Interview with Prof. Dr. Ling Zang—Keynote Speaker at the 2nd International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry, 16–30 September 2023
Prof. Dr. Ling Zang will be the keynote speaker at the 2nd International Electronic Conference on Chemical Sensors and Analytical Chemistry (CSAC 2023) which will be held online from 16 to 30 September 2023.
Prof. Dr. Ling Zang is a USTAR professor at the University of Utah, USA, affiliated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Nano Institute of Utah, USA. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and was previously an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow, NSF CAREER Award winner, and K. C. Wong Foundation Research Fellow. Prof. Dr. Zang earned his B.S. in physical chemistry from Tsinghua University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His current research focuses on nanoscale imaging and molecular probing, organic semiconductors and nanostructures, porous graphitic carbon materials, and applications in optoelectronic sensors and nanodevices, to solve critical problems in the areas of health, environment, and public safety. Beyond the regular faculty duty on campus, Prof. Dr. Zang also remains active in organizing and chairing the nanotechnology sessions of various national and international conferences and reaching out to K-12 students and the public to educate them on nanotechnology and its impacts on society and industry. Prof. Dr. Zang also strives to foster technology transfer and commercialization. He has co-founded three high-tech companies and currently sits on the Board of Gentex Corporation (Nasdaq: GNTX).
Following is the short interview with Prof. Dr. Ling Zang:
1. Please briefly introduce your current research field.
Our current research focuses on nanoscale imaging and molecular probing, organic semiconductors and nanostructures, porous nanomaterials, and applications in optoelectronic sensors and nanodevices, with the goal to solve the critical problems in the areas of health, environment, and public safety.
2. What do you think of the development status and trends of open access publishing?
It is a great move to maximize the exchange of knowledge among the scientific community, as well as promote public awareness of the impact of emerging new technologies, such as those from the fields of chemosensors.
3. What is your impression of the Chemosensors journal?
It is growing well by publishing an increasing number of high-quality papers, particularly those addressing the big problems or challenges relevant to the environment, health, and safety, among others.
4. What do you think will be the research hotspots in the field of chemical sensors in the next few years, and can you describe them to us?
Regarding the development of sensors, more focus should be allocated to the enabling or enhancement of detection specificity, either by molecular design or an array approach in combination with the most recent advancements in machine learning and other algorithms. Considering the big problems to address, I would pick two major areas or directions: One is the quick, selective detection of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), aka “forever chemicals”, an emerging class of pollutants widely present in surface/ground waters and soils, which cause global concern and crisis to the environment and public health. The other area would be the development of new types of sensors for the early diagnosis of diseases via quick breath analysis, which would help to save a lot of lives and medical costs as many of these diseases, e.g., cancers, become incurable at later stages.
5. Can you give any advice on academic research for young scholars in related fields?
Follow your interests and passions, work on the things that spark your curiosity, and leverage your capability or skills to the maxima.
6. Can you give a brief introduction to the “Chemosensor Array for the Ultimate Level of Detection Specificity” speech you prepared for the e-conference?
Chemosensors face the challenge of interference as they generally respond to the chemical species that are similar to the target analyte, either in terms of structural or chemical property, a common phenomenon called “cross reactivity”. It remains hard for a single sensor element to identify or distinguish an analyte from its analogs. The realistic approach to achieving sufficient detection specificity would be incorporating different chemosensors into an array, with which the “cross reactivity” will enable differential sensing by means of automated machine learning, thus resulting in discrimination between different analytes through a pattern recognition algorithm or other methods. To maximize the discrimination power, the sensor array can be constructed and optimized so that each component in the array responds relatively more effectively to different target analytes. This talk will present some of our recent research progress in chemosensor arrays constructed with organic semiconductor nanofibers as tested for various toxic chemicals, and breath analysis for the quick screening of diseases (e.g., pneumoconiosis), particularly at the early stage.
7. 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of Chemosensors, what is your message to the journal?
Keep up the great work! Publish more high-quality papers in the topic areas that are of the highest interest to the community of analytical chemistry, environmental science, health and medicine, public health, and others. Promote the journal more on social and scientific media.