Zhang Lab | Functional Nanomaterials, Catalysis, Energy and Environmental Sustainability

Momodou Salieu Sowe

Momodou was born in The Gambia, West Africa. He holds a BSc (ed) in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from The University of The Gambia (2016). He also holds MSc in Chemistry from the University of Brawijaya, Indonesia (2019). His MSc thesis was on the synthesis of Ni-based catalysts for Hydrodeoxygenation of Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) into Green Diesel. Momodou has been Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of The Gambia from January 2020 to July 2022. In his free time, he enjoys student activism. He is currently the Graduate International Student Representative at UVA Student Council.

Daniel Musikanth

Daniel is from Mclean, Virginia and graduated from James Madison University in 2022 with a B.S in Chemistry. While at James Madison University, he conducted research with Dr. Donna Amenta and Dr. John Gilje focusing on hemilabile organometallic catalysis. Also, during his time at James Madison University, he worked as an intern at Merck & Co in the Manufacturing Production Systems department for one year. Outside of lab, Daniel enjoys hiking, fishing, kayaking, and working on cars or motorcycles.

Yizhen Chen

Yizhen is working on the electrocatalysis projects at the University of Virginia. He earned his PhD in 2020 at the University of Science and Technology of China working with Prof. Jie Zeng, where his project involved design and synthesis of atomically dispersed metals and heterogeneous catalysis. He comes to us from Prof. Bruce C.

Yulu Zhang

Yulu obtained her Ph.D. in Zhang laboratory in UVa with a focus on 1-dimensional metal phosphides for various electrochemical reactions. She grew up in Shanghai, China and came to the U.S. to receive her B.Sc. in chemistry from Syracuse University. Currently, her research interest is designing methodology for synthesizing as well as fabricating active and durable nanomaterials for efficiently catalyzing hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) in alkaline condition.

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and DOE Director of the Office of Science Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe visited the Zhang lab

Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm was on grounds (Aug. 25, 2022) with DOE Director of the Office of Science Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Ph.D. and UVA President Jim Ryan to announce $540M for research into technologies that transform energy production and cut emissions.

Chenxin Yang

Chenxin grew up in Chizhou, Anhui, China. He holds a Bachelor of Science with a major in physics and minor in chemistry from Shenzhen University in 2022, where he did work on electrochemistry including electrocatalytic hydrogenation of series organic molecules, electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction reaction, and liquid organic hydrogen carriers. In his free time, he enjoys aerial photography, hiking, and following his favorite soccer team (Barcelona).

Weijie Zhang

Weijie is working on the heterogeneous catalysis project here at the University of Virginia, focusing on developing advanced catalytic materials with high activity, durability and selectivity for both ambient-pressure and high-pressure CO2 hydrogenation reactions. He earned his PhD in 2017 at the Jiangnan University, where his project involved porphyrin-based porous materials. He comes to us from Dr. Shengqian Ma’s research group where he studied functional porous materials for catalysis and gas separation as a Postdoctoral Research Associate.

Group Gallery

Shruti Elango

Shruti Elango grew up in Chantilly, Virginia and is a current second year student studying at the University of Virginia majoring in Chemistry (ACS Certified) and minoring in Physics. Outside of school she enjoys painting, reading, and hanging out with friends.

Tyler Arnold

Tyler is a first-year student from Yorktown, Virginia. He is pursuing a B.S. in Chemistry with a specialization in Biochemistry on a pre-med track. In his free time, he enjoys snowboarding, playing soccer, and spending time outdoors.

Energy, Catalysis, Environmental Sustainability, Functional Nanomaterials

Momodou Salieu Sowe

Daniel Musikanth

Yizhen Chen

Yulu Zhang

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and DOE Director of the Office of Science Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe visited the Zhang lab

Chenxin Yang

Weijie Zhang

Group Gallery

Shruti Elango

Tyler Arnold

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News & Announcements

UVA College of Art and Science highlighted our recent work in Nature Synthesis

April 28, 2023

U.S. economy accounted for over a quarter of the country’s total energy consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and over 80%... Read»

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U.S. economy accounted for over a quarter of the country’s total energy consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and over 80%... Read»

August 25, 2022

July 1, 2022

April 14, 2022

February 15, 2022

Prof. Zhang received University of Virginia Research Excellent Award

February 4, 2022

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