Contact Information

General Enquiry

Fax: +(852)-3442-0688
Email: see.enquiry@cityu.edu.hk
Address: G5703, 5/F, Yeung Kin Man Academic Building (YEUNG),
City University of Hong Kong,
Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Impacts of Advanced 3D Electron Microscopy Techniques for Structure Characterization of Porous Materials
Speaker Name
Prof. Xiaodong ZOU
Speaker Detail

Professor and Deputy Head,
Berzelii Center EXSELENT on Porous Materials,
Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry,
Stockholm University, Sweden

Date
Time
-
Venue
Room 5-205, 5/F, Lau Ming Wai Academic Building, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Organizer:
School of Energy and Environment
City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Porous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have a wide range of applications in for example catalysis, gas storage and separation, drug delivery. This is because these materials have uniform pore sizes, large surface areas, and adjustable chemical functionality. In order to understand the functions of these materials and develop new porous materials, it is essential to know their atomic structures. However, many zeolites and MOFs are synthesized as poly-crystallites, which are too small for structure determination by X-ray diffraction. They can, however, be studied by transmission electron microscopy. In this talk, I will present several advanced 3D electron microscopy techniques and their applications for structure characterization of novel zeolites and MOFs. I will show that the structure information can be used for prediction of new structures, and demonstrate the use of electron tomography for studying the hierarchical structures. Finally I will show our latest development of electron diffraction techniques towards automated data collection, in order to make electron diffraction as feasible and accurate as X-ray diffraction for phase analysis and structure determination.

About the Speaker

Xiaodong ZOU is a full professor and deputy head of the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Stockholm University. She received her B.Sc. in Physics at Peking University in 1984, and Ph.D. in structural chemistry at Stockholm University in 1995. She joined the faculty at Stockholm University in 1996 and became professor 2005. Xiaodong ZOU has made important contributions in the development of electron crystallographic methods. Her group has developed several image and diffraction-based methods and software for accurate atomic structure determination of unknown crystals, and solved a large number of complex structures, especially porous materials such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks. She has also been working on design, synthesis and applications of novel porous materials. In 2006, she received 100 MSEK from VR and VINNOVA to build up the Berzelii Center EXSELENT on Porous Materials and was the director 2006-2012. She is a ccouncil member of the International Zeolite Association and a member of the Structure Commission of International Zeolite Association. She has co-authored over 270 peer-reviewed publications, and given more than 170 invited talks. She received several prestigious awards given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and is an academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), a fellow of Royal Chemistry Society, UK.

Personal website:  https://www.mmk.su.se/zou