Dr Sun Weifu

Dr Sun Weifu

School of Chemical Engineering
Research Fellow

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 7784709562
Email
w.sun.1@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
School of Chemical Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Weifu Sun is a research fellow at the School of Chemical Engineering.

Since he was awarded his PhD degree in December, 2012 from the University of New South Wales, Australia, he has published over 35 research papers in scientific papers in the fields of nanoparticle synthesis, inter-particle forces, nanomechanics, polymer composites and nanomaterials for energy application, etc.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, 2012
  • MSc in Materials Science, Huaqiao University, 2008
  • BSc in Applied Chemistry, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, 2005

Biography

Weifu Sun obtained his bachelor in applied chemistry from Qingdao University of Science and Technology in 2005, followed by receiving his master degree in materials science from Huaqiao University in 2008.

In 2008, he moved to Australia to pursue hid PhD study and was awarded PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of New South Wales in 2012. He then continued his postdoctoral training at the University of New South Wales (2013-2014) and University of Sydney (2014-2015), respectively, prior to moving to University of Birmingham in 2016.

His main research areas involve nanoparticle science and technology, and functional nanomaterials, including computer simulations of nanomechanics and experimental studies on nanomaterials for energy applications. So far, Dr Sun has authored 36 peer-reviewed journal papers, including Adv. Func. Mater. (IF=11.382), J. Mater. Chem. A (IF=8.262), Nanoscale (IF=7.760), Appl. Catal. B (IF=8.328), ACS Appl. Mater. & Interfaces (IF=7.145), J. Power Sources (IF=6.336), (Nature) Sci. Rep. (IF=5.228), etc.

Research

During his previous PhD study, his main research area lies in computer simulation studies on inter-nanoparticle forces and nanomechanics. Later on, he moves to experimental studies on mechanical properties of polymer composites and nanomaterials for solar energy applications.

Other activities

  • Guest editor for International Journal of Photoenergy (http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijp/osi/).
  • Dr Sun is also active in serving as reviewers for a series of international journals including Advanced Energy Materials, Scientific Reports, Nanoscale, Langmuir, Materials Science and Engineering B, Materials & Design, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Journal of Materials Science, etc.
  • Funding evaluator, such as Chilean National Science and Technology Commission.

Publications

  • Xiao Jin‖, Weifu Sun‖, Shenglian Luo*, Liping Shao, Jian Zhang, Xubiao Luo, Taihuei Wei, Yuancheng Qin, Yinglin Song*, Qinghua Li*, Energy gradient architecture praseodymium chalcogenide quantum dot solar cells: towards undirectionally funneling energy transfer, 2015, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2016, 3(47), 23876-23887. (‖:Equal contribution)
  • Weifu Sun, Zihan Chen, Qin Zhang, Junli Zhou, Feng Li, Xiao Jin*, Dongyu Li, Qinghua Li*, Efficient charge transfer and utilization of near-infrared solar spectrum by ytterbium and thulium codoped gadolinium molybdate (Gd2(MoO4)3:Yb/Tm)
    nanophosphor in hybrid solar cells, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2016, 18, 30837-30844.
  • Qinghua Li*, Xiao Jin, Ying Yang, Haonan Wang, Haijiao Xu, Yuanyuan Cheng, Taihuei Wei, Yuancheng Qin,
    Xubiao Luo, Weifu Sun*, Shenglian Luo*, Nd2(S, Se, Te)3 Colloidal Quantum Dots: Synthesis, Energy level alignment,
    Charge transfer dynamics and Their Applications to Solar Cells, 2015, Advanced Functional Materials, 2016, 26(2), 254-266. 
  • Qinghua Li*, Xiao Jin, Xuwei Yang, Changyong Chen, Zihan Chen, Yuancheng Qin, Taihuei Wei, Weifu Sun*, Reducing the Excess Energy Offset in Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Solar Cells: toward Faster Electron Transfer, Applied Catalysis B:
    Environmental    , 2015, 162, 524-531
  • Weifu Sun, Qinghua Zeng, Aibing Yu*, Interaction Forces between Carbon Nanospheres: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study, Chemical Engineering Science, 2015, 121, 23-31.
  • Weifu Sun*, Qinghua Zeng, Aibing Yu*, Computational Studies on Interparticle Forces between
    Nanoellipsoids, RSC Advances, 2014, 4(73), 38505-38516.
  • Weifu Sun*, Yuchao Li*, Wen Xu, Yiu-Wing Mai, Interactions between Crystalline Nanospheres: Comparisons between Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Continuum Models, RSC Advances, 2014, 4 (65), 34500-34509.
  • Weifu Sun, Interaction Forces between a Spherical Nanoparticle and a Flat Surface. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2014, 16 (12), 5846-5854.
  • Weifu Sun, The Dynamic Effect on Mechanical Contacts between Nanoparticles. Nanoscale, 2013, 5 (24), 12658-12669.
  • Weifu Sun, Qinghua Zeng, Aibing Yu*, Calculation of Non-Contact Forces between Silica Nanospheres. Langmuir, 2013, 29 (7), 2175-2184.
  • Weifu Sun, Qinghua Zeng, Aibing Yu* and Kevin Kendall, Calculation of Normal Contact Forces between Silica Nanospheres. Langmuir, 2013, 29 (25), 7825-7837.
  • Full publication list will be posted in the updated link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Weifu_Sun.

View all publications in research portal