Speaker: Prof. Zhen'an Qiao

Affiliation: College of Chemistry, Jilin University

Time: 10:30–12:00, May 16, 2025

Venue: Conference Room 600, Building 4, Zhangjiang Campus

Host: Assoc. Prof. Yifan Sun

Abstract:

Catalysis is the cornerstone of modern industry and the advancement of human society. Mesoporous materials, characterized by high specific surface areas, uniformly tunable pore sizes and volumes, and diverse yet ordered pore structures, are crucial catalytic materials. However, the complex synthesis systems of mesoporous materials, involving multiple chemical processes, pose challenges such as limited structural diversity, difficulties in fine-tuning microscopic structures, and cumbersome preparation methods. Therefore, developing novel chemical synthesis approaches oriented toward catalytic applications, achieving targeted preparation of high-performance mesoporous catalytic materials, expanding the research scope of mesoporous materials, further precisely regulating their microscopic structures to enhance performance, and ultimately establishing universal and efficient synthetic methodologies are pressing scientific challenges in the field of mesoporous materials.

Addressing the urgent national demand for mesoporous materials in catalytic applications and the scientific challenges encountered in new material synthesis chemistry, we focus on regulating molecular assembly forces and balancing reaction kinetics and thermodynamics to develop methodologies for synthesizing diverse mesoporous materials. Our key achievements include:

(1) Developing an interfacial-confined coordination assembly synthesis method and proposing an energy balance principle for multi-component assembly, enabling the porosification of a series of inorganic multi-component materials.

(2) Advancing a polymerization reaction-coupled molecular assembly synthesis method to prepare mesoporous carbon materials doped with multiple components.

(3) Discovering novel templates and proposing a solvent-free, green, and economical synthesis method for mesoporous materials.

Brief introduction:

Prof. Zhen'an Qiao is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University. He/She was selected for the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and the Young Talents Program under the National High-Level Talents Introduction Plan. After earning a Ph.D. from Jilin University in 2011, he/she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States from 2011 to 2015. He/She returned to Jilin University in 2015 to work at the State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry. His/Her research primarily focuses on inorganic-organic self-assembled mesoporous materials, addressing key scientific issues in material synthesis chemistry to design and precisely construct novel multifunctional mesoporous materials. These materials are developed for applications in catalysis, energy storage and conversion, biomedicine, and other fields. As a corresponding author, he/she has published over 100 SCI papers in journals such as JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., and Nat. Commun., and holds over 20 authorized invention patents. He/She serves as a council member of the International Mesostructured Materials Association and as an editorial board member for journals including Science Bulletin and Kexue Tongbao (Science Bulletin in Chinese).