UCLA professor transfers passion into more than 50 patent designs

A few bulging volumes litter the desk of Xiangfeng Duan. They are filled with more than 50 patent designs that he has accrued over the past two decades. The exact number of patents, he doesn’t bother to remember.

Duan, an assistant chemistry professor, spends his days studying atoms, molecules and objects of microscopic proportions.

The field of nanoscience is quickly gaining momentum from new applications in medicine, electronics, biomaterials and energy production, and Duan’s work is contributing to its growth. His research has taken him from industry to academia and won him many honors, including the 2013 Beilby Medal and Prize for his work in nanoscience, applied materials science and related fields. The award is administered annually in rotation by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of Chemical Industry.

“If you want to do something great or do something other people cannot do, you have to have a passion. My passion is research,” Duan said.

Paul Weiss, director of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, said the innate sense of wonder that fuels Duan’s innovations is inspiring.

“(Duan is) enthusiastic, … humble and understated, but really filled with ideas and curiosity that drive him to the great things he’s been able to achieve,” Weiss said.

Some of Duan’s recent research include the creation of a device that holds the potential to facilitate artificial photosynthesis and solar fuel production. This could have practical applications as a device capable of creating its own sustainable source of energy.

“When you make something that other people have not done, it is really satisfying,” Duan said. “For anybody. Whether you are a scientist (or not).”

After receiving his doctorate in physical chemistry from Harvard University in 2002, Duan spent six years with Nanosys, Inc., a nanotechnology startup he helped found. He said he was initially excited by the prospect of the brand-new company. However, this sentiment faded as the limited breadth of research left him unsatisfied. He left Nanosys, Inc. in 2008 to return to academic research as an assistant professor at UCLA.

“It’s very different in academia,” Duan said. “If you think about an idea in the morning, you can go back into the lab and do it in the afternoon. But in industry, it’s very difficult to start a new company and a new idea.”

His return to research has kept him content, at least for the time being, he said.

“I really like what I’m doing right now,” Duan said. “It’s very exciting. I can do many different things. That’s the kind of freedom I wanted.”

Duan’s work in academia has not gone unnoticed.

In 2011, Duan was ranked by Thomson Reuters Corporation, a mass media firm, in the top-100 most cited chemists and the top-50 most cited materials scientists, said Richard Kaner, a chemistry professor at UCLA and one of Duan’s close colleagues.

Duan will be awarded the 2013 Beilby Medal and Prize at the Premier Awards Dinner on July 9 in London. The award is the most recent of nearly 20 awards and honors that Duan has received since his early career as an undergraduate student at the University of Science and Technology of China in the late 1990s.

“I worked on the (Beilby Prize) nomination for him,” Kaner said. “This is a big award from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He’s done a terrific job.”

While Duan said he is excited about the recognition of his work, he said that his greatest excitement lies in creating new, cutting-edge innovations.

Currently, he said some of his favorite patents involve nanotechnology found in everyday gadgets, including LED backlighting and flash memory devices. These are instances of practical applications of nanoscience in devices used by nearly everyone.

Duan has not rejected all possibilities of starting up his own nanotechnology company later in his career, he said. But at least for now, his passion is research, and his efforts are not going unrecognized.

“(Duan is) a machine for being able to accomplish amazing pieces of science and engineering,” Weiss said. “We are (pleased) that he is (being) appropriately rewarded by the community for his accomplishments.”

At the rate Duan is going, the clutter of his binders of patents show no signs of tidying anytime soon, and they will likely be seen swelling in the years to come.