ZHONG, Qigang

ZHONG, Qigang

Principal Investigator, Professor

Email: qgzhong@suda.edu.cn

Office: Room 3205, Building 909, Soochow University Dushu-Lake Campus

Tel: 86-512-65883983

Academic Experience:

2023.08-present   Professor (PI), FUNSOM, Soochow University

2019.09-2023.08    Postdoc, Institute of Applied Physics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany, supervisor: Prof. André Schirmeisen

2014.09-2019.06    Ph.D., FUNSOM, Soochow University, supervisor: Prof. Lifeng Chi

2010.09-2014.06    Bachelor, School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University

Research Interests:

On-Surface Chemical Reactions

Tip-Manipulated Single Molecule Synthesis

Chemical Bond Imaging Techniques

Hydrogen-Bond/Halogen-Bond Driven Self-Assembly

Research Experience and Accomplishments: 

Our research focuses on advancing on-surface synthesis and the microscopic understanding of on-surface reactions. By using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and non-contact atomic force microscopy as the main experimental tools, we aim at achieving atomically precise low-dimensional covalent nanostructures via selective intra- and inter-molecular reactions. Especially, our recent work on tip-manipulated molecule-by-molecule synthesis represents a significant breakthrough which has drawn broad attention. Prof. Zhong has authored 19 peer-reviewed papers, including 9 first-author papers published in top-tier journals, such as Nat. Chem.(1), Nat. Commun. (1), J. Am. Chem. Soc.(3), Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. (1), ACS Nano (1), CCS Chem. (1), and Surf. Sci. Rep. (1). He has won the ULVAC Prize at IVC-22 for Young Researcher at the 22nd International Vacuum Congress and the top five candidates for the Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award at DPG 2023. Prof. Zhong serves as the Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB) member for two international scientific journals, Surface Science and Vacuum.

Open positions:

The research group is always open to highly motivated undergraduates, graduates and postdocs, especially those with strong background in surface science and/or scanning probe microscopy. If you also like manipulating single molecules and atoms, come join us!

Selected Publications：

(# co-first author, *co-corresponding author)

1. Q. Zhong,^#,* J. Jung,^# D. Kohrs,^# L. A. Kaczmarek, D. Ebeling, D. Mollenhauer,^* H. A. Wegner,^* A. Schirmeisen,^* Deciphering the mechanism of on-surface dehydrogenative C–C coupling reactions. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 146, 1849–1859 (2024).

2. Q. Zhong,^# A. Mardyukov,^# E. Solel,^# D. Ebeling, A. Schirmeisen,^* P. R. Schreiner,^* On-surface synthesis and real-space visualization of aromatic P₃N₃. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 62, e202310121 (2023).

3. Q. Zhong,^# V. Barát,^# D. Csókás,^# K. Niu, M. Górecki, A. Ghosh, J. Björk, D. Ebeling, L. Chi,^* A. Schirmeisen,^* M. C. Stuparu,^* On-surface stereochemical characterization of a highly curved chiral nanographene by noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. CCS Chem., 5, 2888–2896 (2023).

4. Q. Zhong,^# K. Niu,^# L. Chen,^# H. Zhang,* D. Ebeling, J. Björk, K. Müllen, A. Schirmeisen,* L. Chi,* Substrate-modulated synthesis of metal–organic hybrids by tunable multiple aryl–metal bonds. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 144, 8214–8222 (2022). (Selected as front cover)

5. Q. Zhong,^* A. Ihle, S. Ahles, H. A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen,^* D. Ebeling,^* Constructing covalent organic nanoarchitectures molecule by molecule via scanning ‎probe manipulation. Nat. Chem., 13, 1133–1139 (2021).

6. Q. Zhong, X. Li, H. Zhang, L. Chi,^* Noncontact atomic force microscopy: Bond imaging and beyond. Surf. Sci. Rep., 75, 100509 (2020).

7. Q. Zhong,^# Y. Hu,^# K. Niu, H. Zhang, B. Yang, D. Ebeling, J. Tschakert, T. Cheng, A. Schirmeisen, A. Narita,^* K. Müllen,^* L. Chi,^*Benzo-fused periacenes or double helicenes? Different cyclodehydrogenation pathways on surface and in solution. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 141, 7399–7406 (2019).

8. Q. Zhong, D. Ebeling,^* J. Tschakert, Y. Gao, D. Bao, S. Du,^* C. Li, L. Chi,^* A. Schirmeisen, Symmetry breakdown of 4,4''-diamino-p-terphenyl on a Cu(111) surface by lattice mismatch. Nat. Commun., 9, 3277 (2018).

9. D. Ebeling,^#,*Q. Zhong,^# T. Schlöder, J. Tschakert, P. Henkel, S. Ahles, L. Chi, D. Mollenhauer, H. A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen, Adsorption structure of mono- and diradicals on a Cu(111) surface: Chemoselective dehalogenation of 4-bromo-3''-iodo-p-terphenyl. ACS Nano, 13, 324–336 (2019).

10. J. Tschakert, Q. Zhong, D. Martin-Jimenez, J. Carracedo-Cosme, C. Romero-Muñiz, P. Henkel, T. Schlöder, S. Ahles, D. Mollenhauer, H. A. Wegner, P. Pou, R. Pérez, A. Schirmeisen, D. Ebeling,^* Surface-controlled reversal of the selectivity of halogen bonds. Nat. Commun., 11, 5630 (2020).

11. D. Ebeling,^*Q. Zhong, S. Ahles, L. Chi, H. A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen, Chemical bond imaging using higher eigenmodes of tuning fork sensors in atomic force microscopy. Appl. Phys. Lett., 110, 183102 (2017).

12. Q. Li,^# B. Yang,^# J. Björk, Q. Zhong, H. Ju, J. Zhang, N. Cao, Z. Shi, H. Zhang, D. Ebeling, A. Schirmeisen, J. Zhu, L. Chi,^* Hierarchical dehydrogenation reactions on a copper surface. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 140, 6076–6082 (2018).

13. J. Zhang, Q. Zhong, K. Niu, P. Ji, X. Li, Z. Hao, L. Song, L. Wang, Y. Han, B. Yang, K. Sun, Q. Li, H. Zhang, L. Chi,^* Association and differences between on-surface chemistry and solution chemistry. Sci. Sin. Chim., 49, 410–440 (2019).

Edited by Juan Yang