Jing-Fang Huang from National Chung Hsing University, in Taiwan, prepares an ultrathin nickel film that coats a nanoporous gold electrode and shows a unique catalytic activity towards the oxidation of glucose.

 What inspired you to become a scientist?

It is a great job. I am always learning something new and I get to work with interesting people, in interesting places. Just when I begin to think and understand things, new questions pop up and so I am never bored.

I began to be interested in science, especially in physics, when I was young. It was difficult for me to decide my future at that time. I studied for my master's degree and PhD in electrochemistry. After my PhD, I went to Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in the US, to do post-doctoral research for two years. I was lucky to have had a very good physics teacher at high school and nice advisors both in my PhD study and post-doctoral research.

 What was your motivation behind the work described in your ChemComm article?

Our original purpose was to look for a non-precious metallic catalyst to promote oxygen reduction. We are developing a simple, quick and easy handling process to prepare these catalysts because our time, energy, money and resources are limited. Accidently, we selected an active ultrathin atomic metal layer to start our research.

 Why did you choose ChemComm to publish your work?

I like the general audience of ChemComm. It was my journal of choice because it is of high quality and publishes communications quickly. I wanted to make sure that my research work was widely seen and ChemComm is a good medium for that.

 Where do you see your research heading next?

A simple, yet effective approach to prepare an ultra thin non-precious metallic film was presented in this work. An atomic scale metal monolayer was selected as the source of the modified layer in our method; the 3-D nanostructure of a noble metal substrate can still be kept. The active metal can further serve as a reducing agent to spontaneously replace the noble metal mediator. 

This new methodology has applicability to a wide variety of systems where the metal of interest, which is to be deposited, is more noble than the metal constituting the atomic scale metal adlayer. Its potential applications are towards nonenzymatic glucose detection, or to serve as a new generation of electrodes for fuel cells, or as an electrocatalyst.

 What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I try and enjoy life as much as I can. I like to play with my son and spend time with my family. I also like gardening because it keeps me outdoors and close to nature.

 If you could not be a scientist, but could be anything else, what would you be?

I really enjoy gardening, so I would probably want to be a horticulturist.

Interviewed by Emma Shiells