Xi Ling joined the Department of Chemistry in September 2016. Since 2012 she had been a postdoctoral associate at MIT.

The Ling Group focuses their research interests on the fundamental science and applications of nanomaterials and their hybrid structures. They specialized in the synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals materials, their characterization through spectroscopy, and their implementation to develop novel nanodevices. They aim to use their interdisciplinary knowledge to (1) explore an effective method to synthesize functional hybrid nanostructures directly in a controlled manner, (2) reveal the physical nature of such nanomaterials and the interface phenomenon of their hybrid structures using advanced spectroscopy techniques, and (3) develop high performance, multifunctional flexible and transparent devices for energy conversion and chemical sensing. The group shares their core values of learning, innovation, integrity, collaboration and service. The current research interests in Ling’s lab include:

Synthesis of novel inorganic and organic 2D materials & hybrid structures (such as graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), and covalent organic frameworks (COFs)). 2D materials are a group of materials with one or several atomic layer in thickness. Although it has been realized that there are hundreds of members in this family. Few of them can be synthesized on a surface in a large scale. In particular, the hybrid structures among the 2D materials can provide additional functions for the materials, which allows us to fabricate multifunctional nanodevices based on the controllable structures. Utilizing the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques combined with surface engineering, we aim to explore effective methods to synthesize the novel inorganic and organic 2D materials and assemble them in-situ with precious alignment and clean interface.

Spectroscopic characterization of nanomaterials and nanostructures. Spectroscopy techniques (such as Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, and absorption spectroscopy) are powerful to study the properties of materials in-depth, as the light-matter interactions involve the physical particles (such as electron, phonon, exciton and trion) whose behaviors decide the properties of the materials. We aim to reveal the optical, electric and thermal properties of the nanomaterials and nanostructures using multiple spectroscopic techniques combined with other nanotechnologies. Beside the intrinsic properties, we are also interested in the properties of the materials or structures under external perturbations (such as temperature, strain and electric field).

Novel surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) structures for diverse chemical sensors. Our previous research has shown that 2D materials as SERS substrates offering numerous advantages for the quantitative micro species sensing. In this project, combining the 2D materials with conventional metal SERS substrate which normally gives giant Raman enhancement (108), we aim to design a “versatile tape” to detect the target species in diverse systems including food safety, disease diagnosis, and environmental monitoring.

Nanodevices for opto-electronics. Controllable synthesis of the functional 2D materials and their heterostructures in a large scale allow us to fabricate nanodevices with integrated functions. Utilizing the diverse functional hybrid structures we synthesized, we are interested in applying them into high performance flexible and transparent opto-electronic energy conversion devices (such as solar cells, and LEDs).