincoxide/hydroxide duringoperation.
Testedstabilityof voltage/currentgenerationof the prototype inaloadedcircuit.
Developmentofcontrollerforchemical reactorsystem,IllinoisInstitute ofTechnology October-December2015
Deriveddetaileddynamicmodel of a chemical reactorsystem that describesthe compositionchangesin
each reactor.
Developed state space linear constant coefficient model by linearizing the dynamic model. Applied
SimulinkandMATLABidentificationtoolboxtogenerate dataandidentifyastate space model.Evaluated
difference betweenthe twomodels.
Developed transfer function for the controller. Designed PID controller and MPC controller based on
transferfunction.Usingsimulator,tested performance of twocontrollerswithdisturbance rejectionand
setpointtracking. Analysedcontrollerresponsesandaccessedtheiradvantages/disadvantages.
PRESENTATIONS
Li, Y; Ramani, V. “Advanced electrolytes membrane for energy storage” 2013 American Institute of Chemical
EngineersAnnual StudentMeeting,SanFrancisco,CA
Li,Y; Parrondo,J;Ramani,V.“BifunctionalElectrocatalystsfor HydrogenEvolutionReaction inSolid-StateAlkaline
Water Electrolyzers”,2015 AmericanInstitute of Chemical EngineersAnnual StudentMeeting, SaltLake City, UT
VONLUNTEER
AmericanInstituteof ChemicalEngineers 7thAnnual MidwestRegional Conference March 2015
Helpedwithregistration;introducedposter/model presentationsinthree different engineeringfieldsto
highschool students.
