Zhang Zhenkun

Doctor Professor

Zhang Zhenkun, Doctor degree, Professor, Institute of Polymer Science, graduated from University of Twente, the Netherlands.
Special Talent：

Address: Room 225, Mengminwei Building, No.94, Weijin Road, Tianjin

Telephone: 13652016086

Email: zkzhang@nankai.edu.cn
Website:
Research Interest: We are chemists who accidentally interested in Soft Matter. Chemistry is our main tool to create some model systems in order to understand some fundamental problems in soft matter. Especially, we are attracted by anisotropic colloidal particles which have some intriguing properties in terms of liquid crystal, self-assembly behaviors, gelation, etc. Often these properties are dictated by surface properties. Polymer grafting, nanoscale surface coating, controlled etching are some of the strategies we have been harnessed to fine-tune the surface properties. These have led to a library of polymer grafted virus (polymer-virus bioconjugates), ellipsoids with various surface properties, surface modified cellulose nanocrystals, polymer-coated polyhedral MOF colloids, etc. With these, we have been investigated liquid crystal behaviors, especially the chiral liquid crystal behaviors of rodlike viruses and cellulose nanocrystals, structured hydrogels of rodlike particles, self-assembly of ellipsoids by fluid interface deformation induced capillary attractions, buckling of spherical or non-spherical microcapsules. Novel materials have been created from these fundamental studies. For instance, polymeric hydrogels with an inherent chiral internal structure are one of our representative materials.

Current research interest:
1) Preparation and controlled assembly of polymer grafted viruses;
2) Understanding and application of the chiral nematic liquid crystal phase of rodlike viruses and cellulose nanocrystals;
3) Self-assembly of anisotropic particles at fluid-fluid interfaces.
4) Chemistry of colloidal membranes of rodlike virus
Current research interest:
1) Preparation and controlled assembly of virus/polymer hybrids;
2) Understanding and application of the chiral nematic liquid crystal phase of rodlike viruses;
3) Self-assembly of anisotropic particles at fluid-fluid interfaces.

History:

Zhenkun Zhang obtained his B.S. and M.S. degree in Chemistry from Nankai University in China in 1999 and 2002, respectively. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2007 from University of Twente in the Netherlands by working in Prof. Jan. K. Dhont’s group in Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. After that, he spent one year in postdoctoral training at the Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal of the CNRS in France with Dr. Eric Grelet. From Sept. 2008 to Mar. 2011, he conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. Jan Vermant and Prof. Dr. Christian Clasen at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. In June of 2011, he joined the Institute of Polymer Chemistry (IPC) at Nankai University and then was promoted to associate professor in the same year.

Honors and Awards

2012, Program of "Introduction of 1000 talents to Tianjin City during three years"

2013, the second position of the "Jingye" Teaching awards of Nankai University

Scientific Achievements & Selected Publications

Selected publications：
(1) Zhang, Zhenkun; Pfleiderer, Patrick; Schofield, Andrew B.; Clasen, Christian; Vermant, Jan(*)， Synthesis and Directed Self-Assembly of Patterned Anisometric Polymeric Particles， Journal of the American Chemical Society，2011，133（3）：392-395。（Cover article）
(2) Zhang, Zhenkun; Ma, Rujiang; Shi, Linqi(*)， Cooperative Macromolecular Self-Assembly toward Polymeric Assemblies with Multiple and Bioactive Functions， Accounts of Chemical Research，2014，47（4）：1426-1437。（IF:22）
（3）Shuaiyu Liu, Chunxiong Zheng, Zihan Ye, Baptiste Blanc, Xueli Zhi, Linqi Shi, Zhenkun Zhang*, Filamentous Viruses Grafted with Thermoresponsive Block Polymers: Liquid Crystal Behaviors of a Rodlike Colloidal Model with “True” Attractive Interactions, Macromolecules, 2018,51(20),8013-8026
(4) X, Pei; Zan,T,T; Li,H,M; Chen,Y,J; Shi,L,Q; Zhang, Zhenkun(*). Pure Anisotropic Hydrogel with an Inherent Chiral Internal Structure Based on the Chiral Nematic Liquid Crystal Phase of Rodlike Viruses. ACS Macro Letters, 2015, 4, 1215-1219.
(5) Cao, Jun: Liu, Shuaiyu; Xiong, Jie; Chen, Yingjun; Zhang, Zhenkun(*)， Stimuli-responsive chiral liquid crystal phases of phenylboronic acid-functionalized rodlike viruses and their interaction with biologically important diols， Chemical Communications，2014，50（72）：10402-10405。
(6) Cao, Jun; Liu, Shuaiyu; Chen, Yingjun; Shi, Linqi; Zhang, Zhenkun(*)， Synthesis of end-functionalized boronic acid-containing copolymers and their bioconjugates with rod-like viruses for multiple responsive hydrogels， Polymer Chemistry，2014，5（17）：5029-5036。
(7) Zhang, Zhenkun; Krishna, Naveen; Lettinga, M. Paul(*); Vermant, Jan; Grelet, Eric(*)， Reversible Gelation of Rod-Like Viruses Grafted with Thermoresponsive Polymers， Langmuir，2009，25（4）：2437-2442。
(8) Zhang, Zhenkun; Grelet, Eric(*)， Tuning chirality in the self-assembly of rod-like viruses by chemical surface modifications， Soft Matter，2013，9（4）：1015-1024。
(9) Liu, Shuaiyu; Zan, Tingting; Chen, Si; Pei, Xiaodong; Li, Henmin; and Zhang, Zhenkun(*)， Thermoresponsive Chiral to Non-chiral Ordering Transformation in the Nematic Liquid-Crystal Phase of Rodlike Viruses: Turning the Survival ******** of a Virus into Valuable Material Properties， Langmuir, 2015, DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b01476。
(10) Wang, Jianzu; Yin, Tao; Huang, Fan; Song, Yiqing; An, Yingli; Zhang, Zhenkun(*); and Shi, Linqi (*), Artificial Chaperones Based on Mixed Shell Polymeric Micelles: Insight into the Mechanism of the Interaction of the Chaperone with Substrate Proteins Using Forster Resonance Energy Transfer, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,2015,7(19): 10238-10249。

Professional Cultivation

Ph.D students:
Chong Wang （Co-supervisor）
Master Students：

2017: Ziyu Dong, Jianyao Li
2016 Xueli Zhi, Feng Deng
2015 Zihan Ye, Qiang Li

2013 Xiaodong Pei Pengjiao Zhang Henming Li 2014 Cunxiong Zheng Lu Yang（Co-supervisor） 2015: Zihan Ye Qiang Li

Alumni:
Jie Xiong（M.S,2013，Now in Johan&Johan）
Juan Cao (M.S. 2014，Ph.D candidate at IPC)
Shuaiyu Liu（M.S. 2015，Now in P&G）
Tao Yin（M.S.,2015，Staff in Nankai University）
Hengming Li (2016, Now in SINOCHEM GROUP)
Xiaodong Pei (2016, Ph.D candidate at The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
Pengjiao Zhang (2016, co-supervisor, State supervision and Inspection Center of food quality and safety )
Lu Yang (2017, co-supervisor， Now as staff of Analysis and testing center of Tsinghua University)

Faculty

Zhang Zhenkun