On June.24, 2016, Mr Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, professor of Northwestern University, Senior Chemist at Argonne National Laboratory of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the chairman of Solid State Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, delivered an inspiring speech entitled “Hierarchical and Single Phase Thermoelectrics” at the 76th SUSTech Lecture. Professor He Jiaqing, Head of Department of Physics, hosted the lecture.

Prof. Kanatzidis is a senior Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University. He is currently the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Solid State Chemistry, consultant of the editorial board of multiple magazines, and expert in the inspection panel of many projects sponsored by the U.S. DOE and National Science Foundation. Because of his remarkable contributions to the fields of thermoelectric materials, inorganic solid-state chemistry as well as bio-inorganic chemistry, he was awarded as Material Research Society Fellow in the U.S. and Einstein Professor by Chinese Academy of Sciences. He won Alexander von Humboldt Prize, Outstanding Achievement Award of the International Thermoelectric Society, and International Renewable Energy Award successively.

In his speech, the professor systematically concluded the great achievements Northwestern University had gained in the thermoelectric field in the past five years. He also explained and analyzed in detail the outstanding effects on improving thermoelectric materials’ performances brought by energy band modulation and the establishment of full-scale layer system. Besides, he shared his expectations of thermoelectric materials’ applications in the fields of aerospace energy, industrial waste-heat power generation, fiber node and microelectronic chip cooling.

At the end of the lecture, faculty members and students at SUSTech had an in-depth discussion with Professor Kanatzidis in thermoelectric technology.