The Tong Lab tackles challenges in the interdisciplinary areas of Sustainable Materials and Catalytical Conversion. We develop innovative technologies for producing chemicals, materials, energy, and fuels from renewable resources.
Current research interests include:
- Functional biomaterials for high-efficiency circular economy
- Platform chemicals and hydrocarbon fuels from renewable resources
- Sustainable process control and modeling
- Nano-biomaterial synthesis and self-assembling
- Polymer degradation and recycling
Professor Tong’s teaching interests include core and advanced courses in chemical and biomolecular engineering. Her teaching emphasizes fundamental concepts of heat and mass transfer, and macromolecular and bioresource engineering principles. She engages students at undergraduate and graduate levels, fostering an understanding of Biomolecular & chemical engineering concepts and their applications. Her instructional focus integrates experimental and theoretical approaches to energy transfer and biomolecular systems, aiming to prepare students for interdisciplinary research and professional development in chemical engineering fields.
Education
PhD in Chemical Engineering -2007, Georgia Institute of Technology
BS in Chemical Engineering-1995, Changsha University of Science and Technology, China
Q, Z.; Lakra, A.; Somni, R. R.; Peng, W.; Li, G.; Hu, G.; Tong, Z. A robust atomically precise nanocluster catalyst for simultaneously C-O and C-C bond cleavage in lignin models. ACS Catalyst 2025, 15, 20270.
Liu, J.; Qin, Z.; Li, Z.; Li, Q.; Tong, Z. Dual-responsive and fully-recoverable shape-memory polyurethane composite with pH-driven structural modulation and automatic shape transition. Chemical Engineering Journal 2025, 525, 170050.
Zhang, J.; Zhang, Y.; Qin, Z.; Li, Z.; Tong, Z.; Zhao, Z.; Gascón, J. A.; Li, G. How Carbene Ligands Transform AuAg Alloy Nanoclusters for Electrocatalytic Urea Synthesis. Angewandte Chemie 2025, 137 (10), e202420993.
Lin, G.-S.; Gan, L.; Gao, J.; Ding, Y.; Wang, Z. L.; Chen, Y.; Zou, H.; Tong, Z. Regenerable Triboelectric Artificial Hyperaccumulator for Sustainable Heavy-Metals Detection and Remediation. Matter 2025, 102219.
Gao, J.; Peng, W.; Galindo, A.; Slaton, E.; Perez Martinez, J.; Lan, G.; Tong, Z. Machine Learning-Guided Optimization for Ionic Liquid-Based Polyethylene Terephthalate Waste Recycling. Green Chem. 2025, 27 (24), 7357–7367.