He received his Ph.D. degree in materials science and engineering in 2004 and then continued his research as Postdoctoral Fellow at Tsinghua University. In 2006, he became a Faculty Member at Tsinghua University. In 2011, he spent one year in Rice University, Houston, USA, as a Visiting Research Fellow. In 2012, he was appointed as Honorary University Fellow of University of Exeter, UK. His research focused on controllable fabrication of high-quality carbon nanotubes for industrial applications, photovoltaic solar cells, environmental protection, and nanocomposites.