Guanchun RUI

  • OFFICE

    C2b420 (Guangzhou International Campus)

  • EMAIL

    guanchunrui@scut.edu.cn

Biography

  • Guanchun Rui is a Professor at the School of Emergent Soft Matter, South China University of Technology. He obtained his Bachelor degree from the department of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology in 2018, followed by his Ph.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2023. Subsequently, he served as a Postdoctoral Scientist at Arkema Inc. from 2023 to 2025, concurrently holding a position as a visiting scholar at the Pennsylvania State University. Since April 2026, he has held the position of Professor at South China University of Technology. His primary research focus lies in electroactive polymer materials, with a particular emphasis on the design of dielectric and ferroelectric polymers and the development of key functionalities such as piezoelectricity, electrostriction, and electrocaloric effects. He has authored and co-authored 40 SCI papers in the past five years, including 20 as first or corresponding author, published in prestigious journals including Nature, Science, Adv. Mater., Nat. Commun., and Matter.

Research Interests

  • 1.Design and synthesis of advanced dielectric and ferroelectric polymers;

    2.Investigation of the structure-property relationships between complex polymer assemblies and their piezoelectric, electrostrictive, and electrocaloric performance;

    3.Fabrication of multifunctional flexible electronics for applications in capacitors, force and temperature sensors, actuators (artificial muscles), energy harvesters, and solid-state cooling systems.


Awards & Honors

2025-2027
Responsive Materials (Wiley) youth editor board

2022
Covestro award

2021
Koenig researching award 

Selected Publications

  • Li L.#; Rui G.#; Zhu W.#; Guo Y.; Huang Z.; Wu S.; Wang Q.; Liu Z.-K.; Colby R.H.; Kim S.H.; Lu W.; Bernholc J.; Zhang Q. M.* Giant energy storage and dielectric performance of high-temperature all-polymer nanocomposites. Nature 2026, 651, 377-382.

  • Huang, J. #; Rui, G.#; Yan, Y. #; Allahyarov, E.; Kwok, M.-H.; Zhu, W.; Li, L.; Zhang, S.; Pan, Z.; Li, D.; Zhang, H.; Mu, R. R.; Zhao, B.; Wang, Q.; Taylor, P. L.*; Haglund, R. F. *; Zhang, Q. M.*, Zhu. L.* Fluorine-free strongly dipolar polymers exhibit tunable ferroelectricity. Science 2025, 389, 69-72.

  • Rui, G.; Bernholc, J.; Zhang, S.; Zhang, Q. M.* Dilute nanocomposites: Tuning polymer chain local nanostructures to enhance dielectric responses. Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2311739.

  • Huang, Y.-F.#; Rui, G. #; Allahyarov, E.; Li, R.; Fukuto, M.; Zhong, G.-J.; Xu, J.-Z.; Li, Z.-M.; Taylor, P. L.*; Zhu, L.* Enhanced piezoelectricity from highly polarizable oriented amorphous fractions in biaxially oriented poly(vinylidene fluoride) with pure β crystals. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12, 675.

  • Rui, G.; Chen, Z.; Allahyarov, E.; Zhang, H.; Li, R.; Taylor, P. L.*; Zhu, L.* Giant piezoelectricity in fluoropolymer fiber mats achieved by corona poling in water. Chem. Eng. J. 2024, 501, 157756.

  • Rui, G.; Allahyarov, E.; Li, R.; Taylor, P.*; Zhu, L.* Hard-to-soft transition-enhanced piezoelectricity in poly(vinylidene fluoride) via relaxor-like secondary crystals activated by high-power ultrasonication. Mater. Horizons 2022, 9, 1992-1998.

  • Rui, G.; Allahyarov, E.; Zhang, H.; Li, R.; Zhang, S.; Taylor, P. L.*; Zhu, L.* Effect of chemical defects on electrostriction-enhanced piezoelectric property of poly(vinylidene fluoride) via high-power ultrasonication. Nano Energy 2023, 113, 108590.

  • Zhu, Z. #; Rui, G. #; Li, Q.; Allahyarov, E.; Li, R.; Soulestin, T.; Domingues Dos Santos, F.; He, H.*; Taylor, P. L.*; Zhu, L.* Electrostriction-enhanced giant piezoelectricity via relaxor-like secondary crystals in extended-chain ferroelectric polymers. Matter 2021, 4, 3696-3709.

  • Rui, G.; Chen, Z.; Allahyarov, E.; Zhang, H.; Li, R.; Taylor, P. L. *; Zhu, L.* Giant piezoelectricity in fluoropolymer fiber mats achieved by corona poling in water. Chem. Eng. J. 2024, 501, 157756.

  • Zou, Q. #; Rui, G. #; Wu, S.; Zhang, H.; Taylor, P. L.*; Zhu, L.* Giant electrostriction via nanodomain engineering in relaxor ferroelectric polymers. ACS Nano 2025, 19, 30418-30427.

Teaching

Undergraduate courses:

***

Graduate courses:

***

Quick Links

Guangzhou International Campus: 777 Xingye Avenue East, Panyu District, Guangzhou, 511442

TEL.: +86-20-39381048; +86-20-39381029

© 2025 South China University of Technology. All Rights Reserved.