Biography

• 2020-now: Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University

• 2015-2020: Visiting Research Scientist, National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

• 2019-2020: Assistant Project Scientist, University of California, Los Angeles

• 2014-2019: Postdoc Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles

• 2009-2014: Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Physics, Peking University

• 2011-2012: Visiting Academic Scholar, Univeristy of Oxford

• 2005-2009: B.S. in Chemistry, Peking University

Research Interests

Atoms are the basic building blocks of materials. The three-dimensional (3D) arrangement of atoms determines most physical properties of matter. The properties of many materials depend on vacancies, defects, surface reconstructions, grain boundaries, stacking faults, dislocations and disorder. Those atomic arrangements are not accessible to crystallography. More importantly, non-crystalline structures can evolve into different structures under external stimuli, but their atomic-scale dynamics are currently poorly understood. Our research interests entail using and developing advanced electron microscopy, particularly Four dimensional Atomic Electron Tomography (4D-AET), to solve traditionally intractable problems in physics, chemistry, materials science and nanoscience. Current projects include

1. 3D atomic structure of interface

2. 4D characterization of material at single atom level

3. Developing novel low dosage imaging methods for beam sensitive materials such as amorphous materials.

Selected Publications

1. X. Tong#, Y.-E Zhang#, B.-S. Shang, H.-P. Zhang, Z. Li, Y. Zhang, G. Wang, Y.-H. Liu, Y. Zhao, B. Zhang, H.-B. Ke*, J. Zhou*, H.-Y. Bai*, W.-H. Wang, Breaking the vitrification limitation of monatomic metals, Nat. Mater. 23,1193-1199 (2024).

2. Y. Zhang#, Z. Li#, X. Tong#, Z. Xie, S. Huang, Y.-E Zhang, H.-B. Ke.*, W.-H. Wang, J. Zhou*, Three-dimensional atomic insights into the metal-oxide interface in Zr-ZrO2 nanoparticles, Nat. Commun. 15, 7624(2024).

3. Z. Li, Z. Xie, Y. Zhang, X. Mu, J. Xie, H.-J. Yin, Y.-W. Zhang, C. Ophus, J. Zhou*, Probing the atomically diffuse interfaces in Pd@Pt core-shell nanoparticles in three dimensions, Nat. Commun. 14, 2934 (2023).

4. Z. Li#, Y. Wang#, H. Liu#, Y. Feng, X. Du, Z. Xie, J. Zhou*, Y. Liu, Y. Song, F. Wang, M. Sui, Y. Lu*, F. Fang*, D. Sun*, Electroreduction-driven distorted nanotwins activate pure Cu for efficient hydrogen evolution, Nat. Mater., accepted (2024).

5. H. Liu#, Y. Zhang#, L. Zhang#, X. Mu#, L. Zhang, S. Zhu, K. Wang, B. Yu, Y. Jiang, J. Zhou*, F. Yang*, Unveiling local chemical order of high-entropy intermetallic for alkyl-substitution dependent semi-hydrogenation of alkynes, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 146, 20193-20204, (2024).

6. Z. Xie, Y. Zhang, S. Huang, Z. Li, Q. Cheng, J. Zhou*, Towards quantitative determination of atomic structures of amorphous materials in three dimensions, NSO 2, 20220048 (2023).

7. J. Zhou#, Yo. Yang#, Ya. Yang, D. Kim, A. Yuan, X. Tian, C. Ophus, F. Sun, A. Schmid, M. Nathanson, H. Heinz, Q. An, H. Zeng, P. Ercius, J. Miao*, Observing crystal nucleation in four dimensions using atomic electron tomography, Nature 570, 500-503 (2019).

8. Y. Yang#, J. Zhou#, F. Zhu#, Y. Yuan#, D. Chang, D. Kim, M. Pham, A. Rana, X. Tian, Y. Yao, S. Osher, A. Schmid, L. Hu, P. Ercius, J. Miao*, Determining the three-dimensional atomic structure of an amorphous solid, Nature 592, 60-64 (2021).

9. Y. Yang#, J. Zhou#, Z. Zhao#, G. Sun#, S. Moniri, C. Ophus, Y. Yang, Z. Wei, Y. Yuan, C. Zhu, Y. Liu, Q. Sun, Q. Jia, H. Heinz, J. Ciston, P. Ercius, P. Sautet*, Y. Huang*, J. Miao*, Atomic-scale identification of the active sites of oxygen reduction nanocatalysts, Nat. Catal. 7, 796-806 (2024).

10. Y. Yuan#, D. Kim#, J. Zhou#, D. Chang, F. Zhu, Y. Nagaoka, Y. Yang, M. Pham, S. Osher, O. Chen, P. Ercius, A. Schmid, J. Miao*, Direct observation of 3D atomic packing in monatomic amorphous materials, Nat. Mater. 21, 95-102 (2022).