- Awards and Distinctions
The Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications’ professors were appointed in recognition of their outstanding achievements in their fields of expertise.
The Centre Énergie Matériaux Télécommunications’ professors’ Fiorenzo Vetrone and Shuhui Sun
Each year for almost 35 years, the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) has recognized researchers who have made significant contributions to the engineering field in Canada. Following a highly competitive nomination and selection process, Professors Fiorenzo Vetrone and Shuhui Sun have been named Fellow 2022.
Fiorenzo Vetrone
Fiorenzo Vetrone has made significant contributions to the development of rare earth-doped luminescent nanomaterials. His work, which is internationally renowned, has led to discoveries in the field of photophysics, which deals with light-matter interactions. In his laboratory, he conducts studies on the development of new synthesis techniques to prepare colloidal, multi-architected and hybrid rare earth doped nanomaterials.
In 2020, with Professor Federico Rosei, he demonstrated the creation of a silica nanocapsule. Those could allow treatments that destroy cancerous or precancerous cells, with visible light, to treat more types of cancers. The article was featured on the cover of the 26th issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Chemical Science.
More recently, he developed a new imaging technique in collaboration with Professor Jinyang Liang and his team. It allows to measure the temperature in 2D, without contact, and in one click. The results of their research have been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Professor Vetrone received the 2021 Rutherford Memorial Medal, awarded for his research in chemistry, by the Royal Society of Canada.
Shuhui Sun
Professor Shuhui Sun is an internationally renowned researcher in nanotechnology and clean energy. He has made important contributions to developing next-generation fuel cells, hydrogen production, and battery technologies, aiming to address energy shortage and environmental challenges in a cost-effective way.
In collaboration with Professors Jean-Pol Dodelet and François Vidal, and Ballard Power Systems Inc, his team made significant progress in developing inexpensive iron-based catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells, aiming to replace the expensive Pt-based catalysts. The related work has been published in several articles in Energy Environmental Science over the last few years.
His team developed a patented electrolyte additive strategy to prevent lithium dendrite growth, which is critical for developing high-energy density and long-life Lithium-Metal batteries. More recently, he developed new green chemistry techniques to fabricate highly efficient single-atom catalysts (filled a US patent), and transition-metal-based catalysts for efficient H2 production. These results are promising for green hydrogen production.
Professor Sun is members of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada. Recently, he also received the Research Award from International Association for Hydrogen Energy, and the Canadian Catalysis Lectureship Award. He is the founding Executive Editor-in-chief of Electrochemical Energy Reviews.
