Professor

Ji Hoon Lee is an Associate Professor of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Kyungpook National University (KNU). He leads the Energy Materials Science Laboratory (EMSL), where his research focuses on materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion, including lithium/sodium-ion batteries, water splitting, and CO2 electrocatalysis. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. at KAIST (Prof. Jang Wook Choi), where he received the Best Doctoral Thesis Award for his work on energy and gas storage materials. He then expanded his research portfolio as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University (Department of Chemical Engineering) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (Chemistry Division), under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jingguang G. Chen, focusing on single atom catalysts and bimetallic catalysts for upcycling CO2 into value-added chemicals. 

His current research combines materials synthesis, electrochemical analysis, and in-situ synchrotron-based X-ray characterization techniques (XRD, XAFS, and XTM) to understand structure–property relationships in electrode materials, especially Prussian white cathodes, protective layers of anode-less battery systems, and electrocatalysts for CO2 electrolysis. His contributions have led to prestigious peer-reviewed publications, including Nature Communications, JACS, Angewandte Chemie, ACS Nano, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials etc. He is the recipient of multiple research honors, including the Outstanding Achievement Award from Hyundai Motor Group's Joint Battery Research Center (2025), the Best Researcher Award from KNU College of Engineering (2022~2024), and a National Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Korean NRF. He also holds several patents related to battery materials and electrocatalysts. He currently leads or participates in nationally and industry-funded projects focused on solid-state batteries, single-atom catalysts, and Prussian white cathode development. His lab is actively collaborating with domestic and international institutions to drive innovation in sustainable energy technologies.

Work Experience                                                           

• Associate Professor (2024.10~Present)
  Department Chair (2025.03~Present)

• Assistant Professor (2020.09~2024.09)
  School of Materials Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea

• Postdoctoral Researcher (2017. 08~2020.08)
  Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, USA (Advisor: Prof. Jingguang G. Chen)

• Postdoctoral Researcher (2017. 03~2017.07)
  Applied Science Institute, KAIST, Republic of Korea (Advisor: Prof. Jang Wook Choi)

Education                                                                       

• Ph. D. (2013.03~2017. 02)
  Graduate School of EEWS (Advisor: Prof. Jang Wook Choi), GPA: 4.26/4.30
  KAIST, Republic of Korea
  Thesis: Development and Analysis of Novel Functional Materials for Energy and Gas Storage Applications
  Best Ph.D. Thesis Award (2017)

• M.S. (2011.09~2013. 02)
  Graduate School of EEWS (Advisor: Prof. Jang Wook Choi), GPA: 4.25/4.30
  KAIST, Republic of Korea
  Early Graduation in 3 Semesters
  Thesis: A Study on High Performance Lithium Ion Capacitors with Functionalized Graphene

• B.S. (2006.03~2011. 08)
  Department of Materials Science and Engineering, GPA: 4.20/4.50
  University of Seoul, Republic of Korea
  Early Graduation in 7 Semesters (Summa Cum Laude)

Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Researcher Award by KNU president, KNU (2025)

• Outstanding Achievement Award from the Hyundai Motor Group–Seoul National University Joint Battery Research Center (2025)

• Best Researcher Award, College of Engineering, KNU (2024)

• Excellent Researcher Award, College of Engineering, KNU (2023)

• Outstanding Researcher Award by KNU president, KNU (2023)

• Best Researcher Award, College of Engineering, KNU (2022)

• The Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Fostering Next Generation Researchers Program
  (학문후속세대양성사업-국외연수지원), National Research Foundation (2017)

• The Best Doctoral Thesis Award, KAIST (2017)

• The Best XAFS Study Award, KOSUA (2016)

• The Best Oral Presentation Award, KSIEC (2016)

• The Best Paper Award, KAIST Institute for the NanoCentury (KINC) (2015)

• The Best Poster Award, Korean Chemical Society (KCS) (2015)

• The Best among the Whole Graduate, Univ. of Seoul (2011)

• Early Graduation & Summa Cum Laude, MSE, Univ. of Seoul (2011)

• Full Scholarship in B.S. degree, Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF) (2009-2011)

Professional Activities

• Conference Organizer: Symposium-II (Advanced Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage), MCARE2022, Busan (2022) 

Links

• Prof. Jang Wook Choi's group @ Seoul National University

• Prof. Jingguang Chen's group @ Columbia University

• Prof. Sung-Yoon Chung's group @ KAIST

• KNU, KNU YouTube, College of Engineering @ KNU,  MSE@ KNU

• Crystallographic Calculator, Direct and Reciprocal Lattice Visualizer, d-spacing, XRD d-value calculator,  XCrySDen

Selected Publications

• Nature Communications, 2019, 10, 3724
  "Tuning the Activity and Selectivity of Electroreduction of CO2 to Synthesis Gas using Bimetallic Catalysts" 

• Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2022, 144, 16131-16138
  "Metal-coordinated Phthalocyanines as Platform Molecules for Understanding Isolated Metal Sites in Electrochemical Reduction of CO2"

• Advanced Energy Materials, 2018, 8, 1703572
  “Superlattice Formation of Crystal Water in Layered Double Hydroxides for Long-term and Fast Operation of Aqueous Rechargeable Batteries” 

• Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020, 59, 3033
  “Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 to Syngas with Controllable CO/H2 Ratios over Co and Ni Single-Atom Catalysts” 

• Advanced Functional Materials, 2020, 30, 200007
  “Accelerating CO2 Electroreduction to CO over Pd Single-Atom Catalyst”

• Advanced Functional Materials, 2018, 28, 1804762
  “Understanding the Role of Functional Groups in Polymeric Binder for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction on Gold Nanoparticles” 

• Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2015, 137, 7210
  “Combined CO2-philicity and Ordered Meso-porosity for Highly Selective CO2 Capture at High Temperatures”