Liang Jingkui (; 28 April 1931 – 19 January 2019), also known as Jing-Kui Liang, was a Chinese

physical chemist Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical me ...

and materials scientist. He was a professor at the

Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences The Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOPCAS ) was the result of a merger, after the communist took control of the mainland China in 1949, between the Institute of Physics of Academia Sinica (IOPAS) founded in Shanghai in 19 ...

(CAS). He served as President of the CAS Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter from 1983 to 1987, and was elected an academician of the CAS in 1993. He was awarded the

Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL, ) is a Hong Kong-based non-government organisation which annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists. It was established on 30 March 1994, with funds donated from the charitable foundations of Ho Sin Han ...

in Technological Sciences in 1999 for his contributions to

crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...

solid-state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state physics studies how the l ...

, and materials science.

Biography

Liang was born in

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, on 28 April 1931, the son of a power plant worker at the Fuzhou Electric Company. He was able to receive an education thanks to a scholarship offered by his father's employer. He entered

Fuzhou University Fuzhou University (FZU ) is a university located in Fuzhou, Fujian, China. Split into two campuses by the Min River, Fuzhou University's Old Campus is located on the north bank of the river in the western part of Fuzhou City, while the New Campus ...

in 1951, and two years later transferred to

Xiamen University Xiamen University (; Southern Min: ''Ē-mn̂g-toā-o̍h''), colloquially known as Xia Da (; Southern Min: ''Hā-tāi''), is a national public research university in Xiamen, Fujian, China. Founded in 1921 by Tan Kah Kee, a Chinese patriotic exp ...

, graduating with a bachelor's degree in

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

in July 1955. He joined the

Communist Party of China The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

in June 1954. After studying Russian for a year, in September 1956 he was sent by the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

(CAS) to study in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

at the A. A. Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Material Science of the

USSR Academy of Sciences The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991, uniting the country's leading scientists, subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (until 1946 ...

, where he earned an associate doctor degree (equivalent to a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

) in February 1960. He returned to China in February 1960 and became an assistant professor (researcher) at the

. He was promoted to associate professor in March 1978 and professor in February 1983. From March 1984 to June 1987 he served as President of the

Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

in his hometown Fuzhou. He returned to the Institute of Physics afterwards and was elected an academician of the CAS in November 1993. On 19 January 2019, Liang died in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

at the age of 87.

Scientific contributions

Liang made important contributions to crystallography, solid-state physics, and materials science. He designed an instrument for measuring the temperature in the instantaneous process of

nuclear tests Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

. He discovered that it is

barium borate Barium borate is an inorganic compound, a borate of barium with a chemical formula BaB2O4 or Ba(BO2)2. It is available as a hydrate or dehydrated form, as white powder or colorless crystals. The crystals exist in the high-temperature α phase a ...

(BBO), not barium-sodium borate as previously thought, that produces the

second-harmonic generation Second-harmonic generation (SHG, also called frequency doubling) is a nonlinear optical process in which two photons with the same frequency interact with a nonlinear material, are "combined", and generate a new photon with twice the energy of ...

(SHG) effect. His discovery paved the way for the successful growth of BBO single crystals. He also made discoveries in

technetium Technetium is a chemical element with the symbol Tc and atomic number 43. It is the lightest element whose isotopes are all radioactive. All available technetium is produced as a synthetic element. Naturally occurring technetium is a spontaneous ...

- and

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists W ...

-based

superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

. Liang published over 280 scientific papers and two

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s. His works have been highly cited. He served as an editor for multiple scientific journals and trained more than 40 doctoral students and eight postdoctoral researchers. He won multiple national scientific prizes including the

State Natural Science Award The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...

and the

State Science and Technology Progress Award The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...

. In 1999, he was awarded the

in Technological Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang, Jingkui 1931 births 2019 deaths Academic journal editors Chemists from Fujian Chinese editors Chinese expatriates in the Soviet Union Chinese materials scientists Chinese physical chemists Fuzhou University alumni Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences People from Fuzhou Physicists from Fujian Xiamen University alumni

Biography

Scientific contributions

See also

References