EMPLOYMENT
Graduate Faculty, Research Engineer
Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, University of Dayton

Selected Publications

• Anderson, A., Yang, F., Cao, L., Li, H., Meziani, M. J., & Sun, Y.-P. (2016). Tethered anthracene pair as molecular tweezers for post-production separation of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Chem. Phys. Lett., 657, 190–194.
• Cao, L., Hou, Y., Lafdi, K., & Urmey, K. (2015). Fluorescent composite scaffolds made of nanodiamonds/polycaprolactone. Chem. Phys. Lett., 641, 123–128.
• Liu, J., Cao, L., LeCroy, G., Wang, P., Meziani, M., Dong, Y., Liu, Y., Luo, P., & Sun, Y.-P. (2015). Carbon quantum dots for fluorescence labeling of cells. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 7, 19439–19445.
• Sahu, S., Cao, L., Meziani, M., Bunker, C., Fernando, S., Wang, P., & Sun, Y-P. (2015). Carbon dioxide photoconversion driven by visible-light excitation of small carbon nanoparticles in various configurations. Chem. Phys. Lett., 634, 122-128.
• Cao, L., Emami, S., & Lafdi, K. (2014). Large-scale exfoliation of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets in liquid phase. Materials Express, 4, 165-171.
• Hikita, M., Cao, L., & Lafdi, K. (2014). Optical properties of carbon microcoils. Appl. Phys. Lett., 104, 041905.
• Cao, L., Meziani, M., Sahu, S., & Sun, Y.-P. (2013). Photoluminescence properties of graphene versus other carbon nanomaterials. Acc. Chem. Res., 46, 171–180.
• Anilkumar, P., Cao, L., Yu, J.-J., Tackett II, K. N., Wang, P., Meziani, M., & Sun, Y.-P. (2013). Crosslinked carbon dots as ultra-bright fluorescence probes, Small, 9, 545-551.
• Xu, J., Sahu, S., Cao, L., Bunker, C., Peng, G., Fernando, K. A. S., Wang, P., Guliants, E., Meziani, M., & Sun, Y.-P. (2012). Efficient fluorescence quenching in carbon dots by surface-doped metals - disruption of excited state redox processes and mechanistic implications. Langmuir, 28, 16141–16147.
• Lu, F. S., Wang, F., Cao, L., Kong, C. Y., & Huang, X. C. (2012). Hexagonal boron nitride nanomaterials: Advances towards bioapplications. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. Lett., 4, 949–961.
• Cao, L., Sahu, S., Anilkumar, P., Kong, C. Y., & Sun, Y.-P. (2012). Linear and nonlinear optical properties of modified graphene-based materials. MRS Bulletin, 37, 1283–1289.
• Cao, L., Yang, S.-T., Wang, X., Luo, P., Liu, J.-H., Sahu, S., Liu, Y., & Sun, Y.-P. (2012). Competitive performance of carbon quantum dots in optical bioimaging. Theranostics, 2, 295–301.
• Song, W.-L., Wang, P., Cao, L., Anderson, A., Meziani, M., Farr, A., & Sun, Y.-P. (2012). Polymer/boron nitride nanocomposite materials for superior thermal transport performance. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 124, 1–5.
• Cao, L., Sahu, S., Anilkumar, P., Bunker, C., Fernando, K., Guliants, E., & Sun, Y.-P. (2011). Carbon nanoparticles as visible-light photocatalysts for efficient CO₂ conversion and beyond.  J. Am. Chem. Soc., 133, 4754–4757.
• Cao, L., Anilkumar, P., Wang, X., Liu, J.-H., Sahu, S., Meziani, M., Myers, E., & Sun, Y. (2011). Reverse Stern-Volmer behavior for fluorescence quenching in carbon nanoparticles. Can. J. Chem., 89, 104–109.
• Wang, X., Cao, L., Yang, S., Lu, F., Meziani, M., Tian, L., Sun, K., Bloodgood, M., & Sun, Y. (2010). Bandgap-like strong fluorescence in functionalized carbon nanoparticles. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 122, 5438–5442.
• Wang, X., Cao, L., Bunker, C., Meziani, M., Lu, F., Guliants, E., & Sun, Y.-P. (2010). Fluorescence decoration of defects in carbon nanotubes. J. Phys. Chem. C, 114, 20941–20946.
• Liu, J., Cao, L., Luo, P., Yang, S., Lu, F., Wang, H., Meziani, M., Haque, A., Liu, Y., Lacher, S., & Sun, Y.-P. (2010). Fullerene-Conjugated Doxorubicin in Cells ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2 1384–1389.
• Yang, S., Cao, L., Luo, G., Lu, F., Wang, X., Wang, H., Meziani M., Liu, Y., Qi, G., & Sun, Y. (2009). Carbon dots for optical imaging in vivo, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 131, 11308–11309.
• Wang, X., Cao L., Lu, F. S., Meziani, M. J., Li, H. T., Qi, G., Zhou, B., Harruff, B., Kermarrec, F., & Sun, Y.-P. (2009). Photoinduced electron transfers with carbon dots. Chemical Communications, 25, 3774–3776.
• Cao, L., Wang, X., Meziani, M., Lu, F., Wang, H., Luo, P., Lin, Y., Harruff, B., Veca, L., Murray, D., Xie, S., & Sun, Y.-P. (2007). Carbon dots for multiphoton bioimaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 129(37), 11318–11319. Highlighted in Dot to dot. Nature, 449, 263. http://npg.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7160/full/449262a.html and in Carbon dots illuminated with two photons. (2007). Biophotonics International, 14, 18.
• Cao, L., Miao, Y., Zhang, Z., Xie, S., Yang, G., & Zou, B. (2005). Exciton interactions in CdS nanocrystal aggregates in reverse micelle. J. Chem. Phys., 123, 024702 (1–6).
• Deng, Z., Cao, L., Tang, F., & Zou, B. (2005). A new route to zinc-blende CdSe nanocrystals: Mechanism and synthesis. J. Phys. Chem. B, 109, 16671–16675. Highlighted in Nanoparticles cooked up in aerosol spray. Nature Materials. http://www.nature.com/materials/nanozone/news/050915/portal/m050915-2.html

Courses Taught

• Engineering Thermodynamics: EGR 202
• Fabrication and Characterization of Advanced Composite Materials: MAT 595

Selected Honors and Awards

• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Fellowship Grant Award, USA 2008

Degree

• Ph.D. Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, 2005

Professional Activities

• Lead Guest Editor ─ Journal of Nanomaterials (2015-2016)
• Member of Editorial Board ─ Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Letters (NNL) (2010-2012)
• Served as a peer reviewer for more than 20 scientific journals from ACS, APS, RSC, Elsevier, etc.
• Sigma Xi
• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)