Lei Zhou’s Blog

Dr. Lei Zhou

Doctoral Research Associate
Lei.zhou at manchester.ac.uk (change at to @)
Materials Science Centre
The University of Manchester
Grosvenor Street
Manchester, UK
M1 7HS

EDUCATIONAL BIOGRAPY:

* 1996-2000 BSc in Analytical Chemistry Wuhan University (China)
Thesis Title: Synthesis and application of the chromogenic reaction between the diazo compounds of chromotropic acid and calcium ions.
Supervisor: Prof. Huashan Zhang & Prof. Hong Wang

* 2000-2003 MSc in Analytical Chemistry Wuhan University (China)
Thesis Title: Preparation and photocatalytic activity of nano-TiO2 films by Liquid Phase Deposition (LPD).
Supervisor: Prof. Wenkuan Zhao

* 2003-2006 PhD in Materials Chemistry The University of Manchester (United Kingdom)
Thesis Title: Soft chemical approaches to novel composites of functional materials.
Supervisor: Prof. Paul O’Brien

AWARDS & HONORS:

* 2003~2006 ORS (Oversea Research Student awards scheme), United Kingdom

* Associate Member of Royal Society of Chemistry

ACADEMIC SKILLS:

Instrument Analysis:
*Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)
*Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED)
*X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
*BET method
*UV/Visible Spectroscopy
*Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy
*Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)
*Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
*Focused Ion Beam (FIB) System

Synthesis Technology:
*Prepare TiO2, CdS, ZnO thin films using Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) methods
*Synthesize regular-shaped TiO2 particles

Computing:
*Familiarity with several operating systems: Dos, Windows and Linux
*Competence with many types of software, e.g.:
– chemical softwares (e.g. Origin, ChemDraw, Diamond and CrystalMaker)
– text editors, office suites and open office suites
– web browsers (e.g. IE and Firefox), email clients e.g. Outlook and Thuderbird)
– graphical manipulation programs (e.g. Gimp and SketchUp)
*Experience with:
– HTML editors (e.g. Frontpage and Nvu)
– Services provided by Google (e.g. Adwords, Adsense, Apps for domain, Page Creator and Docs & Spreadsheets)

Language:
*Fluent English
*Chinese (Mandarin,native languge)

INTERESTS:

Chemistry & Materials:
* Control of crystal morphology and growth in semiconductor materials prepared by chemical bath deposition through templates
* Soft-chemical processing of semiconductor materials using self-assembly routes
* I would be interested in gaining experience in the field on thin film solar cells

Computer & Internet:
*Linux system
*Applications of computer softwares in Chemistry and Materials

Finance & Forex:
*Forex Trading
*Stock Trading

PUBLICATIONS:

* L. Zhou, D. S. Boyle and P. O’Brien, “Uniform NH4TiOF3 mesocrystals prepared by an ambient temperature self-assembly process and their topotaxial conversion to anatase”, Chem. Commun., 2006, DOI: 10.1039/b611476h

* F. Mei, C. Liu, L. Zhou, W. K. Zhao, Y. L. Fang, J. B. Wang and Y. Y. Ren,“Effect of annealing temperature on binary TiO2:SiO2 nanocrystalline thin films”, J. Korean Chem. Soc., 2006, 48, 1509-1513

* F. Mei, C. Liu, L. Zhang, F. Ren, L. Zhou, W. K. Zhao and Y. L. Fang, “Microstructural study of binary TiO2:SiO2 nanocrystalline thin films”, J. Cryst. Growth, 2006, 292, 87-91

* L. Zhou, K. Govender, D. S. Boyle, P.J. Dale, L. M. Peterb and P. O’Brien, “Single step solution deposition of multilayer solar absorber films at ambient temperature”, J. Mater. Chem., 2006, 16, 3174-3176.

* L. Zhou, D.S. Boyle, K. Govender and P. O’Brien, “High efficiency solution infiltration routes to thin films with photonic properties”, Journal of Experimental Nanoscience, 2006, 1, 221-233.

* Z.X. Lu, L. Zhou, Z.L. Zhang, W.L. Shi, Z.X. Xie, H.Y. Xie, D.W. Pang, P. Shen, “Cell damage induced by photocatalysis of TiO2 thin films”, Langmuir, 2003, 19, 8765-8768

* L. Zhou, C. Liu, W.K. Zhao, L. Hu, Y.L. Fang, “Photocatalytic activity of Fe3+-doped TiO2 thin films prepared via liquid-phase deposition”, Chinese Journal of Catalysis, 2003, 24, 359-363

* W.K. Zhao, L. Zhou, C. Liu, L. Hu, Y.L. Fang, K. Masato, “Photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin films and nano-powders prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD)”, Acta Chimica Sinica, 2003, 61, 699-704

* L. Zhou, W.K. Zhao, Y.L. Fang, “Photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 thin films prepared by liquid phase deposition”, Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, 2002, 19, 919-922

CONFERENCES / PRESENTATIONS:

* L. Zhou, K.Govender, D.S.Boyle, P.O’Brien, “High efficiency solution infiltration routes to thin films with photonic properties”, MC7: Functional Materials for the 21st Century, Jul 2005, Edinburgh UK. Oral Presentation

* Y.L. Fang, L. Zhou, W.K. Zhao, L. Hu, “The low temperature preparation and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 powder with anatase phase by liquid phase deposition”, The 3rd academic conference of nano materials and application, Sep 2003, Nanjing China

* W.K. Zhao, L. Zhou, Y.L. Fang, “The TiO2/SiO2 composite films with photocatalytic activity by liquid phase deposition at low temperature”, The 2003 annual academic conference of China Solar Energy Society, Aug 2003, Shanghai China

* L. Zhou, W.K. Zhao, Y.L. Fang, “Photocatalytic activity of anatase TiO2 thin films prepared by direct deposition from aqueous solutions”, The 2nd academic conference of nano-technology and application, Nov 2002, Ningbo China Oral Presentation

* L. Zhou, W.K. Zhao, Y.L. Fang, “TiO2 with photocatalytic activity prepared by liquid phase deposition”, The 2002 academic conference of photocatalysis, Dec 2002, Beijing China

* L. Zhou, W.K. Zhao, Y.L. Fang, “Fe-doped TiO2 films with photocatalytic activity prepared by liquid phase deposition”, The 2002 academic conference of photocatalysis, Dec 2002, Beijing China