Yan Zhang

B. Eng, M.Eng (Tianjin), PhD(NUS), P. Eng

  • Professor
Contact Information
Ph: 709-864-2309
Em: yanz[at]mun.ca
Office: IIC3023
Personal Profile

Dr. Zhang obtained her B. Eng. and M. Eng. degrees in chemical engineering from Tianjin University and her PhD degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the National University of Singapore. She joined Memorial University as an assistant professor in 2010 and was promoted to associate professor in 2016 and full professor in 2022. Her research involves the application of experimental and computational methods to the analysis of chemical reactions and separation processes. Her current research has been focused on the development of environmentally friendly adsorbents and photocatalysts for the adsorptive removal or photocatalytic degradation of various water pollutants. She has also been working on the biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuel ethanol.

Research Interests
  • Porous natural polysaccharide-based composites for the adsorptive removal of water pollutants
  • Nanocarbon/metal oxide heterojunctions as visible-light-driven photocatalysts for environmental and energy applications
  • Carbon quantum dots-based fluorescent sensors for the selective detection of water contaminants
Selected Publications

For more publications, please visit: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0107-1014

  • Rostami, M., Zhang, B., Zhang, Y. Selective detection of nitenpyram by silica-supported carbon quantum dots, Spectrochim.  Acta A Mol. Biomol. Spectrosc. 292(2023), 122387.
  • Chang, L., Ahmad, N., Zeng, G., Ray, A., Zhang, Y. N, S co-doped carbon quantum dots/TiO2 composite for visible-light-driven photocatalytic reduction of Cr (VI), Environ. Chem. Eng. 10(2022), 108742
  • Liu, B., Song, X., Lin, W., Zhang, Y., Chen, B., Zhang, B. Progress of optical biosensors for analyzing pathogens and organic pollutants in water since 2015, Enivron.  Rev. 30(2022), 184–201.
  • Fu, Y., Xu, Y., Lou, B., Qin, X., Zhang, L., Yuan, H., Zhang, L., Zhang, Y., Lu, J. Magnetically recyclable core-shell MOF nanoparticles of Fe3O4@PDA@UIO-66-NH2 grafted by organic acids for intensified cationic dye adsorption, New J. Chem. 46(2022), 11071–11081.
  • Zhang, Y., Hawboldt, K., Zhang, L. Lu, J., Chang, L., Dwyer, A. Carbonaceous nanomaterial-TiO2 heterojunctions for visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of aqueous organic pollutants, Appl. Catal. A−Gen. 630(2022), 118460.
  • Yan, X., Rahman, S., Rostami, M., Tabasi, Z.A., Khan, F., Alodhayb, A., Zhang, Y. Carbon quantum dot-incorporated chitosan hydrogel for selective sensing of Hg2+ ions: synthesis, characterization, and density functional theory calculation, ACS Omega 6(2021), 23504–23514.
  • Mohumed, H., Rahman, S., Imtiaz, S.A., Zhang, Y. Oxidative-extractive desulfurization of model fuels using a pyridinium ionic liquid, ACS Omega 5(2020), 8023–
  • Gao, X., Li, M., Zhao, Y., Zhang, Y. Mechanistic study of selective adsorption of Hg2+ ion by porous alginate beads, Chem. Eng. J. 378(2019), 122096.
  • Gao, X., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Y. Zinc oxide templating of porous alginate beads for the recovery of gold ions, Carbohydr Polym. 200(2018), 297–304.
  • Shadbahr, J., Zhang, , Khan, F., Hawboldt, K. Multi-objective optimization of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation for cellulosic ethanol production, Renew. Energy 125(2018), 100–107.
  • Gao, X., Zhang, Y., Zhao, Y. Biosorption and reduction of Au(III) to gold nanoparticles by thiourea modified alginate, Carbohydr.  Polym. 159 (2017), 108–115.
  • Shadbahr, J., Khan, F., Zhang, Y. Kinetic modeling and dynamic analysis of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulose to bioethanol, Energy Convers. Manag. 141(2017), 236–243.
  • Zhang, M., Helleur, R., Zhang, Ion-imprinted chitosan gel beads for selective adsorption of Ag+ from aqueous solutions, Carbohydr. Polym. 130 (2015), 206–212.
  • Zhang, M., Zhang, , Helleur, R. Selective adsorption of Ag+ by ion-imprinted O-carboxymethyl chitosan beads grafted with thiourea-glutaraldehyde, Chem. Eng. J. 264(2015), 56–65.
  • Saremirad, P., Wood, J.A., Zhang, , Ray, A.K. Multi-variable operational characteristic studies of on-column oxidative protein refolding at high loading concentrations, J. Chromatogr. A 1359 (2014), 70–75.
  • Zhang, Y., Mao, S., Ray, A.K., Rohani, S. Nucleation and growth kinetics of (R)-mandelic acid from aqueous solution in the presence of the opposite enantiomer, Cryst. Growth Des. 10 (2010), 2879–2887.
  • Zhang, Y., Hidajat, K., Ray, A.K. Multi-objective optimization of simulated moving bed and Varicol processes for enantio-separation of racemic pindolol, Sep. Purif. Technol. 65 (2009), 311–321.
  • Lv, L., Zhang, Y., Wang, K., Ray, A.K., Zhao, X.S. Modeling of the adsorption breakthrough behaviors of Pb2+ in a fixed bed of ETS-10 adsorbent, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 325 (2008), 57–63.