Dr. Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (CHBE) and the Rice Advanced Materials Institute (RAMI). She completed her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Tsinghua University in 2017 and her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2022. Her doctoral research focused on understanding electrode–electrolyte interfaces in Li-ion batteries and electrocatalysis, developing advanced in situ spectroscopic and electrochemical methods to investigate interfacial reaction mechanisms and coupled ion–electron transfer. Following her Ph.D., as a Schmidt Science Fellow, Dr. Zhang conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University, where she pivoted to bio-nanophotonics and machine learning for spectroscopic analysis. Her work has been recognized with honors including the CAS Future Leaders Program, AIChE’s inaugural Gamry Award in Electrochemical Fundamentals, the Electrochemical Society (ECS) Energy Technology Division Graduate Student Award, ECS H. H. Dow Memorial Student Achievement Award, and the Materials Research Society (MRS) Graduate Student Award.
WEBSITE(S)| Rice Advanced Materials Institute | Google Scholar | Zhang Website
Research Areas
Dr. Zhang’s research program lies at the intersection of electrochemistry, nanophotonics, and spectroscopy, aiming to illuminate and control electrified interfaces for energy storage, chemical conversion, and biological applications. Her group seeks to understand how charges transfer and molecules transform at material interfaces, and to leverage these insights to guide the design of next- generation systems for batteries, electrocatalysis, and plasmon-assisted or bio-electrochemical processes. To achieve these goals, Dr. Zhang’s group develops in situ nanophotonics-enhanced spectroscopies for molecular-level characterization of electrified interfaces, advanced electrochemical methods to probe and model interfacial kinetics, and simulations and data-driven machine learning approaches that complement experiments. Dr. Zhang's research interests span a wide range of applications, including rechargeable batteries, waste-to-feedstock conversion, greenhouse gas mitigation, biohybrid energy conversion, and cell diagnostics and modulation for health.
Education
2023-2025, Postdoc, Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University
2022, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2017, B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University