Xu Hou is a Nanqiang Distinguished Professor at Xiamen University and a Fellow of the Chinese Chemical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the International Society of Bionic Engineering. He conducted postdoctoral research in Professor Joanna Aizenberg’s group at Harvard University (2012–2015), followed by research at the Harvard–MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, before joining Xiamen University in 2016.

His research focuses on liquid gating technology, bioinspired nanofluidics, and functional interfacial materials, with applications in air purification, energy conversion, intelligent sensing, chemical detection, water treatment, and biomedicine. His work connects fundamental studies of fluid transport and dynamic interfaces with the development of technologies for environmental sustainability, clean energy, human health, and artificial intelligence.

Prof. Hou was appointed Chief Scientist of a National Key R&D Program of China in 2018, received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2020, and was awarded the XPLORER Prize in 2022. His leading liquid gating technology and bioinspired nanofluidic iontronics were selected as IUPAC’s Top Ten Emerging Technologies in Chemistry in 2020 and 2024, respectively.