Dr. Zeng received her undergraduate degree at Nankai University (China), and her Ph.D. degree at Carnegie Mellon University with Prof. Rongchao Jin, a preeminent scientist in atomically precise metal nanoclusters. Dr. Zeng later joined the laboratories of Prof. Christopher B. Murray and Prof. Cherie R. Kagan at the University of Pennsylvania as a NatureNet Science Postdoctoral Fellow, where she focused on developing new semiconductor nanocrystals for printable solar cells. Research in Dr. Zeng’s group at UF will center around the synthesis and self-assembly of atomically precise semiconductor nanocrystals. Through “marrying” precise nanochemistry with solid-state physics and molecular biology, Zeng’s lab will embrace some significant challenges such as efficient optoelectronic devices for energy conversions, hierarchical solids for exotic physical properties, as well as the emergence of life. The ultimate goal of Zeng’s lab is to design and create synthetic nanomaterial systems that can eventually rival the precision, hierarchy, and complexity of the living systems.
