ChBME – Joint | Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Biography
Xiangqun Zeng is a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering and the Department of Chemistry in the College of Arts and Science. The Zeng Laboratory conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of electrochemistry, analytical chemistry, materials science, chemical engineering, and bioengineering. A unifying theme across the laboratory’s research is the understanding, engineering and control of interfaces that govern electron transfer, ion transport, molecular recognition, catalysis, and energy transduction. These interfacial processes are fundamental to the performance of chemical and biosensors, batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, electrocatalysts, semiconductor devices and resource-recovery technologies.
The laboratory’s research has led to the development of novel functional materials and chemical and biosensing platforms based on ionic liquids, conductive polymers, biological recognition elements (peptide, scFv recombinant antibody, carbohydrate and DNA), nanostructured metals and semiconductor materials. In particular, the development of next-generation gas sensors and label-free biosensors leverages advances in electrochemistry, materials science, interfacial engineering and low-power electronics to enable applications in health and medicine, energy, industrial process monitoring and environmental sustainability. More broadly, by elucidating and controlling the chemical, electrochemical, and physical processes occurring at material and electrode interfaces, the Zeng Laboratory seeks to enable the rational design of advanced materials and devices for chemical and biosensing, electrochemical energy storage, fuel cells, electrolyzers, electrocatalysis, critical-mineral extraction and recovery, environmental monitoring and biomedical diagnostics.
Zeng holds more than 10 patents and has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and six book chapters, reflecting her laboratory’s significant contributions to applied electrochemistry, analytical chemistry and sensor science. Her research has been supported by more than 30 awards from federal agencies, including the NIH, NSF, NIOSH and ONR, as well as state agencies and private foundations. She has mentored more than 80 graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars, including a Fulbright Scholar. Seventeen of her former trainees have obtained competitive academic positions in the United States and internationally, while many others have advanced to leadership roles in industry. Zeng was also featured in the book Women Who Changed the World: The Journey and the Joy (Sunbury Press, 2015).
Education
PhD in Electrochemistry from State University of New York at Buffalo
MS in Analytical Chemistry from Beijing Normal University
BS in Analytical Chemistry from Si Chuan University, Si Chuan
Technical Focus
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