July 15th, Prof. Hui-Ming Cheng received the American Carbon Society 2010 Charles E. Pettinos Award in Clemson University, USA.

The Charles E. Pettinos Award, sponsored by& the Charles E. Pettinos Foundation and the American Carbon Society,& is& an& international& award& given& triennially& to& a& person& in recognition of& recent outstanding& research& accomplishments& in& the& field of& carbon& science& and & technology.

Professor Cheng has contributed much to the progress of carbon nanotubes, carbon materials for energy storage, and recently graphene materials. He has published near 300 scientific papers and been awarded numerous patents. While Prof. Cheng is perhaps best known for his research work on carbon nanotubes, he has also been very active in many other aspects of carbon materials and has recently made significant contributions& to& the science of graphene and& to& the use of various carbon materials for energy storage.

Prof.& Cheng& did& pioneering& work& on& large-scale& growth& of& single-walled& carbon& nanotubes (SWCNTs) using an& improved& floating catalyst method& in 1998. Since& then he has extensively investigated& their& synthesis,& growth& mechanism,& structural& characteristics,& properties,& and applications. In 2009, he made an important advance in the synthesis of carbon nanotubes when he proposed a metal catalyst-free process to synthesize SWCNTs. He has also investigated ways to& control& the& number& of& layers& of& grapheme, & to& tailor& graphene& into& nanoribbons,& and& has proposed a& total color difference method& as well as a& surface-Interference co-enhanced Raman spectroscopy& to& characterize graphene.& In addition, Dr. Cheng has& recently been& involved with the use of CNTs, graphene and porous carbons for supercapacitors and& lithium& ion batteries.& In particular, he has produced hierarchical porous carbon that allows for high ion and transfer rate, which translates into high power and energy densities.&