Professor Jing Zhou works with doctoral student Erik Peterson.
Jing Zhou, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry
Background: B.S. Xiamen University; Ph.D. University of South Carolina; postdoctoral researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; joined UW in 2007.
Why UW? “I really liked the chemistry department and the opportunity to be able to do research and teach.”
Research: Think tiny. Zhou and her team work with nanomaterials, which are partially characterized by tiny size, measured in nanometers. A nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter, or about 100,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
“I’m working on understanding nanomaterials and how they work for energy conversion and the industrial catalytic process.”
For example, they’re studying what are called “oxide-supported metal nanoparticles” like nickel and gold. “We use the nickel as a reforming catalyst for methane natural gases and ethanol to produce hydrogen. We use the gold as a good material for oxidation to convert the harmful carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide.
“We use state-of-the-art instrumentation to understand the science at the atomic and molecular level to see how the materials work.
“What I’m doing right now is using a model system. We’re hoping that by understanding those simple systems, the next stage will be to bridge the model to the real-world application and give insight into the development of new nanomaterials.”
About the Science Initiative:“A centralized imaging facility with scientists who can help the students better use that instrumentation for their research will be a huge plus. It also helps UW in the long run to better maintain and use those instruments.”
Zhou is also excited for a centralized location for students and faculty to meet and collaborate. “Working in the nanomaterial field, I could see the students in chemistry, chemical engineering and physics mingling together and sitting down to chat.”
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