Lili Cai

For More Information

• Cai Research Group

Education

• Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2016
• M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2012
• B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 2009

Academic Positions

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 2016 - 2018
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2018
• Faculty Affiliate, Materials Research Laboratory (0%), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023 - date
• Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2019 - date

Research Interests

• Radiative cooling, flame synthesis, nanomaterials, energy conversion, smart wearables

Selected Articles in Journals

• K. Zhou, S. Tang, P. Karua, F. Wu, S. Hong, D. Patel, G. Reeser, D. Cropek, P. Braun, L. Cai, "Printable Polymer Nanocomposites for Scalable and Architected Radiative Cooling", Nature Communications (2025).
• Y. Y. Choi, S. Tang, H. K. Woo, K. Zhou, P. Karua, L. Cai, "Multimode Adaptive Thermoregulation Enabled by Shape Morphing and Radiative Cooling Porous Polyurethane", Advanced Engineering Materials, 27, 2501580 (2025).
• H.K. Woo, A. Mehta, A. Karrow, R. Looney, Y. Yuan, H. Zhao, L. Cai, "Proof‐of‐Concept Roll‐to‐Roll Fabrication of Antimicrobial Textiles by Polydopamine‐Assisted Electroless Silver Plating", SPE Polymers, 6, e70021 (2025).
• J. Fei, X. Zhang, D. Han, Y. Lei, F. Xie, K. Zhou, S.-W. Koh, J. Ge, H. Zhou, X. Wang, X. Wu, J.-Y. Tan, Y. Gu, Y. Long, Z. H. Koh, S. Wang, P. Du, T. Mi, B.-F. Ng, L. Cai, C. Feng, Q. Gan, H. Li, "Passive cooling paint enabled by rational design of thermal-optical and mass transfer properties", Science, 388, 1044-1049 (2025)
• K. Zhou, L. Cai, "Atmospheric Flame Vapor Deposition of 1D and 2D Nanostructured Vanadium Pentoxide on Diverse Substrates", Nanomaterials, 15, 709 (2025)
• D. Patel, P. Karua, K. Zhou, L. Cai, "Assessing Radiative Cooling Textiles for Extreme Thermal Conditions", IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, DOI: 10.1109/JSTQE.2025.3567021 (2025).
• H. K. Woo, B. Qian, P. Sultana, K. Zhou, P. Ferreira, L. Cai, "Electrochemical Nanoimprinting of Colored Infrared Reflective Patterns for Radiative Heating", Advanced Materials Technologies, 10, 2401393 (2025).
• J. Fei, D. Han, K. Zhou, S. W. Koh, J. Ge, J. Y. Tan, B. F. Ng, Z. Chen, L. Cai, H. Li, "Electrostatic repellent dispersion method for green and cost-effective aqueous radiative cooling paint", Building and Environment, 269, 112462 (2025).
• J. Park, P. Karua, S. Tang, N. A. Nguyen, L. Cai, "Lignin–Polyethylene Oxide Interlocked Phase Change Materials with Enhanced Thermal Stability and Form Retention for Efficient Heat Management", Polymers, 17, 44 (2024)
• Y. Y. Choi, K. Zhou, H. K. Woo, D. Patel, M. Salauddin, L. Cai, "Radiative Cooling Smart Textiles with Integrated Sensing for Adaptive Thermoregulation", ACS Materials Letters, 6, 4624-4631 (2024).
• H. K. Woo, K. Zhou, Y. Y. Choi, L. Cai, "Elevating Low-Grade Heat Harvesting with Daytime Radiative Cooling and Solar Heating in Thermally Regenerative Electrochemical Cycles", ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16, 66932-66938 (2024).
• H. K. Woo, A. K. Gautam, J. S. Barroso-Martínez, A. P. Baddorf, K. Zhou, Y. Y. Choi, J. He, A. V. Mironenko, J. Rodríguez-López, L. Cai, "Defect Engineering of WO₃ by Rapid Flame Reduction for Efficient Photoelectrochemical Conversion of Methane into Liquid Oxygenates", Nano Letters, 23, 11493–11500 (2023).
• J. Fei, D. Han, X. Zhang, K. Li, N. Lavielle, K. Zhou, X. Wang, J. Y. Tan, J. Zhong, M. P. Wan, E. Nefzaoui, T. Bourouina, S. Li, B. F. Ng, L. Cai, H. Li, "Ultrahigh Passive Cooling Power in Hydrogel with Rationally Designed Optofluidic Properties", Nano Letters, 24, 623-631 (2023)
• K. Zhou, X. Yan, S. J. Oh, G. Padilla-Rivera, H. A. Kim, D. M. Cropek, N. Miljkovic, L. Cai, "Hierarchically Patterned Self-Cleaning Polymer Composites for Daytime Radiative Cooling", Nano Letters, 23, 3669-3677 (2023).
• H. K. Woo, K. Zhou, S.-K. Kim, A. Manjarrez, M. J. Hoque, T.-Y. Seong and L. Cai, "Visibly Transparent and Infrared Reflective Coatings for Personal Thermal Management and Thermal Camouflage", Advanced Functional Materials, 32, 2201432 (2022).
• A. Manjarrez, K. Zhou, ‪Y.-K. Tzeng, C. Q. Chen, L. Cai, "Atmospheric-Pressure Flame Vapor Deposition of Nanocrystalline Diamonds: Implications for Scalable and Cost-Effective Coatings ", ACS Applied Nano Materials, 5, 10715-10723 (2022).
• J. Fei, D. Han, J. Ge, X. Wang, S. W. Koh, S. Gao, Z. Sun, M. P. Wan, B. F. Ng, L. Cai, H. Li, "Switchable Surface Coating for Bifunctional Passive Radiative Cooling and Solar Heating", Advanced Functional Materials, 32, 2203582 (2022).
• K. Zhou, N. Miljkovic, L. Cai, "Performance analysis on system-level integration and operation of daytime radiative cooling technology for air-conditioning in buildings", Energy and Buildings, 235, 110749 (2021).
• K. Zhou, W. Li, B. B. Patel, R. Tao, Y. Chang, S. Fan, Y. Diao, L. Cai, "Three-dimensional Printable Nanoporous Polymer Matrix Composites for Daytime Radiative Cooling", Nano Letters, 21, 1493-1499 (2021).
• Vaziri, S., V. Chen, L. Cai, Y. Jiang, M. E. Chen, R. W. Grady, X. L. Zheng, Eric Pop, "Ultrahigh Doping of Graphene Using Flame-Deposited MoO3", IEEE Electron Device Letters, 41, 1592-1595 (2020).
• Wang, H., Y.-K. Tzeng, Y. Ji, Y. Li, J. Li, X. Zheng, A. Yang, Y. Liu, Y. Gong, L. Cai, Y. Li, X. Zhang, W. Chen, B. Liu, H. Lu, N. A. Melosh, Z. X. Shen, K. Chan, T. Tan, S. Chu, Y. Cui, “Synergistic enhancement of electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction to C 2 oxygenates at nitrogen-doped nanodiamonds/Cu interface”, Nature Nanotechnology, 15, 131-137 (2020).
• Cai, L., Y. Peng, J. Xu, C. Zhou, C. Zhou, P. Wu, D. Lin, S. Fan, Y. Cui, "Temperature regulation in colored infrared-transparent polyethylene textiles", Joule, 3, 1478-1486 (2019).
• Cai, L., A. Y. Song, W. Li, P.-C. Hsu, D. Lin, P. B. Catrysse, Y. Liu, Y. Peng, J. Chen, H. Wang, J. Xu, A. Yang, S. Fan, and Y. Cui, "Spectrally Selective Nanocomposite Textile for Outdoor Personal Cooling", Advanced Materials, 30, 1802152 (2018).
• Peng, Y., J. Chen, A. Y. Song, P. B. Catrysse, P. C. Hsu, L. Cai, B. Liu, Y. Zhu, G. Zhou, D. S. Wu, H. R. Lee, S. Fan, and Y. Cui, "Nanoporous polyethylene microfibres for large-scale radiative cooling fabric", Nature Sustainability, 1, 105-112 (2018).
• Shi, X., L. Cai, I. Y. Choi, M. Ma, K. Zhang, J. Zhao, J. K. Kim, J. K. Kim, X. Zheng, J. H. Park, “Epitaxial growth of WO3 nanoneedles achieved using a facile flame surface treatment process engineering of hole transport and water oxidation reactivity”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6, 19542-19546 (2018).
• Hsu, P. C., C. Liu, A. Y. Song, Z. Zhang, Y. Peng, J. Xie, K. Liu, C. L. Wu, P. B. Catrysse, L. Cai, S. Zhai, A. Majumdar, S. Fan, and Y. Cui, "A dual-mode textile for human body radiative heating and cooling", Science Advances, 3 (2017).
• Kim, J. K., S. U. Chai, Y. Cho, L. Cai, S. J. Kim, S. Park, J. H. Park, and X. Zheng, "Ultrafast Flame Annealing of TiO2 Paste for Fabricating Dye-Sensitized and Perovskite Solar Cells with Enhanced Efficiency", Small, 13, 1702260 (2017).
• Cai, L., A. Y. Song, P. Wu, P.-C. Hsu, Y. Peng, J. Chen, C. Liu, P. B. Catrysse, Y. Liu, A. Yang, C. Zhou, C. Zhou, S. Fan, and Y. Cui, "Warming up human body by nanoporous metallized polyethylene textile", Nature Communications, 8, 496 (2017).
• Zhao, J., L. Cai, H. Li, X. Shi, and X. Zheng, "Stabilizing Silicon Photocathodes by Solution-Deposited Ni–Fe Layered Double Hydroxide for Efficient Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Media", ACS Energy Letters, 2, 1939-1946 (2017).
• Yang, A., L. Cai, R. Zhang, J. Wang, P.-C. Hsu, H. Wang, G. Zhou, J. Xu, and Y. Cui, "Thermal Management in Nanofiber-Based Face Mask", Nano Letters, 17, 3506-3510 (2017).
• Cai, L., C. J. McClellan, A. L. Koh, H. Li, E. Yalon, E. Pop, and X. Zheng, "Rapid Flame Synthesis of Atomically Thin MoO3 down to Monolayer Thickness for Effective Hole Doping of WSe2", Nano Letters, 17, 3854-3861 (2017).
• Crampton, A. S., L. Cai, N. Janvelyan, X. Zheng, and C. M. Friend, "Methanol Photo-Oxidation on Rutile TiO2 Nanowires: Probing Reaction Pathways on Complex Materials", The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 121, 9910-9919 (2017).
• Li, H., S. H. Ahn, S. Park, L. Cai, J. Zhao, J. He, M. Zhou, J. Park, and X. Zheng, "Molybdenum disulfide catalyzed tungsten oxide for on-chip acetone sensing", Applied Physics Letters, 109, 133103 (2016).
• Cai, L., J. Zhao, H. Li, J. Park, I. S. Cho, H. S. Han, and X. Zheng, "One-Step Hydrothermal Deposition of Ni:FeOOH onto Photoanodes for Enhanced Water Oxidation", ACS Energy Letters, 1, 624-632 (2016).
• Zhao, J., Y. Guo, L. Cai, H. Li, K. X. Wang, I. S. Cho, C. H. Lee, S. Fan, and X. Zheng, "High-Performance Ultrathin BiVO4 Photoanode on Textured Polydimethylsiloxane Substrates for Solar Water Splitting", ACS Energy Letters, 1, 68-75 (2016).
• Allen, P., L. Cai, L. Zhou, C. Zhao, and P. M. Rao, "Rapid Synthesis of Thin and Long Mo17O47 Nanowire-Arrays in an Oxygen Deficient Flame", Scientific Reports, 6, 27832 (2016).
• Li, H., C. Tsai, A. L. Koh, L. Cai, A. W. Contryman, A. H. Fragapane, J. Zhao, H. S. Han, H. C. Manoharan, F. Abild-Pedersen, J. K. Nørskov, and X. Zheng, "Activating and optimizing MoS2 basal planes for hydrogen evolution through the formation of strained sulphur vacancies", Nature Materials, 15, 48 (2016).
• Shi, X., L. Cai, M. Ma, X. Zheng, and J. H. Park, "General Characterization Methods for Photoelectrochemical Cells for Solar Water Splitting", ChemSusChem, 8, 3192-3203 (2015).
• Cho, I. S., J. Choi, K. Zhang, S. J. Kim, M. J. Jeong, L. Cai, T. Park, X. Zheng, and J. H. Park, "Highly Efficient Solar Water Splitting from Transferred TiO2 Nanotube Arrays", Nano Letters, 15, 5709-5715 (2015).
• Zhou, M., L. Cai, M. Bajdich, M. García-Melchor, H. Li, J. He, J. Wilcox, W. Wu, A. Vojvodic, and X. Zheng, "Enhancing Catalytic CO Oxidation over Co3O4 Nanowires by Substituting Co2+ with Cu2+", ACS Catalysis, 5, 4485-4491 (2015).
• Rao, P. M., L. Cai, C. Liu, I. S. Cho, C. H. Lee, J. M. Weisse, P. Yang, and X. Zheng, "Simultaneously Efficient Light Absorption and Charge Separation in WO3/BiVO4 Core/Shell Nanowire Photoanode for Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation", Nano Letters, 14, 1099-1105 (2014).
• Cho, I. S., M. Logar, C. H. Lee, L. Cai, F. B. Prinz, and X. Zheng, "Rapid and Controllable Flame Reduction of TiO2 Nanowires for Enhanced Solar Water-Splitting", Nano Letters, 14, 24-31 (2014).
• Cho, I. S., C. H. Lee, Y. Feng, M. Logar, P. M. Rao, L. Cai, D. R. Kim, R. Sinclair, and X. Zheng, "Codoping titanium dioxide nanowires with tungsten and carbon for enhanced photoelectrochemical performance", Nature Communications, 4, 1723 (2013).
• Cai, L., I. S. Cho, M. Logar, A. Mehta, J. He, C. H. Lee, P. M. Rao, Y. Feng, J. Wilcox, F. B. Prinz, and X. Zheng, "Sol-flame synthesis of cobalt-doped TiO2 nanowires with enhanced electrocatalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction", Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 16, 12299-12306 (2014).
• Luo, R., I. S. Cho, Y. Feng, L. Cai, P. M. Rao, and X. Zheng, "Morphological control of heterostructured nanowires synthesized by sol-flame method", Nanoscale Research Letters, 8, 347 (2013).
• Ohkura, Y., J. M. Weisse, L. Cai, and X. Zheng, "Flash Ignition of Freestanding Porous Silicon Films: Effects of Film Thickness and Porosity", Nano Letters, 13, 5528-5533 (2013).
• Weisse, J. M., C. H. Lee, D. R. Kim, L. Cai, P. M. Rao, and X. Zheng, "Electroassisted Transfer of Vertical Silicon Wire Arrays Using a Sacrificial Porous Silicon Layer", Nano Letters, 13, 4362-4368 (2013).
• Feng, Y., I. S. Cho, P. M. Rao, L. Cai, and X. Zheng, "Sol-Flame Synthesis: A General Strategy To Decorate Nanowires with Metal Oxide/Noble Metal Nanoparticles", Nano Letters, 13, 855-860 (2013).
• Cai, L., P. M. Rao, and X. Zheng, "Morphology-Controlled Flame Synthesis of Single, Branched, and Flower-like α-MoO3 Nanobelt Arrays", Nano Letters, 11, 872-877 (2011).
• Z. Y. Jiang, L. Zhang, L. Cai, C. R. Xia, "Bismuth Oxide-Coated (La,Sr)MnO3 Cathodes for Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Electrolytes", Electrochimica Acta, 54, 3059-3065 (2009).

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• B. Lee, A. Novak, D. Curreli, L. Cai, J. He, C. Baroi, "Capture and In-Situ Conversion of CO2 Using Novel Plasma Technology Under Ambient Conditions", Proceedings of the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (2024).
• Feng, Y., I. S. Cho, L. Cai, P. M. Rao, and X. Zheng, "Sol-flame synthesis of hybrid metal oxide nanowires", Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 34, 2179-2186 (2013).
• Cai, L., P. M. Rao, Y. Feng, and X. Zheng, "Flame synthesis of 1-D complex metal oxide nanomaterials", Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 34, 2229-2236 (2013).

Professional Societies

• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022
• Member, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 2022
• Member, Combustion Institute, 2012
• Member, Materials Research Society, 2012

Teaching Honors

• Engineering Council Outstanding Advisor Award (Spring 2023)
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent By Their Students (Fall 2022 )

Research Honors

• ASME Rising Stars of Mechanical Engineering (2024)
• ONR Young Investigator Program Award (2024)
• SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2023)
• NSF CAREER Award (2022)
• ACS Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator (2022)
• MIT Technology Review Innovators 35 under 35 (2020)
• Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering (MIT) (2018)
• Sustainable Energy & Fuels Poster Award, Materials Research Society Fall Meeting (2017)
• Stanford Graduate Engineering Fellowship (2009-2012)