Qilin Li

About

Dr. Qilin Li is the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University and serves as Co-Director of the NEWT Center. She teaches courses and conducts research on physical and chemical processes that impact water quality in natural aqueous environments, as well as water and wastewater treatment systems. Her current research focuses on advanced materials and novel processes for desalination, water purification, wastewater reuse, and resource recovery. Dr. Li and her lab develop innovative technologies that utilize renewable energy and unconventional water sources to enhance the resiliency and sustainability of water supplies while minimizing the environmental impact of energy production. Her research areas include nanocomposite membrane materials, membrane separation, novel desalination processes, critical mineral recovery from waste streams, brine concentration, electrochemical processes, and sustainable water infrastructure.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Process engineering
• Computer Science
• Chemistry
• Environmental science
• Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Biochemical engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Inorganic chemistry

Selected publications

• Electrochemical ammonia synthesis via nitrate reduction on Fe single atom catalyst

  Nature Communications · 2021 · 1438 citations

  due to the lack of neighboring metal sites, promoting ammonia product selectivity. Density functional theory calculations reveal the reaction mechanisms and the potential limiting steps for nitrate reduction on atomically dispersed Fe sites.

  DOI

• Electrified water treatment: fundamentals and roles of electrode materials

  Nature Reviews Materials · 2023 · 263 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Selective membranes in water and wastewater treatment: Role of advanced materials

  Materials Today · 2021 · 241 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  DOI

• Interfacial Heating in Membrane Distillation: Advances, Optimization Strategies, and Industrial Applications for Desalination

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2025-05-30 · 24 citations

  review

  Interfacial heating (IH) membrane distillation (MD) is a promising MD variation with significant potential for freshwater production from brine and seawater. Unlike conventional MD, IH-MD heats locally between the hydrophobic membrane and saline water to enhance the vapor flux and minimize heat loss. However, a unified understanding of the performance of various IH-MD systems remains lacking. Stability challenges such as membrane wetting, scaling, fouling, and corrosion caused by the introductio…

  PublisherDOI

• Mitigating CaCO3 crystal nucleation and growth through continuous ion displacement via alternating electric fields

  Nature Communications · 2025-01-02 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Mineral crystal formation poses a challenge on surfaces (e.g., heat exchangers, pipes, membranes, etc.) in contact with super-saturated fluids. Applying alternating currents (AC) to such surfaces can prevent surface crystallization under certain conditions. Here, we demonstrate that ion displacement induced by periodic charging and discharging of the electrical double layer (EDL) inhibits both heterogeneous and homogeneous nucleation (and crystal growth) of CaCO 3 . Titanium sheets (mea…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Developing Quantitative Modeling Tools for Design and Performance Assessment of Integrated Water Management Systems: a U.S.-China Joint Research Project

  NSF · $500k · 2017–2023

• A Systematic Investigation on Fouling of NF and RO Membranes by Complex Suspensions Containing Colloids and Dissolved Organic Macromolecules

  NSF · $200k · 2006–2009

• GOALI: A New Strategy for Biofouling Control of Water Filtration Membranes Using D-amino Acids

  NSF · $352k · 2012–2015

Frequent coauthors

• Pedro J. J. Alvarez

  Systems Engineering Research Center

  84 shared

• Kuichang Zuo

  37 shared

• Wendong Gu

  36 shared

• Xiaolei Qu

  State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse

  28 shared

• Jinming Mu

  Xidian University

  28 shared

• Menachem Elimelech

  Yale University

  27 shared

• Xiaochuan Huang

  Rice University

  26 shared

• Jae‐Hong Kim

  Yale University

  22 shared

Education

• PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2002

• MS, Civil and Environmental Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1999

• BE, Environmental Science and Engineering

  Tsinghua University

  1995

Similar researchers at Rice University

• Satish Nagarajaiahh-70
• Reginald DesRochesh-65
• Pol D. Spanosh-53