School of Chemistry

Dr Zhiyu Liao

  • Honorary Research Fellow (School of Chemistry)

email: Zhiyu.Liao@glasgow.ac.uk

School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510

Biography

Zhiyu Liao is a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow, specialising in optical and spectroscopic techniques for studying crystal nucleation. His research integrates tools like Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and mass spectrometry to explore nucleation mechanisms, with applications in drug formulation and carbon capture. He holds a PhD from the University of Copenhagen and has previously developed advanced imaging systems for biomedical diagnostics at the University of Nottingham.

Research interests

My research lies at the intersection of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, and materials science, with a particular focus on understanding and controlling crystal nucleation processes. I apply advanced optical and spectroscopic techniques - including Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry - to investigate the fundamental mechanisms of nucleation and polymorphism in solution. A key aspect of my work is exploring the role of amorphous aggregates and metastable intermediates in crystallisation, with the aim of developing precise control over nucleation pathways. I am particularly interested in translating these insights into practical applications in drug formulation, where controlling the physical phase is critical for bioavailability and stability, and in carbon capture, where accelerating nucleation processes can improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption.

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2025 | 2024 | 2022
Number of items: 5.

2025

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Das, Ankita, Ahmed, Ikhlas, Abate, Immacolata, MacLaren, Ian ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5334-3010, Beveridge, Rebecca and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2025) Nucleation begins before supersaturation: glassy solute aggregates dominate solution structure. ChemRxiv, (doi: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-x4kh4)

2024

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Das, Ankita, Robb, Christina Glen, Beveridge, Rebecca and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2024) Amorphous aggregates with a very wide size distribution play a central role in crystal nucleation. Chemical Science, 15(31), pp. 12420-12430. (doi: 10.1039/D4SC00452C) (PMID:39118639) (PMCID:PMC11304771)

González-Jiménez, Mario ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8853-0588, Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Williams, Elen Lloyd and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2024) Lifting Hofmeisters curse: Impact of cations on diffusion, hydrogen bonding and clustering of water. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146(1), pp. 368-376. (doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c09421) (PMID:38124370)

2022

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510 and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2022) Mesoscopic amorphous particles rather than oligomeric molecular aggregates are the cause of laser-induced crystal nucleation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(33), e220717311. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2207173119) (PMID:35878058)

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510 and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2022) A metastable amorphous intermediate is responsible for laser-induced nucleation of glycine. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144(15), pp. 6727-6733. (doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c11154) (PMID:35384650)

This list was generated on Sun Mar 15 22:07:26 2026 GMT.
Jump to: Articles
Number of items: 5.

Articles

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Das, Ankita, Ahmed, Ikhlas, Abate, Immacolata, MacLaren, Ian ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5334-3010, Beveridge, Rebecca and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2025) Nucleation begins before supersaturation: glassy solute aggregates dominate solution structure. ChemRxiv, (doi: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-x4kh4)

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Das, Ankita, Robb, Christina Glen, Beveridge, Rebecca and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2024) Amorphous aggregates with a very wide size distribution play a central role in crystal nucleation. Chemical Science, 15(31), pp. 12420-12430. (doi: 10.1039/D4SC00452C) (PMID:39118639) (PMCID:PMC11304771)

González-Jiménez, Mario ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8853-0588, Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510, Williams, Elen Lloyd and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2024) Lifting Hofmeisters curse: Impact of cations on diffusion, hydrogen bonding and clustering of water. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 146(1), pp. 368-376. (doi: 10.1021/jacs.3c09421) (PMID:38124370)

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510 and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2022) Mesoscopic amorphous particles rather than oligomeric molecular aggregates are the cause of laser-induced crystal nucleation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119(33), e220717311. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2207173119) (PMID:35878058)

Liao, Zhiyu ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-5510 and Wynne, Klaas ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5305-5940 (2022) A metastable amorphous intermediate is responsible for laser-induced nucleation of glycine. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144(15), pp. 6727-6733. (doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c11154) (PMID:35384650)

This list was generated on Sun Mar 15 22:07:26 2026 GMT.

Research datasets

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022
Number of items: 3.

2024

Liao, Z. , Das, A., Glenn Robb, C., Beveridge, R. and Wynne, K. (2024) Amorphous aggregates with a very wide size distribution play a central role in crystal nucleation. [Data Collection]

2023

González-Jiménez, M. , Liao, Z. , Lloyd Williams, E. and Wynne, K. (2023) Lifting Hofmeister’s curse: Impact of cations on diffusion, hydrogen bonding and clustering of water. [Data Collection]

2022

Liao, Z. and Wynne, K. (2022) A metastable amorphous intermediate is responsible for laser-induced nucleation of glycine. [Data Collection]

This list was generated on Mon Mar 16 16:29:21 2026 GMT.

Zhiyu Liao