Biography

Dr. Hua Zhang obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Nanjing University in China in 1992 and 1995, respectively, and completed his Ph.D. with Prof. Zhongfan Liu at Peking University in China in July 1998. He joined Prof. Frans C. De Schryver’s group at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven) in Belgium as a Research Associate in January 1999. Then he moved to Prof. Chad A. Mirkin’s group at Northwestern University as a Postdoctoral Fellow in July 2001. He started to work at NanoInk Inc. (USA) as a Research Scientist/Chemist in August 2003.

After that, he worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore from November 2005 to July 2006. Then he joined the School of Materials Science and Engineering in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to a tenured Associate Professor on March 1, 2011, and Full Professor on Sept. 1, 2013.

Current Research Interests

Dr. Zhang’s research is highly interdisciplinary. His current research interests focus on synthesis of two-dimensional nanomaterials (metal nanosheets, and transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets), carbon materials (graphene and CNTs) and their hybrid composites for various applications in nano- and biosensors, clean energy, water remediation, etc.; controlled synthesis, characterization and application of novel metallic and semiconducting nanomaterials; scanning probe microscopy; lithography-based fabrication of surface structures from micro- to nanometer scale; self-assembly and self-organization of nano- and biomaterials; self-assembled monolayers; etc.

Project: Super-adsorbents with Photocatalysis in Reducing Energy for Water Plants

In this project, we will first develop novel nanomaterials that could effectively utilize the solar energy to degrade the adsorbed organic contaminants, as well as simultaneously generate hydrogen fuels as clean energy storage. Then, we will composite the as-developed photocatalyst with our previously developed carbon aerogels to achieve continuous highly efficient water treatment. Parts of the research activities will be directed towards application of additive manufacturing technologies, for example forming the super-adsorbent scaffolds in a pre-designed 3D structure that can fit water treatment setups.

Selected Publications

X.-J. Wu, J. Z. Chen, C. L. Tan, Y. H. Zhu, Y. Han, H. Zhang*: “Controlled growth of high-density CdS and CdSe nanorod arrays on selective facets of two-dimensional semiconductor nanoplates”, Nat. Chem., Vol. 8, Pages 470–475 (2016). Link

Z. X. Fan, Z. M. Luo, X. Huang, B. Li, Y. Chen, J. Wang, Y. L. Hu, H. Zhang*: “Synthesis of 4H/fcc noble multimetallic nanoribbons for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction”, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 138, Pages 1414–1419 (2016). Link

Z. X. Fan, M. Bosman, X. Huang, D. Huang, Y. Yu, K. P. Ong, Y. A. Akimov, L. Wu, J. Wu, Q. Liu, C. E. Png, C. L. Gan, P. D. Yang,* H. Zhang*: “Stabilization of 4H hexagonal phase in gold nanoribbons”, Nat. Commun., Vol. 6, Article 7684 (2015). Link

Z. X. Fan, X. Huang, Y. Han, M. Bosman, Q. X. Wang, Y. H. Zhu, Q. Liu, B. Li, Z. Y. Zeng, J. Wu, W. X. Shi, S. Z. Li, C. L. Gan, H. Zhang*: “Surface modification-induced phase transformation of hexagonal close-packed gold square sheets”, Nat. Commun., Vol. 6, Article 6571 (2015). Link

J. Z. Chen, X. J. Wu, L. S. Yin, B. Li, X. Hong, Z. X. Fan, B. Chen, C. Xue,  H. Zhang*: “One-pot Synthesis of CdS Nanocrystals Hybridized with Single-Layer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Nanosheets for Efficient Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution ”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Vol. 54, Pages 1210–1214 (2015). Link