On August 27, 2025, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the review results for applications received during its 2025 centralized submission period. Dr. Lei Xu, a 2020 PhD graduate of the laboratory, received support from the NSFC Young Scientists Fund for the project “Identification of key small polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soot inception and investigation of the inception kinetics they govern” (Grant No. 52506142).
Dr. Xu pursued his doctoral studies in the laboratory from 2016 to 2020, focusing on soot formation mechanisms, combustion diagnostics, and the conversion and utilization of low-carbon fuels. After graduation, he joined the School of New Energy at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, where he served first as a lecturer and later as an associate professor, and also became a master’s supervisor. The project will investigate the identification of small PAHs, soot inception mechanisms, and kinetic modeling, with the aim of improving the general applicability and engineering prediction capabilities of soot models.