Bai Chunli's father was a teacher in a public elementary school before the Civil War. When Bai was young, his father taught and explained ancient poems and their messages to Bai.[6] In 1966, Bai Chunli went to middle school, and after only 4 years of study, he got a high school diploma.[7] Graduating from high school during the Cultural Revolution, Bai joined the Down to the Countryside Movement with other young people. He worked at the Inner Mongolia production and construction corps mechanical transport company as a driver and clerical staff from September 1970 to September 1974.[8]
In 1974, after three rounds of secret balloting for the soldiers of the whole company, and later taking written examinations, Bai Chunli became an undergraduate student of Peking University as a "worker, peasant and soldier student with practical experience."[9]
In January 1978, after graduating from the university, Bai Chunli was assigned to the Chinese Academy of Sciences' applied chemistry department, which was the beginning of his research career in the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 1985 to 1987, he did postdoctoral research in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. In 1996, he was the Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; in 2011, he took over from Lu Yongxiang as sixth President of Chinese Academy of Sciences, succeeded by Hou Jianguo in December 2020.
Bai's research is mainly in the field of nanotechnology[14][15][16] and scanning tunneling microscopy,[17][18][19] where his work focuses on scanning probe microscopy techniques, and molecular nano-structure, as well as nanotechnology research.[20] He has published a large number of books in both Chinese and English. He was an alternate committee member of the 15th and the 16th CPC Central Committee, and the sixth Vice President of the China Association for Science and Technology.
Bai conducted research in areas such as polymer catalyst structure and property, organic compounds of crystal structure X-ray diffraction, molecular mechanics and conductive polymers of EXAFS, etc. He has been engaged in the study of scanning tunneling microscopy, which has been a significant field in nanotechnology (NT), since the mid-1980s. Many of his works, both in Chinese and English, have been published by Germany Springer Publish Company and Scientific Company and many other publishing houses. Furthermore, he has earned many other awards such as Internationalism[clarification needed] which is awarded by the International Chemical Industry association.
Bai Chunli is one of the pioneers in the field of scanning probe microscopy. The laboratory he leads organized much wide-ranging and detailed research. Bai has made many contributions to STM study nationally and internationally. He has created a team which aims to increase cooperation between China and the United States on the issue of regularly using energy sources. Bai has also devoted himself to shortening the scientific distance between China and foreign countries.
He is the editor of China Basic Science magazine, and plays an important role in the political field. In his youth, he was named the best worker around China and one of China's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons among other distinctions.
His research has been published widely in peer reviewed journals and books.[21]
Awards and honors
Chunli Bai at the opening of CAS Nordic in Lund in 2007
Dr. Chunli Bai is one of the pioneers in the field of nanoscience. In the mid-1980s, he successfully designed and developed China's first atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning tunneling microscope (STM), low-temperature STM, ultrahigh vacuum-STM, and ballistic electron emission microscope. These led to the earliest technological tools in the country for manipulating single atoms and molecules, and characterizing surfaces and interfaces. He successfully established a methodology for the study of molecular assembly on solid substrate surfaces, such as the imaging of functional molecules on graphite surfaces. His use of alkane-assisted adsorption and assembly in this context is particularly noteworthy. Beyond his outstanding scientific achievements, Dr. Bai's leadership role in Chinese science includes service as the President of the Chinese Chemical Society (1998–2010), and Vice-President (1996–2004), Executive Vice-President (2004–2011) and President (2011–present) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). In 2012 he became the first Chinese President of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).[30]
^Tian, F.; Xiao, X.; Loy, M. M. T.; Wang, C.; Bai, C. (1999). "Humidity and Temperature Effect on Frictional Properties of Mica and Alkylsilane Monolayer Self-Assembled on Mica". Langmuir. 15: 244. doi:10.1021/la981008d.
^Qiu, X.; Wang, C.; Zeng, Q.; Xu, B.; Yin, S.; Wang, H.; Xu, S.; Bai, C. (2000). "Alkane-Assisted Adsorption and Assembly of Phthalocyanines and Porphyrins". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 122 (23): 5550. doi:10.1021/ja994271p.
^Li, B. S.; Cheuk, K. K. L.; Salhi, F.; Lam, J. W. Y.; Cha, J. A. K.; Xiao, X.; Bai, C.; Tang, B. Z. (2001). "Tuning the Chain Helicity and Organizational Morphology of anl-Valine-Containing Polyacetylene by pH Change". Nano Letters. 1 (6): 323. Bibcode:2001NanoL...1..323L. doi:10.1021/nl015540o.
^Li, B. S.; Cheuk, K. K. L.; Ling, L.; Chen, J.; Xiao, X.; Bai, C.; Tang, B. Z. (2003). "Synthesis and Hierarchical Structures of Amphiphilic Polyphenylacetylenes Carryingl-Valine Pendants". Macromolecules. 36 (1): 77. Bibcode:2003MaMol..36...77L. doi:10.1021/ma0213091.
^Jiang, Y.; Zhu, C.; Ling, L.; Wan, L.; Fang, X.; Bai, C. (2003). "Specific Aptamer−Protein Interaction Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy". Analytical Chemistry. 75 (9): 2112–6. doi:10.1021/ac026182s. PMID12720349.
