Zhen Zhang, specially appointed professor of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), National High-level Young Talent, Hundred Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, German "Humboldt" Scholar, and Leading Talents of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of Gusu District. He received his Bachelor’s degree in materials chemistry from the Department of Chemistry, Jilin University in 2013. In 2018, he received his Doctorate degree in physical chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS) under the supervision of Prof. Lei Jiang (academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences). Then he worked as a post-doctoral fellow with Prof. Xinliang Feng (academician of the Academia Europaea) at the Technische Universität Dresden and the Max Planck Institute for Microstructural Physics. In 2022, he joined the School of Chemistry and Materials Science/Suzhou Advanced Research Institute of USTC. His current scientific interests focus on bioinspired energy and sensing systems based on micro- and nano-pore membranes. As the first or corresponding author, he has published 1 Nat Rev Mater, 1 Nat Synth, 4 Nat Commun, 1 PNAS, 1 Sci Adv, 4 JACS, 6 Adv Mater, 3 Angew Chem, and 2 Chem Soc Rev. The total citations are about 6000 with H-index of ~42 (Google Scholar). 6 papers were selected as ESI Highly Cited Papers. He was awarded with the "Dean's Special Award" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the "100 Outstanding Doctoral Thesis" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Tang Aoqing Chemistry Award, etc.
The research team is recruiting postdocs, PhDs, and research assistants. Young talents are welcome to join!
E-mail: zhenzhang@ustc.edu.cn
Research directions:
1) Design of multi-dimensional bioinspired nanochannel membranes
2) Study on the transport behaviour of water and ions in confined nanochannels
3) Bioinspired energy and sensing systems based on micro- and nano-pore membranes
Publications (#Equal contribution, *Corresponding author)：
1. Li, Z., Wu, D., Wang, Q., Zhang, Q., Xu, P., Liu, F., Xi, S.*, Ma, D.*, Lu, Y.*, Jiang, L., Zhang, Z.*, Bioinspired homonuclear diatomic iron active site regulation for efficient antifouling osmotic energy conversion, Adv. Mater. (2024), DOI: 10.1002/adma.202408364.
2. Liu, X.#, Wang, Z.#, Zhang, Q.#, Lei, D., Li, X., Zhang, Z.*, Feng, X. L.*, Highly anion-conductive viologen-based two-dimensional polymer membranes as nanopower generators, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (2024), https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202409349.
3. Lei, D., Zhang, Z.*, Jiang, L., Bioinspired 2D nanofluidic membranes for energy applications, Chem. Soc. Rev. (2024), 53, 2300–2325. (Cover Article)
4. Liu, X., Li, X., Chu, X., Zhang, B., Zhang, J., Hambsch, M., Mannsfeld, S., Borrelli, M., Löffler, M., Pohl, D., Liu, Y., Zhang, Z.*, Feng, X. L.*, Giant blue energy harvesting in two-dimensional polymer membranes with spatially aligned charges, Adv. Mater. (2024), 36, 2310791.
5. Hu, Y., Xiao, H., Fu, L., Liu, P., Wu, Y., Chen, W., Qian, Y., Zhou, S., Kong, X. Y., Zhang, Z.*, Jiang, L., Wen, L. P.*, Confined ionic liquid-mediated cation diffusion through layered membranes for high-performance osmotic energy conversion, Adv. Mater. (2023), 35, 2301285.
6. Wang, Q., Wu, Y., Zhu, C., Hu, Y., Fu, L., Qian, Y., Zhang, Z. H., Li, T., Li, X., Kong, X. Y., Jiang, L., Zhang, Z.*, Wen, L. P.*, Efficient solar-osmotic power generation from bioinspired antifouling 2D WS2 composite membranes, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (2023), 62, e202302938.
7. Zhang, Z.#, Bhauriyal, P.#, Sahabudeen, H., Wang, Z., Liu, X., Hambsch, M., Mannsfeld, S., Dong, R.*, Heine, T.*, Feng, X. L.*, Cation-selective two-dimensional polyimine membranes for high-performance osmotic energy conversion, Nat. Commun. (2022), 13, 3935.
8. Zhang, Z., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L.*, Nanofluidics for osmotic energy conversion, Nat. Rev. Mater. (2021), 6, 622–639.
9. Zhu, C., Liu, P., Niu, B., Liu, Y., Xin, W., Chen, W., Kong, X. Y., Zhang, Z.*, Jiang, L., Wen, L. P.*, Metallic two-dimensional MoS2 composites as high-performance osmotic energy conversion membranes, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2021), 143, 1932–1940.
10. Zhang, Z., Zhang, P. P., Yang, S., Zhang, T., Löffler, M., Shi, H., Lohe, M. R., Feng, X. L.*, Oxidation promoted osmotic energy conversion in black phosphorus membranes, PNAS (2020), 117, 13959–13966.
11. Zhang, Z., Zhu, C., He, L., Qian, Y., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L.*, Improved osmotic energy conversion in heterogeneous membrane boosted by three-dimensional hydrogel interface, Nat. Commun. (2020), 11, 875.
12. Zhang, Z., Huang, X., Qian, Y., Chen, W., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L.*, Engineering smart nanofluidic system for artificial ion channels and ion pumps: From single-pore to multi-channel membranes, Adv. Mater. (2020), 32, 1904351. (Cover Article)
13. Zhang, Z., Yang, S., Zhang, P. P., Zhang, J., Chen, G. B., Feng, X. L.*, Mechanically strong MXene/Kevlar nanofiber composite membranes as high-performance nanofluidic osmotic power generators, Nat. Commun. (2019) 10, 2920.
14. Zhang, Z., Li, P., Kong, X. Y., Xie, G., Qian, Y., Wang, Z., Tian, Y.*, Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Bioinspired heterogeneous ion pump membranes: Unidirectional selective pumping and controllable gating properties stemming from asymmetric ionic group distribution, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2018) 140, 1083–1090. (Cover Article)
15. Zhang, Z., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Bioinspired smart asymmetric nanochannel membranes, Chem. Soc. Rev. (2018) 47, 322–356. (Cover Article)
16. Zhang, Z.#, Sui, X.#, Li, P., Xie, G., Kong, X. Y., Xiao, K., Gao, L. C.*, Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Ultrathin and ion-selective Janus membranes for high-performance osmotic energy conversion, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2017) 139, 8905–8914.
17. Zhang, Z.#, Kong, X. Y.#, Xie, G., Li, P., Xiao, K., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L.*, “Uphill” cation transport: A bioinspired photo-driven ion pump, Sci. Adv. (2016) 2, e1600689.
18. Zhang, Z., Xie, G., Xiao, K., Kong, X. Y., Li, P., Tian, Y., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Asymmetric multifunctional heterogeneous membranes for pH- and temperature-cooperative smart ion transport modulation, Adv. Mater. (2016) 28, 9613–9619.
19. Zhang, Z., Kong, X. Y., Xiao, K., Xie, G., Liu, Q., Tian, Y., Zhang, H., Ma, J., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L.*, A bioinspired multifunctional heterogeneous membrane with ultrahigh ionic rectification and highly efficient selective ionic gating, Adv. Mater. (2016) 28, 144–150.
20. Zhang, Z., Kong, X. Y., Xiao, K., Liu, Q., Xie, G., Li, P., Ma, J., Tian, Y., Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Engineered asymmetric heterogeneous membrane: A concentration-gradient-driven energy harvesting device, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2015) 137, 14765–14772.
21. Wang, Z.#, Zhang, Z.#, Qi, H.#, Ortega-Guerrero, A., Wang, L., Xu, K., Wang, M., Park, S., Hennersdorf, F., Dianat, A., Croy, A., Komber, H., Cuniberti, G., Weigand, J., Kaiser, U., Dong. R.*, Feng, X. L.*, On-water surface synthesis of charged twodimensional polymer single crystals via the irreversible Katritzky reaction, Nat. Synth. (2022) 1, 69–76.
22. Xin, W.#, Zhang, Z.#, Huang, X., Hu, Y., Zhou, T., Zhu, C., Kong, X. Y.*, Jiang, L., Wen, L. P.*, High-performance silk-based hybrid membranes employed for osmotic energy conversion, Nat. Commun. (2019) 10, 3876.
23. Qian, Y.#, Zhang, Z.#, Kong, X. Y., Tian, W.*, Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., Engineered artificial nanochannels for nitrite ion harmless conversion, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces (2018) 10, 30852−30859.
24. Qian, Y.#, Zhang, Z.#, Tian, W.*, Wen, L. P.*, Jiang, L., A Pb2+ ionic gate with enhanced stability and improved sensitivity based on a 4′-aminobenzo-18-crown-6 modified funnel-shaped nanochannel, Faraday Discuss. (2018) 210, 101–111.
25. Sui, X.#, Zhang, Z.#, Zhang, Z. Y.#, Wang, Z. W.#, Li, C., Yuan, H., Gao, L. C.*, Wen, L. P.*, Fan, X.*, Yang, L. J., Zhang, X. R., Jiang, L., Biomimetic nanofluidic diode composed of dual amphoteric channels maintains rectification direction over a wide pH range, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (2016) 55, 13056–13060.
