Dr Xi is a Senior Research Fellow/Advance Queensland Fellow and level 2 accredited HDR supervisor; He also works as a committee member/the representative of Queensland at Australian Clay Minerals Society and supervisor for China Scholarship Council (CSC) funded visiting PhD students/scholars. Since 2003, he has authored and co-authored over 150 international journal papers. These publications have been cited  over 3500 times (Scopus), with H-index of 30 (Scopus). His research interests are in modified natural materials including clay minerals, nano catalysts, spectroscopy, environmental contaminants remediation and building materials.