Dr Peng Zhang PhD

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Research Fellow

Contact details

Telephone: 07398598427
Email: p.zhang.1@bham.ac.uk
Twitter: @JackyZh03052070

Address: School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Zhang is considered a leading researcher with a broad vision and innovative ideas in developing solutions for sustainable nanotechnology and nano-enabled agriculture. He pioneered the use of synchrotron-radiation based techniques to study the transformation of nanomaterials in plants. He specifically established an isotope labeling approach for tracing the fate of nanoscale CeO2 in plants and the environment, which enhanced the detection sensitivity by several thousand-fold. In addition to advancing an understanding of the environment and health implications of nanotechnology, including neurological effects of nanoparticles, he has provided a unique roadmap that combines nanotechnology and artificial intelligence to enable and advance sustainable agriculture.

Dr Zhang was awarded the 2022 American Chemical Society James J Morgan Early Career Award.

Biography

Dr. Zhang joined the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Birmingham as a Marie Curie Fellow in 2018. He completed a Ph.D. followed by a 2-year assistant professorship at the Chinese Academy of Science at the Institute of High Energy Physics. He also completed a research fellowship at McGill University, Canada. His research interests span nanosafety, environmental toxicology of emerging contaminants, nanomaterials application in agriculture, and environmental remediation.

Research

Research Interests

Dr Zhang is an environmental scientist having broad research interests in environmental toxicology and chemistry of traditional (e.g., heavy metals) and emerging (e.g., engineered nanomaterials, nano-/micro- plastic) environmental contaminants, and using nanotechnology to solve environmental and agricultural issues. In particular, he has extensive expertise on labeling and tracing of contaminants using isotope (radioactive or stable isotope) labeling approach, and chemical speciation analysis using synchrotron radiation based analytical tools.

He has expanded his work to develop engineered nanomaterials for environmental and agricultural application, for example, developing antifouling materials; developing nanofertilizer and nanopesticides for improving use efficiency of agrochemicals for sustainable and reduced pollution agriculture. A key aspect of his research is to understand the chemical/biological reactions at biointerface, which is essential to understand the behavior and fate contaminants/materials in environment, and the interaction of contaminants/materials with biological organisms.

Dr Zhang has published over 80 papers in journals including Nature Protocols, Nature Plants, Nature Communications, PNAS, Nano Today, ACS Nano, ES&T, ES&T Letters, Environment International and Environmental Science: nano, with a H-index 30 and total citations over 3300.

Other activities

Youth Editor - The Innovation (Cell Press), 2021-present

Editorial Board - Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2021-present

Review Editor - Frontiers in Plant Science, 2021-present

Review Editor - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2022- present

Editor - PLoS One, 2019-present

Topic Editor - Agriculture, 2021-present

Editor of book - Nano-enabled agriculture (Elsevier), 2021 (ongoing)

Guest Editor - Environmental Pollution, 2021

Guest Editor - Frontiers in Toxicology, 2020

Editorial Board - Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 2018-2021

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Wang, X, Wu, K, Ning, P, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L & Lynch, I 2025, 'Construction of glycine modified NZVI@gelatin aerogel for high efficient activation of dissolved oxygen towards catalytic degradation of tetracycline', Journal of Water Process Engineering, vol. 72, 107438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2025.107438

Deng, Y, Wang, X, Ning, P, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P & Wu, L 2025, 'In situ growth of N-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated nZVI as nanoconfinement catalyst for mitigating the hurdles of ferric cations leaching and low oxidant utilization in Fenton-like catalysis', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 523, 168772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.168772

Li, X, Wu, X, Zhang, J, Xie, C, Song, Y, Liu, Y, Zheng, L, Zhang, S, Zhang, P, Vijver, MG, Peijnenburg, WJGM, Lynch, I & Guo, Z 2025, 'Key events relating to homeostasis and regeneration of freshwater planarians (Dugesia Japonica) after exposure to various ZnO-forms', Journal of Hazardous Materials, vol. 493, 138360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138360

Wang, X, Ge, F, Ning, P, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L & Lynch, I 2025, 'Polysaccharide self-crosslinking and refrigerated air-drying interfacial modification: A new approach for konjac glucomannan-guar gum thin film loaded with NZVI for enhanced Cr(VI) removal', Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, vol. 719, 136993. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2025.136993

Lyu, Y, Guo, Z, Li, Z, Zhao, FG, Lynch, I, White, JC, Zhou, D & Zhang, P 2025, 'Prediction of metal nanoparticle interactions with soil properties: machine learning insights into soil health dynamics', ACS Nano, vol. 19, no. 23, pp. 21629-21643. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c04197

Wei, X, Dang, X, Liu, P, Gao, G, Zhu, H, Shi, J, Zhang, Q, Bol, R, Zhang, P, Lynch, I & Zhao, L 2025, 'Screening uncalibrated priority pollutants by improved AHP-CRITIC method at development land', Environment international, vol. 202, 109650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109650

Chadwick, JJ, Mikulska, I, Radu, A, Chakraborty, S, Zhang, P, Ullah, S & Lynch, I 2025, 'Soil-based zeolite and metal oxide nanomaterial application alters reactive nitrogen losses and lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) growth', Environmental Science: Nano. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5EN00526D

Zhang, P, Cao, M, Chetwynd, AJ, Faserl, K, Abdolahpur Monikh, F, Zhang, W, Ramautar, R, Ellis, LJA, Davoudi, HH, Reilly, K, Cai, R, Wheeler, KE, Martinez, DST, Guo, Z, Chen, C & Lynch, I 2024, 'Analysis of nanomaterial biocoronas in biological and environmental surroundings', Nature protocols, vol. 19, pp. 3000–3047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41596-024-01009-8

An, C, Huang, B, Jiang, J, Wang, X, Li, N, Liu, H, Shen, Y, Sun, C, Zhan, S, Li, X, Wang, C, Zeng, Z, Cui, H, Wu, Q, Zhang, Y, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Lynch, I, Gao, J-M & Wang, Y 2024, 'Design and Synthesis of a Water-Based Nanodelivery Pesticide System for Improved Efficacy and Safety', ACS Nano, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 662-679. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c08854

Li, M, Zhang, P, Guo, Z, Zhao, W, Li, Y, Yi, T, Cao, W, Gao, L, Tian, CF, Chen, Q, Ren, F, Rui, Y, White, JC & Lynch, I 2024, 'Dynamic Transformation of Nano-MoS₂ in a Soil-Plant System Empowers Its Multifunctionality on Soybean Growth', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 1211-1222. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c09004

Yang, K, Wang, X, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P & Wu, L 2024, 'Green construction of MBI corrosion-resistant interfaces modified NZVI@MOFs-regulated 3D PAN cryogel film to enhance Cr(VI) removal', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 333, 125902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125902

Deng, Y, Wang, X, Lynch, I, Guo, Z, Zhang, P, Wu, L, Wu, X & Li, T 2024, 'Homogeneous dispersion of amorphous nanoscale zero-valent iron supported on chlorella-derived biochar: In-situ synthesis and application mechanism for Cr(VI) removal over a wide pH range', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 330, 125207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2023.125207

Song, Z, Dang, X, Zhao, L, Hou, H, Guo, Z, Lynch, I, Nadezhda, T & Zhang, P 2024, 'Influence of soil properties and aging on exogenous antimony toxicity to Caenorhabditis elegans in agricultural soil', Environmental Science and Pollution Research, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 12499-12510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-31975-1

Review article

Xie, C, Li, X, Wu, X, Zhang, S, Zhang, P, Vijver, MG, Peijnenburg, WJGM, Pang, Q, Lynch, I & Guo, Z 2025, 'Bridging planarian bioassays and AOP-based environmental assessment: Toward mechanistic insights into pollutant-induced disruptions', Environmental Research, vol. 286, no. Part 1, 122787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2025.122787

Nadeem, M, Shakoor, N, Adeel, M, Azeem, I, Zain, M, Li, Y, Zaheer, U, Javed, J, Khalid, R, Zhang, P, Lynch, I & Rui, Y 2025, 'Environmental and safety aspects of nanotechnology in genetically modified crops for sustainable agriculture', Physiologia Plantarum, vol. 177, no. 3, e70239. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70239

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