Carbon Nanomaterials – Discover Some of the Most Exciting Advancements in Nanomaterials

Na Li gained her PhD from Nankai University, China. After, she joined the NanoTech Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas for postdoc research, and later became a research scientist at the NanoTech Institute. While there, she developed artificial muscles based on twisted and coiled carbon nanotube yarns, and later used the principles learned to turn low cost, high strength polymer fibers into high performance artificial muscles. She has co-developed an electrochemical-capacitance-change based “twistron” energy harvester that converts mechanical deformations directly into electricity, without requiring an externally applied bias voltage. Her work in polymer artificial muscles was recognized by the R&D 100 magazine as the gold award winner for “Market Disruptor Product” in 2015, and was recognized as the “top breakthrough story of the year 2014” by KERA, NPR. Her work on the twistron energy harvester was recognized as the “top 100 science spinoffs” by spinoff.com in 2017. Na Li joined MilliporeSigma in 2018, and her product line includes carbon nanomaterials, organic electronics and printable electronics.