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Dr Hongyi Xu

Senior Lecturer

School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
Faculty of Science
h.xu5@uq.edu.au

Overview

After completing a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronics) degree at the University of Queensland, Hongyi went on to pursue a PhD degree in materials engineering, specialized in electron microscopy and semiconductor nano-materials. The Australian Government sponsored his PhD study through the Australian Postgraduate Award program. He obtained his PhD degree at UQ in Dec 2013, and received the Dean’s accommodation for academic excellence as well as the best thesis of the year award from the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. In Feb. 2014, Hongyi started his postdoc fellowship (Wenner-Gren Foundation postdoc award) in Prof. Xiaodong Zou’s group at Stockholm University. In 2015, he initiated the development of MicroED (3D electron diffraction technique for studying biomolecules) at Zou’s group. Hongyi became a principle investigator in 2018 to further develop and apply electron crystallography methods for studying structures of small molecules and macromolecules. He received a starting grant from the Swedish Research Council . Recently, Hongyi and colleagues solved the first two novel protein structures using MicroED. They also shown that it is possible to reveal protein inhibitor binding by MicroED. He is currently working as a researcher/principle investigator at Stockholm University and a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland.

Hongyi's primary research interest is to develop electron crystallography methods for solving structures of materials, small organic molecules, peptides and macromolecules, from micron- and nano-sized crystals, and to answer important biological problems cannot be addressed with existing techniques. He has established collaborations with more than 25 research groups internationally. Some of his current research projects are:

• Development of electron crystallography methods for crystal structure determination of inorganic materials, small organic molecules, peptides and macromolecules

• Developing a multidimensional toolkit for modern electron microscopy

• Studying charge state of metal ions in metalloenzyme by MicroED

• Fragment-based drug design by high-throughput MicroED

• New applications of cryo-EM (SPA, cryo-ET and MicroED)

Research Impacts

X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) has been an indispensable tool in structural analyses. Despite the evolution in laboratory X-ray and synchrotron sources that have occurred in the last decade, a significant roadblock in the determination of molecular structures is the ability to grow crystals of sufficient size and quality which can be time-consuming, complicated, requires a large amount of purified molecules, or even unfeasible for many biological macromolecules and pharmaceutical compounds. Three-Dimensional electron diffraction (3D ED), also known as Micro-crystal electron diffraction (MicroED), is an emerging and game-changing technique with the potential to overcome these challenges as it allows the collection of high-resolution structural data from small crystals (50-1,000 nm).

Electrons interact with matter 10,000 times stronger than X-rays do, resulting in a higher signal at lower beam damage than with X-ray beams, even for bright synchrotron sources. Since 2007, the 3D ED/MicroED method has allowed the structure determination of landmark samples, mostly inorganic, that were considered impracticable for X-ray methods. Researchers from several labs have developed different experimental set-ups for data acquisitions, for example automated diffraction tomography (ADT) and rotation electron diffraction (RED, Stockholm University). In 2013, Gonen’s lab successfully developed the MicroED technique for the determination of macromolecular crystal structures. However, the full potential of 3D ED/MicroED is yet to be unleashed. New electron crystallography methods, such as SerialED, have also show great potential in phase analyses and direct structure determination.

Electron crystallography and (cryo-) electron microscopy methods are of great importance in many research disciplinary. These methods can be applied to answer key scientific questions in material science, structural chemistry, structural biology and drug discovery, promoting scientific breakthroughs that will address challenges in climate change, health, sustainable energy and water safety.

Publications

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Grants

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Publications

Book Chapter

  • 3D electron diffraction for structural characterization of nanomaterials

    Xu, Hongyi (2023). 3D electron diffraction for structural characterization of nanomaterials. Encyclopedia of Nanomaterials. (pp. 87-99) edited by Yadong Yin, Yu Lu and Younan Xia. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-822425-0.00033-6

  • Growth and characterization of GaAs nanowires grown on Si substrates

    Kang, Jung-Hyun, Gao, Qiang, Tan, Hark Hoe, Joyce, Hannah J., Kim, Yong, Guo, Yanan, Xu, Hongyi, Zou, Jin, Fickenscher, Melodie A., Smith, Leigh M., Jackson, Howard E., Yarrison-Rice, Jan M. and Jagadish, Chennupati (2013). Growth and characterization of GaAs nanowires grown on Si substrates. Nanoelectronic device applications handbook. (pp. 603-613) edited by James E. Morris and Krzysztof Iniewski. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/b15035

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Effect of V/III ratio on the structural quality of InAs nanowires

    Zhang, Zhi, Lu, Zhen-Yu, Xu, Hong-Yi, Chen, Ping-Ping, Lu, Wei and Zou, Jin (2014). Effect of V/III ratio on the structural quality of InAs nanowires. Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices, Perth, WA, Australia, 14-17 December 2014. Perth, WA, Australia: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2014.7038642

  • Palladium catalyzed defect-free 〈110〉 zinc-blende structured InAs nanowires

    Xu, Hongyi, Gao, Qiang, Hoe Tan, H., Jagadish, Chennupati and Zou, Jin (2013). Palladium catalyzed defect-free 〈110〉 zinc-blende structured InAs nanowires. 2013 MRS Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1 - 5 April 2013. Materials Research Society. doi: 10.1557/opl.2013.990

  • Effects of Au catalyst on GaAs (111)(B) surface during annealing

    Liao, Z. M., Xu, H. Y., Sun, W., Guo, Y. N., Yang, L., Chen, Z. G., Zou, J., Lu, Z. Y., Chen, P. P. and Lu, W. (2012). Effects of Au catalyst on GaAs (111)(B) surface during annealing. 2012 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials & Devices (COMMAD 2012), Melbourne, Australia, 12-14 December 2012. Piscataway, NJ, United States: I E E E. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2012.6472333

  • Growth of defect-free InAs Nanowires using Pd catalyst

    Xu, H. Y., Guo, Y. N., Liao, Z. M., Zou, J., Gao, Q., Tan, H. H. and Jagadish, C. (2012). Growth of defect-free InAs Nanowires using Pd catalyst. Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD), Melbourne, Australia, 12-14 December 2012. Piscataway, NJ, United States: I E E E. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2012.6472345

  • Unequal P distribution in nanowires and the layer during the growth of GaAsP nanowires on GaAs

    Sun, W., Guo, Y. N., Xu, H. Y., Liao, Z. M., Zou, J., Gao, Q., Tan, H. H. and Jagadish, C. (2012). Unequal P distribution in nanowires and the layer during the growth of GaAsP nanowires on GaAs. Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD), Melbourne Australia, 11-14December 2012. Piscataway, NJ United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2012.6472403

  • Growth of GaAs nanowires using different Au catalysts

    Xu, H.Y., Wang, Y., Guo, Y.N., Zou, J., Gao, Q., Tan, H.H. and Jagadish, C. (2010). Growth of GaAs nanowires using different Au catalysts. 2010 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD), Canberra, A.C.T., Australia, 12-15 December 2010. Piscataway, NJ, U.S.A.: IEEE Xplore. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2010.5699766

  • Improvement of morphology, structure, and optical properties of GaAs nanowires grown on Si substrates

    Kang, Jung-Hyun, Gao, Qiang, Joyce, Hannah J., Tan, Hark Hoe, Jagadish, Chennupati, Kim, Yong, Guo, Yanan, Xu, Hongyi, Zou, Jin, Fickenscher, Melodie A., Smith, Leigh M., Jackson, Howard E. and Yarrison-Rice, Jan M. (2010). Improvement of morphology, structure, and optical properties of GaAs nanowires grown on Si substrates. 2010 10th IEEE Conference on Nanotechnology, NANO 2010, Ilsan, Gyeonggi-Do, South Korea, 17-20 August 2010. Piscataway, NJ, U.S.A.: Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/NANO.2010.5697783

  • Structural and optical characterization of vertical GaAs/GaP core-shell nanowires grown on Si substrates

    Kang, Jung-Hyun, Gao, Qiang, Joyce, Hannah J., Kim, Yong, Guo, Yanan, Xu, Hongyi, Zou, Jin, Fickenscher, Melody A., Smith, Leigh M., Jackson, Howard E., Yarrison-Rice, J. M., Tan, Hark Hoe and Jagadish, Chennupati (2010). Structural and optical characterization of vertical GaAs/GaP core-shell nanowires grown on Si substrates. 2010 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD), Canberra, A.C.T., Australia, 12-15 December 2010. Piscataway, NJ, U.S.A.: IEEE Xplore. doi: 10.1109/COMMAD.2010.5699778

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ORCID: 0000-0002-8271-3906

Scopus ID: 55372377300

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