Shibo XI

Adjunct Associate Professor

MSE

Xi Shibo is a scientist known for his work in synchrotron-based materials characterization. He earned his Ph.D. in Optics from the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF) at the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. During his doctoral research, he developed expertise in using synchrotron radiation techniques to probe the local structure of materials at the atomic scale. In 2012, Dr. Xi joined Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and is a Senior Scientist II in the A*STAR’s Institute of Sustainability for Chemicals, Energy and Environment (ISCE2). He also serves as a beamline scientist for the X-ray Absorption Fine Structure for Catalysis (XAFCA) beamline at the Singapore Synchrotron Light Source (SSLS), a facility hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS). In this role, Dr. Xi bridges academia and large-scale instrumentation, enabling advanced X-ray absorption studies of catalysts under working conditions. His dual affiliation with A*STAR and NUS underscores his commitment to both research and infrastructure development in his field.

Research Interests

A distinguishing feature of Xi Shibo’s research is his intensive use of synchrotron radiation for materials characterization, especially X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy. As the beamline scientist in charge of the XAFCA beamline (dedicated to catalysis research) at SSLS, he has been instrumental in developing and utilizing advanced X-ray techniques to observe catalysts in action. Dr. Xi was part of the team that built the XAFCA lab, which opened in 2012 as a new facility for in situ and operando XAFS studies. The XAFCA beamline covers a broad energy range (2.4–12.8 keV) to include absorption edges of many catalytically relevant elements, and it accommodates experiments under realistic reaction conditions. This capability allows Xi and collaborators to monitor the evolution of a catalyst’s atomic and electronic structure during chemical reactions, providing insight into active sites and mechanisms that cannot be obtained by conventional benchtop techniques.

Dr. Xi’s expertise with synchrotron X-rays has been a key factor in many of his research contributions. For example, in the OER study, operando XAFS was used to track changes in the active site coordination environment as the catalyst activated, directly observing the dynamic structural regulation that led to improved performance. By combining such synchrotron analytics with electrochemistry, Xi helps establish clear structure–function relationships for catalysts. This approach accelerates the rational design of new materials, as changes at the atomic scale can be correlated with macroscopic reaction outcomes. Xi has published many scientific works that often leverage synchrotron methods, reflecting how central X-ray analysis is to his research workflow. Through his role at XAFCA, he not only advances his own projects but also mentors and supports other scientists in the community in applying synchrotron techniques to chemistry and materials science.


Publications:

  1. Hai, Xiao; Zheng, Yang; Yu, Qi; Guo, Na; Xi, Shibo*; Zhao, Xiaoxu; Mitchell, Sharon; Luo, Xiaohua; Tulus, Victor; Wang, Mu & Jiong Lu*: Geminal-atom catalysis for cross-coupling. Nature, 622(7984), 754-760, 2023
  2. xiaopeng wang, Shibo Xi* , Pengru Huang, Yonghua Du, Haoyin Zhong, Qing Wang, Armando Borgna, Yong-Wei Zhang, Hao Wang, Zhi Gen Yu, Wee Siang Vincent Lee, Junmin Xue*; Pivotal role of reversible NiO6 geometric conversion in oxygen evolution, Nature, 611(7937), 702-708, 2022
  3. Shi, Zhenyu; Zhang, Xiao; Lin, Xiaoqian; Liu, Guigao; Ling, Chongyi; Xi, ShiboϮ; Chen, Bo; Ge, Yiyao; Tan, Chaoliang; Lai, Zhuangchai, Zhang Hua*: Phase-dependent growth of Pt on MoS2 for highly efficient H2 evolution. Nature, 621(7978), 300-305, 2023
  4. Jianhua Wu, Zhongxin Chen, Ke Yang, Xin Zhou, Huizhi Li, Zhiyong Wang, Mengyao Su, Rongrong Zhang, Tie Wang, Qikun Hu, Ning Yan, Cuibo Liu, Bin Zhang, Ming Yang*, Shibo Xi*, Kian Ping Loh*, 2025. Electric bias-induced reversible configuration of single and heteronuclear dual-atom catalysts on 1Tʹ-MoS2. Nature Nanotechnology, pp.1-9.
  5. Tao Sun, Zhiyuan Tang, Wenjie Zang, Zejun Li, Jing Li, Zhihao Li, Liang Cao, Jan Sebastian Dominic Rodriguez, Carl Osby M. Mariano, Haomin Xu, Pin Lyu, Xiao Hai, Huihui Lin, Xiaoyu Sheng, Jiwei Shi, Yi Zheng, Ying-Rui Lu, Qian He, Jingsheng Chen, Kostya S. Novoselov, Cheng-Hao Chuang*, Shibo Xi*, Xin Luo* & Jiong Lu*: Ferromagnetic single-atom spin catalyst for boosting water splitting. Nature Nanotechnology, 2023
  6. Xiao Hai , Shibo XiϮ , Sharon Mitchell , Karim Harrath , Haomin Xu , Dario Akl , Debin Kong , Jing Li , Zejun Li , Tao Sun , Huimin Yang , Yige Cui , Chenliang Su , Xiaoxu Zhao , Jun Li , Javier Perez-Ramirez & Jiong Lu*: Scalable two-step annealing method for preparing ultra-high-density single-atom catalyst libraries. nature nanotechnology, 2021
  7. Wang, Di, Hyun Dong Jung, Shikai Liu, Jiayi Chen, Haozhou Yang, Qian He, Shibo Xi*, Seoin Back, and Lei Wang. “Revealing the structural evolution of CuAg composites during electrochemical carbon monoxide reduction.” Nature Communications 15, no. 1 (2024): 4692.
  8. Liu, Shikai, Yuheng Li, Di Wang, Shibo Xi*, Haoming Xu, Yulin Wang, Xinzhe Li et al. “Alkali cation-induced cathodic corrosion in Cu electrocatalysts.” Nature Communications 15, no. 1 (2024): 5080.
  9. Li, Zhe, Donghai Wu, Qingchen Wang, Qixiang Zhang, Peng Xu, Fangning Liu, Shibo Xi*  et al. “Bioinspired Homonuclear Diatomic Iron Active Site Regulation for Efficient Antifouling Osmotic Energy Conversion.” Advanced Materials 36, no. 46 (2024): 2408364.
  10. Sun, Yuanmiao; Wang, Jiarui; Xi, Shibo*; Shen, Jingjing; Luo, Songzhu; Ge, Jingjie; Sun, Shengnan; Chen, Yubo; Hanna, John V; Li, Shuzhou: Navigating surface reconstruction of spinel oxides for electrochemical water oxidation. Nature Communications, 14(1), 2467, 2023

Staff Details

Email Address

xi-shibo@nus.edu.sg