Comics created by Li and his team explain the astrophysics related to black holes. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Li started to popularize science in 2009 via articles and speeches, but the effect was limited as people found it hard to understand abstract knowledge. It was not until 2016 that the idea of doing so via comics struck him.

As more fans subscribed to his WeChat account, he was encouraged to quit his job as a medical physicist in a hospital in 2017 and established the Sheldon Science Comic Studio.

Sheldon is his English name, after Sheldon Lee Cooper, a fictional character in the CBS TV series The Big Bang Theory. Li chose the name because both have degrees in the same subject and low emotional quotients.

Li is responsible for the process of creating comics, from selecting a topic and reading related material to scriptwriting. He describes his ideas about specific drawings, including details, to illustrators who then work on them.

Domestic science institutions cooperate with the studio to promote their latest research results among the public.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has halted the studio's work. However, Li now has the time to shift his focus to science popularization among primary school students and preschool children rather than adults.

"It's more difficult to promote scientific knowledge among adults, who are less willing to accept new things and whose thinking patterns are already fixed," he says.

"Children are more curious about the world. But they don't have as many choices as the adults due to their limited capability of reading. Why not offer them some interesting and informative comics?" he says.