The National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech), Germany released its list of acatech Members 2022 in April. Professor ZHANG Chi, Dean of the School of Chemical Science and Engineering with Tongji University, was appointed as an acatech Member. The acatech President Jan Wörner sent a congratulatory letter to Professor ZHANG Chi.
Professor ZHANG Chi
Professor ZHANG has been engaged in the research of molecular-based nonlinear optics and optoelectronic functional materials for a long time. He proposed new approaches for optimizing the control of functional cluster skeletons and enhancing the optical confinement performance of materials through secondary molecular modification. He revealed the modulation law of functional organic conjugated elements on the optical nonlinearity of cluster materials and developed a series of large frequency doubling, broadband gap deep ultraviolet, and mid-infrared frequency doubling crystalline optical materials. He played a pioneering role in setting a new research direction in fluorinated metal oxide anion based mid-infrared, of fluorinated strong electropositive transition metal cation-based deep ultraviolet frequency doubling crystals. He developed an optical saturation/reverse saturation absorption theory that integrated conjugated unit modification and modulated the photoactivity of two-dimensional carbon materials, which was acknowledged by his academic peers as "the experimental research on spectroscopy and diffraction methods of optical functional materials representative of the highest level of research in this field", "the organic-inorganic conjugated materials created are very likely to become photonic or optoelectronic devices, and promote the academic frontier of nanoscale". ZHANG has published over 450 papers in international academic journals as a communication author and has been granted 50 national invention patents, including 45 core patents as the first inventor. He has led and completed over 30 international and national scientific research projects over the years.
ZHANG led the establishment of a national-level international research center for "optical responsive functional materials" under the Ministry of Science and Technology in collaboration with renowned scholars from European such countries as Germany, France, Belgium, and Spain, and with counterparts from Australia, the United States, and Japan. He also took the lead in setting up an innovation base for "creating and making functional molecules, aggregates, and devices" for higher education, promoting the development of international scientific and technological cooperation platforms. The China Australia Joint Research Center for Functional Molecular Materials established under his leadership and with approval by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the Australian Department of Scientific Research, has become a successful example of national international scientific and technological cooperation.
Professor ZHANG Chi is a National Distinguished Professor, a winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, a leader of the innovation team of the Ministry of Education, a leader of the innovation team in key fields of the Ministry of Science and Technology, a leader of the innovation base of higher education of the Ministry of Education and the National Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Society for Materials and Minerals, and the British Physical Society. He was elected a member of the Academy of Europe (Academia Europaea) in August 2020.
The German National Academy of Engineering is the highest honorary and consultative academic institution in the German engineering and technology community and is also one of the three world-renowned national engineering academies. It holds an annual appointment of acatech Members, and in 2022, a total of 22 outstanding scientists and technology experts were appointed, including 19 German and 3 foreign Members.
