Spotlight: Dr Xiaojun Ren

Dr Xiaojun Ren is a COE-CSI Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of UNSW Materials Science & Engineering at UNSW Sydney.

Xiaojun completed his Master of Materials Technology and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at UNSW. Xiaojun’s research focuses on advanced carbon materials, particularly graphene-based membranes and nanochannels. He investigates how molecular transport can be controlled through material structure, surface chemistry and nanoscale interactions, with the aim of developing more efficient carbon-based technologies for molecular separation and energy storage.

Xiaojun values the interdisciplinary environment offered by COE-CSI, which brings together researchers working across carbon synthesis, characterisation, modelling and applications. Through the Centre, he has developed collaborations with Centre Deputy Director Prof Richard Tilley and Centre CI Prof Zi Sophia Gu, as well as the Centre’s International Scientific Advisory Committee Chair Prof Sir Kostya Novoselov and member Prof Daria Andreeva-Baeumler at the National University of Singapore. A CSI-supported exchange visit to the Australian National University also enabled Xiaojun to begin working with Centre Deputy Director Prof Yun Liu and her team, using advanced atomic force microscopy to study carbon materials at the nanoscale. More recently, he has begun exploring a collaboration with Acting Director Prof Rose Amal AC and Centre Research Fellow Dr Fei Li on recovering valuable metals using advanced carbon materials. These collaborations bring together complementary expertise and provide opportunities to develop shared experiments, explore new ideas, and build meaningful research directions. Xiaojun hopes these connections will grow into long-term partnerships and practical outcomes in carbon science.

Xiaojun is grateful to his supervisor, A/Prof Rakesh Joshi, his collaborators, and COE-CSI for their guidance, support, and the opportunities to connect across institutions and disciplines.