Professor Li has published to date 100 refereed articles in professional journals and 2 books. Additionally, he has finished 20 technical reports on research conducted for industry. Dr Li's research has focused on environmental fate of contaminates and treatment of water and waste water by chemical treatment. Current research areas include evaluation of adsorption and fate endocrine disturbing chemicals in aquatic environments, the optimization of bacteria in the degradation of oil in cooling water and waste water, and the development of new technologies using immobilized bacteria bed for rapid removal of oil.

He has worked extensively in the area of coagulant design and application on drinking water and wastewater treatment. His group has finished 20 projects about the treatment of waste water and coagulant production and 10 national standards of water treatment chemicals. In addition, his research also goes to the synthesis of biodegradable water treatment chemicals such as polyepoxysuccinic acid (PESA), Polyaspartate (PASP), as well as poly aluminum chloride, poly ferric sulfate and their application in water treatment. This knowledge is of fundamental importance for the environmental chemistry and water technology in process and material design.