Overview
Background
Dr Cheng Zhang is an innovative Research Fellow supported by both ARC and NHMRC. He has an outstanding track record in the fields of fluoropolymers, polymer chemistry and materials science. He has made significant contributions to these fields of research through innovative chemistry to build precise fluoropolymer structures and subsequent molecular-level characterisation to understand the structure-property relationship for specific applications including from energy materials e.g. solid electrolytes, sorbent materials for environmental PFAS remediation, to functional biomaterials e.g. imaging and therapeutic agents. Please read more here at the Zhang Group.
Availability
- Dr Cheng Zhang is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Fluorinated compounds
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Polymeric biomaterials for disease detection and treatment
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NMR and MRI of polymers
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Solid fluoropolymer electrolytes
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PFAS remediation
Research impacts
Dr Zhang's research aims to promote polymer chemistry and its value to society by understanding structure-property relationships to develop novel functional polymeric platforms rapidly. An important way for achieving such a vision is to deliver academic excellence toward social engagement and global impact through industrial collaborations. Over the past five years, he has initiated and maintained great industrial connections with world-leading companies and local city councils, for example, working with Chemours and the City of Gold Coast to advance PFAS capture technologies, and collaborating with Lyndra Therapeutics Inc. to develop new oral drugs for facilitating PFAS elimination from humans. He has published over 90 journal articles, including Nature Materials, Nature Reviews Materials, Chemical Reviews, Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Nano, Macromolecules and etc, attracting over 4,000 citations (Google Scholar). He has also successfully secured over $6 M in external grants to support his research in related fields.
His research has achieved positive impacts on the community and has led to commercial, environmental and industrial benefits. He is the inventor and key driver of developing novel fluorinated polymeric devices for removing PFAS from environments (capture of fluorinated carbon compounds, WO2020160626A1). The invention delivers an easy-to-use and reusable highly fluorinated polymer-based device for efficient and selective removal of all classes of PFAS from various contaminated sources. In addition to patent protection, a commercialisation strategy for the invention is currently being developed together with Chemours and UniQuest. In 2021, he has been awarded the Fresh scientist to broadcast my PFAS research to the general public. This provides a great pathway for me to introduce PFAS to the community and builds public awareness of the links between adverse health effects and PFAS.
Awards
2024 CSIRO ON Prime Facilitator Prize
2024 PMSE Early Investigator Award.
2023 Young Tall Poppy Science Award.
2023 ACS Materials AU Rising Star.
2022 UQ Industry Engagement Award.
Works
Search Professor Cheng Zhang’s works on UQ eSpace
Featured
2025
Journal Article
Manage releases of 'forever chemicals' in lab waste
Liu, Kehan and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Manage releases of 'forever chemicals' in lab waste. Nature, 641 (8062), 311-311. doi: 10.1038/d41586-025-01406-3
Featured
2025
Journal Article
New sorbents for removing forever chemicals need standardized reporting
Su, Zicheng, Yang, Zhuojing, Liu, Kehan, Yu, Chunrong, Guo, Jianhua and Zhang, Cheng (2025). New sorbents for removing forever chemicals need standardized reporting. Nature Reviews Materials, 10 (5) e202213071, 327-329. doi: 10.1038/s41578-025-00795-1
Featured
2024
Journal Article
Fluoropolymer sorbent for efficient and selective capturing of per- and polyfluorinated compounds
Yang, Zhuojing, Zhu, Yutong, Tan, Xiao, Gunjal, Samruddhi Jayendra Jayendra, Dewapriya, Pradeep, Wang, Yiqing, Xin, Ruijing, Fu, Changkui, Liu, Kehan, Macintosh, Katie, Sprague, Lee G., Leung, Lam, Hopkins, Timothy E., Thomas, Kevin V., Guo, Jianhua, Whittaker, Andrew K. and Zhang, Cheng (2024). Fluoropolymer sorbent for efficient and selective capturing of per- and polyfluorinated compounds. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 8269, 1-10. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52690-y
Featured
2024
Journal Article
Fluorination in advanced battery design
Wang, Yiqing, Wu, Zhenzhen, Azad, Faezeh Makhlooghi, Zhu, Yutong, Wang, Lianzhou, Hawker, Craig J., Whittaker, Andrew K., Forsyth, Maria and Zhang, Cheng (2024). Fluorination in advanced battery design. Nature Reviews Materials, 9 (2), 119-133. doi: 10.1038/s41578-023-00623-4
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Efficient removal of perfluorinated chemicals from contaminated water sources using magnetic fluorinated polymer sorbents
Tan, Xiao, Dewapriya, Pradeep, Prasad, Pritesh, Chang, Yixin, Huang, Xumin, Wang, Yiqing, Gong, Xiaokai, Hopkins, Timothy E., Fu, Changkui, Thomas, Kevin V., Peng, Hui, Whittaker, Andrew Keith and Zhang, Cheng (2022). Efficient removal of perfluorinated chemicals from contaminated water sources using magnetic fluorinated polymer sorbents. Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), 61 (49) e202213071, e202213071. doi: 10.1002/anie.202213071
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Ultra-stable all-solid-state sodium metal batteries enabled by perfluoropolyether-based electrolytes
Wang, Xiaoen, Zhang, Cheng, Sawczyk, Michal, Sun, Ju, Yuan, Qinghong, Chen, Fangfang, Mendes, Tiago C., Howlett, Patrick C., Fu, Changkui, Wang, Yiqing, Tan, Xiao, Searles, Debra J., Král, Petr, Hawker, Craig J., Whittaker, Andrew K. and Forsyth, Maria (2022). Ultra-stable all-solid-state sodium metal batteries enabled by perfluoropolyether-based electrolytes. Nature Materials, 21 (9), 1057-1065. doi: 10.1038/s41563-022-01296-0
Featured
2022
Journal Article
Fluorine in medicinal chemistry: in perspective to COVID-19
Zhang, Cheng (2022). Fluorine in medicinal chemistry: in perspective to COVID-19. ACS Omega, 7 (22), 18206-18212. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c01121
Featured
2021
Journal Article
Biological Utility of Fluorinated Compounds: from Materials Design to Molecular Imaging, Therapeutics and Environmental Remediation
Zhang, Cheng, Yan, Kai, Fu, Changkui, Peng, Hui, Hawker, Craig J. and Whittaker, Andrew K. (2021). Biological Utility of Fluorinated Compounds: from Materials Design to Molecular Imaging, Therapeutics and Environmental Remediation. Chemical Reviews, 122 (1) acs.chemrev.1c00632, 167-208. doi: 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00632
2025
Journal Article
Non-PFAS-based magnetic polymer sorbents for efficient removal of perfluorinated compounds from landfill leachate
Tan, Xiao, Yang, Zhuojing, Chen, Zhou, Zhu, Yutong, Yu, Chunrong, Wang, Yiqing, Liu, Kehan, Dewapriya, Pradeep, Li, Xuemei, Su, Zicheng, Giansiracusa, Marcus J, Boskovic, Colette, Wang, Biao, Thomas, Kevin V. and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Non-PFAS-based magnetic polymer sorbents for efficient removal of perfluorinated compounds from landfill leachate. Advanced Materials e02427, e02427. doi: 10.1002/adma.202502427
2025
Journal Article
Sorption and utilization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in rechargeable zinc-ion batteries
Zhu, Yutong, Wang, Yiqing, Wang, Biao, Tan, Xiao, Yang, Zhuojing, Yu, Chunrong, Chen, Zhou, Li, Xuemei, Kong, Dehui, Liu, Sailin, Mao, Jianfeng, Guo, Zaiping, Wang, Lianzhou and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Sorption and utilization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in rechargeable zinc-ion batteries. Small e07204, e07204. doi: 10.1002/smll.202507204
2025
Journal Article
Self-Assembled Ion Transport Channels in Block Copolymer Electrolytes for Dendrite-Free All-Solid-State Sodium Batteries
Chen, Zhou, Yang, Zhuojing, Tan, Xiao, Wang, Yiqing, Luo, Bin, Wang, Xiaoen, Forsyth, Maria, Hawker, Craig J., Searles, Debra J. and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Self-Assembled Ion Transport Channels in Block Copolymer Electrolytes for Dendrite-Free All-Solid-State Sodium Batteries. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 147 (31) jacs.5c09890, 1-10. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5c09890
2025
Journal Article
Capturing PFAS with partly fluorinated macromolecules: the influence of the fluorinated group structure
He, Yutong, Tan, Xiao, Yu, Chunrong, Liu, Kehan, Zhou, Chen, Zhu, Yutong, Leung, Lam, Breske, Stepen, Hopkins, Timothy E., Tottszer, Attila, Matheson, Andrew, Whittaker, Andrew K. and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Capturing PFAS with partly fluorinated macromolecules: the influence of the fluorinated group structure. Macromolecules, 58 (14), 7050-7061. doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.5c01012
2025
Journal Article
Screening anionic groups within zwitterionic additives for eliminating hydrogen evolution and dendrites in aqueous zinc ion batteries
Wang, Biao, Guan, Chaohong, Zhou, Qing, Wang, Yiqing, Zhu, Yutong, Bian, Haifeng, Chen, Zhou, Zhang, Shuangbin, Tan, Xiao, Luo, Bin, Tang, Shaochun, Meng, Xiangkang and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Screening anionic groups within zwitterionic additives for eliminating hydrogen evolution and dendrites in aqueous zinc ion batteries. Nano-Micro Letters, 17 (1) 314, 1. doi: 10.1007/s40820-025-01826-w
2025
Journal Article
Iron bisphosphonate metal–organic framework nanoparticles as an magnetic resonance imaging probe for spatial detection of helicobacter pylori
Wang, Qiaoyun, Dai, Zan, Iyer, Jayendran, McCallum, Francis, Zhang, Cheng, Peng, Hui, Searles, Debra J., Fu, Changkui and Whittaker, Andrew K. (2025). Iron bisphosphonate metal–organic framework nanoparticles as an magnetic resonance imaging probe for spatial detection of helicobacter pylori. ACS Nano, 19 (25), 23246-23257. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.5c06095
2025
Journal Article
Revealing the role of varied quaternary ammonium groups for capturing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
Liu, Kehan, Tan, Xiao, Yang, Zhuojing, He, Yutong, Zhu, Yutong, Chen, Zhou, Leibfarth, Frank A. and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Revealing the role of varied quaternary ammonium groups for capturing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Macromolecules, 58 (5), 2563-2573. doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c02210
2025
Journal Article
Efficient and long-lasting removal of high-level formaldehyde at room temperature over a cobalt single-atom catalyst anchored on graphene-like carbon nanosheets
Du, Bing, Wen, Fuzhou, Zhao, Yunhan, Yang, Haipeng and Zhang, Cheng (2025). Efficient and long-lasting removal of high-level formaldehyde at room temperature over a cobalt single-atom catalyst anchored on graphene-like carbon nanosheets. ACS ES and T Engineering, 5 (7), 1868-1878. doi: 10.1021/acsestengg.5c00086
2025
Journal Article
Hollow polyaniline microspheres encapsulated in eutectogels for multimodal flexible sensors toward human health monitoring
Yan, Kai, Gong, Miaomiao, Xu, Qunna, Zhang, Cheng, Zong, Yan, Sun, Xiaodan and Xue, Rong (2025). Hollow polyaniline microspheres encapsulated in eutectogels for multimodal flexible sensors toward human health monitoring. ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 7 (5), 3054-3066. doi: 10.1021/acsapm.4c03746
2025
Book Chapter
Polymeric 19F MRI agents: designing responsive imaging agents
Peng, Hui, Zhang, Cheng, Fu, Changkui and Whittaker, Andrew K. (2025). Polymeric 19F MRI agents: designing responsive imaging agents. Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging: methods and applications in biomedicine. (pp. 1-32) edited by Eric T. Ahrens and Ulrich Flögel. Singapore, Singapore: Jenny Stanford Publishing. doi: 10.1201/9781003530046-1
2024
Journal Article
Functional fluoropolymer surfactants for droplet generation in microfluidics
Cheng, Xinrong, Wang, Yiqing, Xia, Bingzhao, Tan, Xiao, Li, Xiangke, Zhu, Yutong, He, Yutong, Wang, Yu, Zhang, Yuhao, Liu, Kehan, Qiao, Ruirui and Zhang, Cheng (2024). Functional fluoropolymer surfactants for droplet generation in microfluidics. ACS Applied Polymer Materials, 6 (23), 14401-14409. doi: 10.1021/acsapm.4c02392
2024
Journal Article
Thermoresponsive polymer sorbents for efficient removal of perfluorinated compounds via simple heating
Tan, Xiao, Wang, Yiqing, Yang, Zhuojing, Zhu, Yutong, Yu, Chunrong, Liu, Kehan, He, Yutong, Whittaker, Andrew K. and Zhang, Cheng (2024). Thermoresponsive polymer sorbents for efficient removal of perfluorinated compounds via simple heating. Macromolecules, 57 (23), 11166-11176. doi: 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01868
Funding
Current funding
Past funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Cheng Zhang is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Next-generation polymer-based solid electrolytes for advanced batteries
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Debra Bernhardt
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Doctor Philosophy
Development of Novel Agents for PFAS Monitoring and Removal from Contaminated Sources
Principal Advisor
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Doctor Philosophy
Fluoropolymeric Ionic Conductors for Battery Technologues
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Whittaker
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Doctor Philosophy
Understanding the role of fluorine in advanced energy applications
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Whittaker, Dr Felicity Han
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Doctor Philosophy
Novel sorbent for selective removal of fluorinated chemicals from water
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Zyta M Ziora
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Doctor Philosophy
Novel Anode Protection Technology for Advanced Batteries
Principal Advisor
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Master Philosophy
Surface engineering of polymer sorbents for efficient PFAS capture
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Felicity Han
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Doctor Philosophy
Highly efficient, selective and reusable technology for long-term implementation of PFAS capture
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Whittaker
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Doctor Philosophy
Sequestration of micropollutants in modified biochars by coupling adsorption and advanced oxidation/reduction processes
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Jianhua Guo
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Doctor Philosophy
Electrolytes and Interfaces in Rechargeable Batteries
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Stephen Sanderson, Professor Debra Bernhardt
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-Containing Polymeric surfactant for Microfluidic Droplet Generation
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Thomas Davis
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2024
Doctor Philosophy
Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Perfluoropolyether (PFPE)-Containing Polymeric Devices for Efficient Removal of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) from Water Sources
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Hui Peng, Dr Changkui Fu, Professor Andrew Whittaker
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2022
Doctor Philosophy
Fluorinated Hydrogels as Advanced Drug Delivery Systems for Monitoring Drug Release
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Hui Peng, Professor Andrew Whittaker
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2021
Doctor Philosophy
Targeting hypoxic cancer stem cells with nanoparticles
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Andrew Whittaker, Dr Wenyi Gu, Associate Professor Barbara Rolfe
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Cheng Zhang directly for media enquiries about:
- PFAS
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