Title:  Synthesis and Applications of Novel Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials

Abstract
In this talk, I will summarize the recent research on synthesis, characterization and applications of two-dimensional nanomaterials in my group. I will introduce the synthesis and characterization of novel low-dimensional nanomaterials, such as  graphene-based composites including the first-time synthesized hexagonal-close packed (hcp) Au nanosheets (AuSSs) on graphene oxide, surface-induced phase transformation of AuSSs from hcp to face-centered cubic (fcc) structures, the synthesis of ultrathin fcc Au@Pt and Au@Pd rhombic nanoplates through the epitaxial growth of Pt and Pd on the hcp AuSSs, respectively, the first-time synthesis of 4H hexagonal phase Au nanoribbons (NRBs) and their phase transformation to fcc Au RNBs as well as the epitaxial growth of Ag, Pt and Pd on 4H Au NRBs to form the 4H/fcc Au@Ag, Au@Pt and Au@Pd core–shell NRBs, and the epitaxial growth of metal and semiconductor nanostructures on solution-processable transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanoshees at ambient conditions, single- or few-layer metal dichalcogenide nanosheets and hybrid nanomaterials, the large-amount, uniform, ultrathin metal sulfide and selenide nanocrystals, other 2D nanomaterials, nanodots prepared from 2D nanomaterials, and self-assembled 2D nanosheets and chiral nanofibers from ultrathin low-dimensional nanomaterials. Then I will demonstrate the applications of these novel nanomaterials in chemical and bio-sensors, solar cells, water splitting, hydrogen evolution reaction, electric devices, memory devices, conductive electrodes, other clean energy, etc.
 
Keywords: Two-dimensional nanomaterials; Graphene; Metal dichalcogenides; Nanodevices; Field-effect transistors; Sensors; Clean energy
 
Brief CV
 
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.
 
He has published 5 invited book chapters, 61 patent applications (including 8 granted US patents), and over 350 papers, among which 131 papers published in IF>10 journals, 61 papers published in 8<IF <10journals, and 69 papers published in 5<IF <8journals. Some of his papers have been published in Science (1), Nat. Chem. (2), Nat. Commun. (6), Sci. Adv. (1), Chem. Soc. Rev. (8), Acc. Chem. Res. (1), J. Am. Chem. Soc. (10), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (22), Adv. Mater. (23), Nano Lett. (12), ACS Nano (23), Energy Environ. Sci. (12), Adv. Energy Mater. (5), Adv. Funct. Mater. (3), Mater. Today (1), etc. Based on Web of Science on Jan. 1, 2015, the total citation times of his papers are over 23,000 with H-index of 74. He has been invited to give more than 240 Plenary, Keynote or Invited Talks in international conferences, universities and institutes, and serve as the Session Chair. He has organized several tens of international conferences and served as the Symposium Chair or Conference Co-Chair. He is one of the Chairmen of the Editorial Board of ChemNanoMat (2015-) and an Associate Editor of International Journal of Nanoscience (2007-), sits on the Advisory Board of Chem. Soc. Rev. (2012-), Nanoscale (2012-) and Nanoscale Horizons (2015-), the Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Nano (2014-), Chem. Mater. (2014-), ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces (2014-), Small (2012-) and Nanofabrication (2012-), the Editorial Board of Carbon (2013-), Applied Materials Today (2015-), Energy Storage Materials (2015-), NANO (2007-), Chinese Science Bulletin (2014-), Science China Materials (2014-) and Graphene Technology (2016-), and the International Advisory Board of Materials Research Express (2014-) and ChemPlusChem (2012-). He is also one of the members of the Advisory Committee of IOP Asia-Pacific (2010-). In Nov. 2014, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Moreover, he was selected to The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds and the Highly Cited Researchers in 2014 and 2015 (Thomson Reuters), and listed as one of 17 “Hottest Researchers of Today” in the World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014 (Thomson Reuters, 2014), and got the Vice-Chancellor’s International Scholar Award (University of Wollongong, Australia, 2016), ACS Nano Lectureship Award (2015), World Cultural Council (WCC) Special Recognition Award (2013), the ONASSIA Foundation Lectureship (Greece, 2013), Asian Rising Stars (15^th Asian Chemical Congress, 2013), SMALL Young Innovator Award (Wiley-VCH, 2012) and Nanyang Award for Research Excellence (2011).
 
Dr. Zhang’s research is highly interdisciplinary. His current research interests focus on synthesis of ultrathin two-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g. graphene, metal dichalcogenides, metal-organic frameworks, black phosphorus, etc.), carbon materials (graphene and CNTs) and their hybrid composites for various applications in nano- and biosensors, clean energy, (opto-)electronic devices, catalysis, water remediation, etc.; controlled synthesis, characterization and application of novel metallic and semiconducting nanomaterials, and complex heterostructures; 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.