Why it matters: Assistant Professor Yuanwei Li of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has worked on programmable nanoparticle structures that could open new pathways for light-based computing and next-generation photonic devices — a field with major implications for faster, more energy-efficient information processing.
The American Chemical Society's Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry announced Li as the unanimous choice of its selection committee for the 2026 Victor K. LaMer Award, citing her exemplary PhD dissertation and her potential as an emerging leader in the field.
The award — named for physical chemist Victor K. LaMer — is given to recognize outstanding dissertation research and early-career promise in colloid and surface science. Li will receive a plaque and honorarium and deliver an award lecture on June 24 at the ACS Colloid & Surface Chemistry Symposium in Delaware.
"Designing nanoparticles that self-organize into precise 3D architectures is like writing an instruction manual for light itself — and we're only at the first chapter." — Assistant Professor Yuanwei Li
The big picture: Li's research, housed in Illinois Grainger Engineering, focuses on designing nanoparticle superlattices — highly ordered 3D arrangements of nanoparticles — with programmable structures and targeted optical properties. The work draws on geometry-inspired design principles to control how light interacts with matter at the nanoscale. Her group's ongoing projects aim to advance materials for biosensing, integrated photonic devices, active nanophotonics, optical information processing, and light-based computing.
How it works: By engineering the geometry and assembly of nanoparticles, Li's team can effectively "tune" how a material responds to light — creating structures that don't exist in nature and that could serve as building blocks for entirely new classes of optical devices.
What they're saying: The ACS selection committee noted a large and highly competitive nomination pool but said their decision in favor of Li was unanimous — an uncommon distinction.
The bottom line: Li's recognition adds to a growing list of accolades for the Illinois materials department and signals rising national attention on the intersection of nanotechnology and photonics — a space with long-term promise for computing and communications.