On the morning of November 11, 2019, Academician Li Yongfang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences visited Chongqing University upon invitation, and gave a wonderful lecture entitled "God Rewards the Diligent - My Life Experience and the Latest Research Progress of Polymer Solar Cells" to the students in Meeting Room 303 of the School of Energy and Power Engineering. He not only introduced his research achievements in conducting polymer electrochemistry, but also encouraged the young students to study hard and forge ahead by sharing his own personal experience and personal feelings. It was a fantastic lecture for every student.
Li Yongfang began the first part of his lecture with the theme "God Rewards the Diligent - My Life Experience”. Academician Li Yongfang was born in Chongqing in 1948. He experienced the turbulence of the war, the suffering of famine and the Cultural Revolution, overcame many difficulties in the vicissitudes of the times, and finally achieved remarkable achievements. Li Yongfang shared several life insights gained throughout his own life path, and told the students that as one of the “untimely” generation, he had a dialectical understanding that "life is accompanied by bitterness and happiness". First of all, students should be encouraged love learning. No matter life is hard or happy, one should never stop. Secondly, one should always believe that “God rewards the diligence" and keep in mind that "seriousness" is the secret of success. Thirdly, one must "treat others with sincerity" and think more about others, so that they can win others’ respect. Fourthly, one should keep a “let it be” attitude, and while in the pursuit of something, one should deal with success or failure with wisdom. Finally, Academician Li summed up the four-word motto of success, i.e., "enthusiasm + devotion + effort + seriousness". He expressed his belief that that only with enthusiasm can be happy in life and scientific research; only with devotion can one think and work hard; only by working hard can one achieve something great; only with seriousness can one take life and scientific research seriously.
Li Yongfang shared the cutting-edge expertise of science and technology about "the latest research progress of polymer solar cells". He introduced the development process and the latest achievements of organic solar cells to teachers and students. He said that organic solar cells had the advantages including low cost, simple structure, light weight, flexibility and translucence, and had broad application prospects in the future. He started with the breakthroughs made in conductive polymer application and photoelectric conversion efficiency in 1980s, and explained the essential basic properties of efficient solar cell materials from the perspectives of absorption complementarity, charge carrier mobility, electronic energy level matching, and the formation of ideal donor acceptor network structure. The molecular design strategy proposed by Academician Li, that is, the material system with conjugated polymer as donor and n-type organic semiconductor (such as fullerene) as acceptor, greatly improves the photoelectric conversion efficiency of organic solar cells.
At the end of the lecture, Ms. Chen Shanshan of the research group issued the certificate of "Distinguished Expert of Academician Expert Workstation of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University" to Li Yongfang.
On the afternoon of the same day, Li Yongfang had an exchange with the teachers and students of the research group in Meeting Room 315 of the School of Energy and Power Engineering, and offered suggestions on the current work and future development direction of the research group.
During the exchange meeting, the representatives of each research area of the research group introduced Academician Li to their achievements, current progress and future development direction of the research group in the respective area. Li Yongfang commented on each area one by one and offered suggestions. Teachers and students of the research group were benefited a lot.
Li Yongfang: born in Chongqing on August 10, 1948, a native of Suixian County, Henan Province. He has obtained his doctor’s degree, and is an expert in polymer chemistry and physical chemistry, and an academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Li is also a researcher of Key Laboratory of Organic Solid, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished professor of the Faculty of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Suzhou University. In 2013, he was elected academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. At present, he is a supervisor of the Chinese Chemical Society, a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, editor in chief of Polymer Bulletin, deputy editor in chief of Chinese Science: Chemistry, and president of Beijing Energy and Environmental Society.
