Profile
Dr Zhang has a proven track record in the development of novel prototype technologies, especially in water monitoring and treatment. From 2011 to 2014, he developed a novel capacitive deionization (CDI) technology for inland brackish water desalination, which was funded by the National Centre of Excellence in Desalination, Australia (NCEDA). This project was carried out in conjunction with the industry partners, ‘Power and Water Corporation’ in the Northern Territory, and ‘SA Water’ in South Australia.The impact of his work on Australian socioeconomics was featured as a cover article titled, ‘CDI can supply remote places’ in Desalination & Water Reuse, Vol. 22, Issue 2 and also won him the highly competitive Australian Water Association (AWA) Postgraduate Water Research Award in 2013.
Since 2014, Dr Zhang was awarded many prestigious fellowships: 1) Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship at the University of Cincinnati and National Risk Management Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA); 2) Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Overseas Fellow at University of Tokyo; 3) Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellow at Swansea University. Currently, one of Dr Zhang’s main research interests is to develop low-cost electrochemical sensors using various waste materials for environmental water monitoring, including heavy metals (i.e. lead and cadmium), PFAS, disinfection by-products, algal toxins, methylisoborneol, and geosmin.
Area of Expertise
- Water Treatment
- Water Quality
- Bio-/Chemo-sensors
- Desalination
- Nanomaterials
- Environmental Technologies
Projects
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Developing low-cost multiplexed elElectroChemicaL biosEnsors for seNsitive in-situ deTection of water contaminants (EXCELLENT)
Project Overview My project aims to develop an ultrafast biosensor platform for in-situ detection ofmultiple contaminants (e.g., MIB, geosmin, PFAS, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate) in water byincorporating pattern recognition algorithms. For water utility companies, typicalanalyses of these contaminants require the transportation of water samples to a lab and isalso expensive and labour intensive. Quick turnaround time…