Zhijun Chen

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Head Professor of Department at Northeast Forestry University

Electroactive biofilms (EABs) are essential components of both natural and artificial bio‐electrochemical systems (BESs). However, the inevitable decay of EABs during prolonged operation can diminish their performance. In this contribution, an effective and noninvasive strategy for rejuvenating aging biofilms by the elastic deformation of anode mat...

Lignin represents the most abundant biomass resource, which contains aromatic units. Lignin refinery is a promising, sustainable alternative for the production of aromatic chemicals. However, depolymerization and transformation of lignin into aryl halides, which are indispensable chemicals in both the academic and industrial communities, remain cha...

Producing thermoplastic room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials with closed‐loop recyclability from natural sources is an attractive approach but hard to achieve. Here, the study develops such RTP materials, Poly(TA)/Cell, by thermally polymerizing thioctic acid in the presence of cellulose. Specifically, polymerized thioctic acid poly(TA)...

Producing room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials from biomass resources using a solvent free method is essential but hard to achieve. Here, we discovered that lignin dissolved well in the liquid monomer, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA), due to extensive hydrogen bonding and non-bonding interactions between lignin and HEA. Motivated by this d...

Dynamic responsive structural colored materials have drawn increased consideration in a wide range of applications, such as colorimetric sensors and high-safety tags. However, the sophisticated interactions among the individual responsive parts restrict the advanced design of multimodal responsive photonic materials. Inspired by stimuli-responsive...

Materials with red room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) derived from sustainable resources are crucial but rarely reported. Here, we produced red RTP materials from lignin. Lignin was covalently modified with Upy (1‐(6‐isocyanatohexyl)‐3‐(6‐methyl‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydropyrimidin‐2‐yl) urea) to obtain Lig‐Upy. The Upy in the Lig‐Upy promoted the intera...

A simple carbon dots (CDs) catalyst prepared from lignin-derived syringic acid was used for catalytic fixation of CO2 with epoxides to synthesize cyclic carbonates. The catalysts exhibited high catalytic performance...

Materials with red room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) derived from sustainable sources are crucial but rarely reported. Here, we produced red RTP materials from lignin. Lignin was covalently modified with Upy (1‐(6‐isocyanatohexyl)‐3‐(6‐methyl‐4‐oxo‐1,4‐dihydropyrimidin‐2‐yl) urea) to obtain Lig‐Upy. The Upy in the Lig‐Upy promoted the interact...

Lignin, the most abundant aromatic biopolymer, is emerging as a mainstay of the upcoming revolution in sustainable materials processing. Despite the inherent challenges associated with the heterogeneous structure of lignin, significant progress has recently been made in developing innovative strategies to valorize this fascinating aromatic biopolym...

Room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) hydrogels exhibit great potential but show poor mechanical performance (Tensile strengthen <1 MPa) and non-tunable RTP performance, hindering their practical applications. Here, we develop wood hydrogel (W-hydrogel) by the in situ polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of delignified wood. As a result of...

Circularly polarized luminescent materials find extensive applications in 3D displays, information encryption, and photoinduced supramolecular chirality. However, controlling the handedness of circularly polarized luminescence remains a significant challenge in advancing optical technologies. In this study, we present a Janus circularly polarized l...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of multimodal and combined techniques used for imaging applications in Chemical Biology, including afterglow luminescence imaging, chemiluminescence imaging, delayed fluorescence imaging, AIE fluorescence imaging, and many more techniques. As well as providing in-depth detail on the application of these t...

The photocatalytic conversion of lignin into value‐added chemicals especially those functionalized molecules represent one of the most important strategies for sustainable and environmental‐friendly development. Cleavage of C−C bonds in lignin under mild photocatalytic conditions for refining lignin into useful molecules is meaningful but challengi...

Sustainable photoactivated room temperature phosphorescent materials exhibit great potential but are difficult to obtain. Here, we develop photoactivated room temperature phosphorescent materials by covalently attaching lignin to polylactic acid, where lignin and polylactic acid are the chromophore and matrix, respectively. Initially the phosphores...

Sustainable carbon dots comprising surficial oxime ester groups following homolytic bond cleavage exhibit potential as photoinitiators for traditional free radical photopolymerization. Carbon dots were made following a solvothermal procedure from sustainable furfural available from lignocellulose. Surficial aldehyde moieties reacted with hydroxylam...

Sustainable carbon dots based on cellulose, particularly carboxymethyl cellulose carbon dots (CMCCDs), were confined in an inorganic network resulting in CMCCDs@SiO2. This resulted in a material exhibiting long afterglow covering a time frame of several seconds also under air. Temperature‐dependent emission spectra gave information on thermally act...

Sustainable carbon dots comprising surficial oxime ester groups following homolytic bond cleavage exhibit potential as photoinitiators for traditional free radical photopolymerization. Carbon dots were made following a solvothermal procedure from sustainable furfural available from lignocellulose. Surficial aldehyde moieties reacted with hydroxylam...

Solar energy conversion technologies, particularly solar‐driven photothermal conversion, are both clean and manageable. Although much progress has been made in designing solar‐driven photothermal materials, significant challenges remain, not least the photobleaching of organic dyes. To tackle these issues, micro‐carbonized polysaccharide chains, wi...

Sustainable carbon dots based on cellulose, particularly carboxymethyl cellulose (CMCCDs), were confined in an inorganic network resulting in CMCCDs@SiO2. This resulted in a material exhibiting long afterglow covering a time frame of several seconds also under air. Temperature‐dependent emission spectra gave information on temperature‐assisted dela...

There is interest in developing sustainable materials displaying circularly polarized room-temperature phosphorescence, which have been scarcely reported. Here, we introduce biobased thin films exhibiting circularly polarized luminescence with simultaneous room-temperature phosphorescence. For this purpose, phosphorescence-active lignosulfonate bio...

Photocured room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials hold great potential for practical applications but are scarcely reported. Here, we develop photocured RTP materials (P-Lig) using a combination of lignosulfonate, acrylamide, and ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide). With this design, lignosulfonate simultaneously serves as R...

Converting CO2 with various epoxides to cyclic carbonates is extremely important. However, most of catalysts for such conversion either require complicated fabrication or are obtained from unsustainable sources. Motivated by this problem, we prepare biomass-based “all-in-one” carbon dots as nano-organocatalysts for firstly converting CO2 to cyclic...

The highly toxic and flammable nature of CO lead to high handling demand for its use and storage, undoubtedly constricting its further academic exploration for carbonylative reactions in laboratory. Although many CO surrogates have been developed and applied in carbonylative reactions instead of CO gas, exploration of more versatile CO surrogates f...

Photothermal devices and thermoelectric cells hold great promise for energy generation but integration of the two remains a considerable challenge in real‐life power supply for sensors. Here, a novel photo‐thermo‐electric hydrogel (PTEH‐Interlocking) was constructed by the synthesis of a photothermal layer on a thermoelectric hydrogel with the redo...

Producing mechanic robust and sustainable room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) films in a convenient manner is a fundamental requirement but remains challenging. Here, an efficient “top‐down” method for processing natural wood into RTP films is developed. Specifically, natural wood is partially delignified to increase its processability in the fir...

Carbon nanomaterials, specifically carbon dots and carbon nitrides, play a crucial role as heterogeneous photoinitiators in both radical and cationic polymerization processes. These recently introduced materials offer promising solutions to the limitations of current homogeneous systems, presenting a novel approach to photopolymerization. This revi...

Carbon nanomaterials, specifically carbon dots and carbon nitrides, play a crucial role as heterogeneous photoinitiators in both radical and cationic polymerization processes. These recently introduced materials offer promising solutions to the limitations of current homogeneous systems, presenting a novel approach to photopolymerization. This revi...

Naturally porous wood, which has the potential to incorporate photothermal absorbers and phase-change materials, has proven to be a valuable scaffold for advanced solar-to-thermal materials and heat management technologies. Nonetheless, the light-absorbing role of lignins, which contain numerous polyaromatic rings, has been largely overlooked. Our...

Room-temperature phosphorescent (RTP) materials have enormous potential in many different areas. Additionally, the conversion of natural resources to RTP materials has attracted considerable attention. Owing to their inherent luminescent properties, natural materials can be efficiently converted into sustainable RTP materials. However, to date, onl...

Photothermal devices and thermoelectric cells hold great promise for energy generation but integration of the two remains a considerable challenge in real-life power supply for sensors. Here, a novel photo-thermo-electric hydrogel (PTEH-Interlocking) was constructed by synthesis of a photothermal layer on a thermoelectric hydrogel with the redox pa...

Carbon dots (CDs), a new type of carbon‐based fluorescent nanomaterial, have attracted widespread attention because of their numerous excellent properties. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant renewable natural resource and possesses broad potential to manufacture different composite and smart materials. Numerous studies have explored the p...

The shortage of freshwater resources caused by heavy metal pollution is an acute global issue, which has a great impact on environmental protection and human health. Therefore, the exploitation of new strategies for designing and synthesizing green, efficient, and economical materials for the detection and removal of heavy metal ions is crucial. Am...

Light has profoundly impacted modern medicine and healthcare, with numerous luminescent agents and imaging techniques currently being used to assess health and treat diseases. As an emerging concept in luminescence, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has shown great potential in biological applications due to its advantages in terms of brightness,...

A supramolecular artificial light‐harvesting system (LHS) is successfully constructed in an aqueous environment using carbon dots (CDs) and α , β , γ , δ ‐Tetrakis(1‐methylpyridinium‐4‐yl) porphyrin p‐Toluenesulfonate (TMPyP) via electrostatic interactions. Specifically, the CDs act as a donor, and TMPyP, which is loaded to the surface of the CDs,...

Producing afterglow room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) from natural sources is an attractive approach to sustainable RTP materials. However, converting natural resources to RTP materials often requires toxic reagents or complex processing. Here we report that natural wood may be converted into a viable RTP material by treating with magnesium ch...

Converting CO2 with various epoxides to cyclic carbonates is extremely important. However, most of catalysts for such conversion either require complicated fabrication or are obtained from unsustainable sources. Motivated by this problem, we prepare biomass-based “all-in-one” carbon dots as nano-organocatalysts for firstly converting CO2 to cyclic...

A sustainable photocatalyst for use with multiple purpose comprising demethylated lignin (Fe3O4@D‐wood) was made by treatment of wood and iron oxide. Characterization followed by XRD, UV/Vis, photo‐current studies, and electrochemical measurements. This material became subject of photocatalytic explorations for water treatment and material synthesi...

Fluorescent chemosensors have been widely applied in many diverse fields such as biology, physiology, pharmacology, and environmental sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of chemosensor research has continued to grow over the last 25 years to meet the increasing needs of monitoring our environment and health. More recently, a large range of fluor...

To solve pollution problem of heavy metal ions (HMIs) and recover them for sustainable development, a high-efficient-sewage treatment agent, carbon dots/cellulose nanofiber/Mg(OH)2 (CCMg), has been fabricated via a simple hydrothermal method. A variety of characterizations show that cellulose nanofiber (CNF) formed a layered-net structure. Hexagona...

Luminescent materials have enormous potential in many different areas. The conversion of biomass resources to functional luminescent materials has attracted significant attention. Due to their inherent luminescent properties, biomass materials can be efficiently converted into sustainable luminescent materials. However, to date only a few reviews h...

Wood is a sustainable building material that can help to achieve carbon neutralization but, because wood is easily damaged by ultraviolet (UV) light, it is important to protect wood from this harmful radiation. Here, we synthesized sustainable biomass-based carbon dots (Bio-CDs) using only microcrystalline cellulose, which was concentration-depende...

Photothermal materials were prepared using lignin, the as-generated electricity could then be used for the electrocatalytic conversion of 5-hydromethyl-2-furaldehyde to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid using a thermoelectric generator.

Photoactivated nanocarriers exhibit significant potential for anticancer therapy, but complex design strategies, unsustainable substrates, and short wavelengths limit their practical application. Here, we designed a new lignin-derived photoactivated nanomaterial that exploits the sensitivity of the β-O-4 bond of lignin to singlet oxygen. This susta...

Fast-growing natural poplar wood is not meet with in many requirements such as high strength and flame retardant due to its porous structure and loose materials. In this study, we established a simple and feasible method that includes delignification, ionic bond formation via the crosslinking of carboxyl groups in TEMPO-oxidized wood after delignif...

Bioplastics (BPs) prepared from lignocellulose are an excellent replacement for petrochemical-plastics (PCPs) due to their renewability and biodegradability. The presence of residual/added/regenerated lignin reduced the water sensitivity; however, these BPs possessed a deep color and low transmittance and were prone to photodegradation. Herein, we...

Integrated lignocellulosic biorefineries offer a great potential to valorize all the components in lignocellulose into products, including fuels, chemicals, and materials. However, because of lignocellulose recalcitrance, conversion of bioresources remains a techno-economic challenge for many lignocellulosic biorefineries. In this work, we have pro...

Sustainable afterglow room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials, especially afterglow RTP structural materials, are crucial but remain difficult to achieve. Here, an oxidation strategy is developed to convert lignin to afterglow materials with a lifetime of ~ 408 ms. Specifically, lignin is oxidized to give aromatic chromophores and fatty ac...

The potential for leakage of liquid electrolytes from magnesium (Mg) batteries represents a large hurdle to future application. Despite this, there are no efficient sensing technologies to detect the leakage of liquid electrolytes. Here, we developed a sensor using laccaic acid (L-AIEgen), a naturally occurring aggregation-induced emission luminoge...

Sustainable carbon dots (CDs) based on furfuraldehyde (F‐CD) resulted in a photosensitive material after pursuing the Alder‐Longo reaction. The porphyrin moiety formed connects the F‐CDs in a covalent organic network. This heterogeneous material (P‐CD) was characterized by XPS indicating incorporation of the respective C, N and O moieties. Time res...

Photosynthesis by plants stores sunlight into chemicals and drives CO2 fixation into sugars with low biomass conversion efficiency due to the unoptimized solar spectrum utilization and various chemical conversion possibilities that follow H2O oxidation. Expanding the solar spectrum utilization and optimizing the charge transfer pathway of photosynt...

Fast-response artificial phototropic materials are a promising tool for solar energy utilisation, yet their preparation remains challenging. Herein, we report the so-called photothermal domino strategy for constructing fast-response artificial phototropic materials. In this strategy, photothermal generation, heat conduction and thermal actuation ar...

Heavy metal pollution has resulted in numerous environmental challenges. However, classic approaches, involving the use of solid adsorbents are subject to limitations, including the high energy consumption required for processing before and after use. Accordingly, strategies that facilitate the use of metal capture media that extends beyond waste r...

Fluorescent materials based on aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) have unique advantages for in situ and real-time monitoring of biomolecules and biological processes because of their high luminescence intensity and resistance to photobleaching. Unfortunately, many AIEgens require time-consuming and expensive syntheses, and the prese...

Sustainable carbon dots (CDs) based on furfuraldehyde (F‐CD) resulted in a photosensitive material after pursuing the Alder‐Longo reaction. The porphyrin moiety formed connects the F‐CDs in a covalent organic network. This heterogeneous material (P‐CD) was characterized by XPS indicating incorporation of the respective C, N and O moieties. Time res...

Photothermal materials, especially photothermal plastics, are crucial building blocks for functional devices. Covalently immobilizing the photothermal carbon dots in plastic matrix is a promising method for producing efficient photothermal plastics. However, the reactive moieties of photothermal carbon dots are often destroyed because of harsh prep...

Clean water collection is the most challenging global issue. Hydrogel platform for producing fresh water from both seawater and the atmosphere holds great promise, but it has been difficult to achieve multifunction and integration with it. Here, we have developed a multipurpose solar-thermal hydrogel ([email protected]) that can be used for desalin...

Long‐lived afterglow room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) from natural phenolics has seldom been reported yet this is essential for the development of sustainable afterglow RTP materials. With this research, we have prepared sustainable afterglow RTP materials (GA@SA) with a lifetime of up to ≈934.7 ms by embedding gallic acid (GA) within a Ca²⁺‐...

Sustainable afterglow room‐temperature phosphorescence (RTP) from natural phenolics with long lifetime is a particularly attractive phenomenon but remains difficult to achieve. Here, we have prepared sustainable afterglow RTP materials (GA@SA) with a lifetime of up to ~934.7 ms by embedding gallic acid (GA) within a Ca2+‐crosslinked sodium alginate...

Lignin is a significant byproduct from the pulp and paper industry. However, the conversion of lignin to a resource with added value is plagued by expensive processing. Here we report that the syringyl units (S) of sodium lignosulfonate (LS) exhibit phosphorescence in water with a lifetime of ∼2 ms and the lifetime can be prolonged up to ∼618 ms by...

Circularly polarized light (CPL) is key to asymmetric photochemistry as it could impart the chiral organization information into chemical products. Here, we demonstrate the circular polarization capacity of chiral cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) films to trigger photo‐alignment of achiral supramolecular polymers into helical structures. Right‐handed tr...

Quasi-solid hydrogel-based thermoelectrochemical cells (QS-TECs) have the potential to power ubiquitous sensors needed for the internet of things (IoT). However, developing a strategy for simultaneously enhancing mechanical performance, water-retention capacity and Seebeck coefficient remains a challenge. Additionally, little attention has been pai...

Solar‐driven interfacial vaporization by localizing solar‐thermal energy conversion to the air−water interface has attracted tremendous attention. In the process of converting solar energy into heat energy, photothermal materials play an essential role. Herein, a flexible solar‐thermal material di‐cyan substituted 5,12‐dibutylquinacridone (DCN−4CQA...