Lin moved to the University of California, Berkeley for his postdoctoral research, where he worked in the lab of Christopher Chang. While studying electrocatalysis in Chang's lab, he became aware of the use of porous materials like covalent organic frameworks (COFs) to absorb carbon dioxide. In collaboration with the Yaghi group, Lin showed that porphyrin-containing COFs could catalyze the electrocatalytic reduction of CO to CO under applied current and in an aqueous environment.
Lin began his independent career at Cornell University where his groups research has focused on the identification of novel synthetic pathways for medicinally relevant compounds. He focuses on the use of electrochemistry to drive chemical reactions. Electrochemistry can make organic synthesis cheaper and more environmentally friendly. For example, Lin demonstrated an electrochemical approach to synthesize 1,2-diamines from alkenes, which are useful precursors to bioactive natural products, therapeutic agents, and molecular catalysts. More recently, Lins group has developed a method to directly couple alkyl halides using electrochemistry, providing a promising approach towards this difficult chemical transformation.