Recently, Li Min, a teacher from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at our university, collaborated with a teacher from Nanchang University of Aeronautics and Astronautics to publish a research paper titled "Mixed valence molybdenum oxide as a recyclable adsorbent for silver removal and recovery from wastewater" in Nature Communications, a subsidiary of the top international journal "Nature" (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37143-2). In this study, a mixed-valence molybdenum oxide (MoOx) with Mo (V) and Mo (VI) co-existing was designed and synthesized to selectively recover Ag + from wastewater. MoOx exhibits excellent Ag + selective capture capability and wide applicability, and can selectively recover Ag + from electroplating wastewater. At that same time, combining with the results of theoretical calculation and experimental study, the study prove that the capture of silver ions by MoOx mainly results from a self-strengthening reduction deposition mechanism, and a MoOx closed-loop recycle system for recovering silver ions is constructed. This study illustrates the significance of recovering silver from wastewater from the perspective of environmental remediation and resource recycling, and provides a valuable reference for the regeneration of adsorbent materials.

It is reported that the publication of this article came after the teachers of CQUST published three papers in the international top journals Science and Nature respectively.

Li Min, Ph.D., associate professor and supervisor for graduate students from School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, is young scholar of Chongqing Bayu Scholars Program. He is also a member of the Professional Committee for Heavy Metal Pollution Prevention and Control of Chinese Environmental Society, young editorial board member of Journal of Safety and Environment, etc., and has been a reviewer of RSC Advances, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Applied surface science, Hydrometallurgy, Chemical EngineeringResearch and Design, Journal of Separation science, Microchemical Journal, Nano and Chinese core journal Journal of Safety and Environment.

As a full-time teacher, he devoted himself to teaching, carefully attended each class,meticulously guided graduate students 'studies, and patiently answered undergraduate students' professional questions. As a doctoral talent of the university, he devoted himself to scientific research, often using evenings and holidays to consult materials, organize documents and write up materials. Everything comes to him who persists, assiduous study and efforts finally bear fruitful results. Li Min has successively presided over more than 10 scientific research projects, published more than 20 high-level academic papers, applied for more than 10 national invention patents and with 2 authorized. Life is never a choice, but love. Li Min is striding forward with solid steps.