Jinjia Xu, Ph.D.
Professor Xu received her B.Sc. (Hons) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China and her PhD from the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Purdue University and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and held an academic position at the University of Florida prior to joining the UMSL chemistry faculty in fall 2022.
Personal Lab homepage
Research Interests
Research in the Xu Laboratory utilizes organic synthesis and polymerization methodologies to create next-generation advanced functional materials for electronic and biomedical applications.
Research interests lie at the interface of organic chemistry, polymer materials, soft matter nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering. We leverage our expertise in molecular design, synthesis, self-assembly, and development of advanced characterization strategies, to create new soft functional materials while controlling their dynamic behaviors in bulk states and interfacial properties between materials and biological systems.
The current ongoing research projects are broadly in Twisted but Conjugated pi-molecules as n-type Semiconductors: Molecular Design, Synthesis, Characterization and Functions (area 1); Organic Luminescent Functional Materials for the Next-Generation Optoelectronics and Biosensors (area 2); Engineering Smart Zwitterionic Biomaterials to Bridge the Bio-Electronic Interface (area 3); Advanced Smart Materials for Additive Nanomanufacturing (area 4).
The overall goal is to integrate fundamental research in novel soft matter nanotechnology and biomedical engineering with the creation of multifunctional polymers/macromolecules for advanced technologies to address problems related to energy, environment and healthcare.
Given the interdisciplinary nature of our work, students and researchers in the Xu Lab will receive broad-based training that starts from molecular design, multiple-steps organic synthesis, polymerization methodologies and extends to molecular electronics, nanofabrication, microscopy, chemical biology, photophysical characterization, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, physical organic chemistry techniques, molecular imaging, and cell & animal studies depending on each project’s needs.
Selected Publications
"A Mini Review on Contamination Control in Ultrapure Liquids for Semiconductor Manufacturing – from the Perspective of Liquid-solid Interfaces", Y. Shen, L. Hu, H. Ye, W. Chai, J. Miao, J. Xu, R. Su, and X. Fu, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation 2025, 102, 102791.
"Recent Advances in Biomass Conversion to Sustainable Chemicals and Polymers", H. Guo, Y. Cao, H. Li, J. Xu, and H. Zhu, Front. Chem., 2024, 12:1475162.
"Enhanced Thermoelectric and Mechanical Performance of Fully Conjugated Block Polythiophene Modified with Polar Ethylene Glycol Side Chains/Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite Materials", Y. Zhang, Q. Yang, L. Chen, R. Chen, S. R. Maliha, Y. Chen, J. Xu, and C. Pan, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 29262.
"A Green and Low-Cost Approach to Recover Graphite for High-Performance Aluminum Ion Battery Cathode", D. Zhang, Z. Wang, X. Bao, R. Hong, X. Zhang, and J. Xu, Materials Today Sustainability, 2024, 28, 100957.
"Zwitterionic Polymeric Materials for Biomedical Applications: Antimicrobial and Anti-fouling Strategies toward Implantable Medical Devices and Drug Delivery", S. Moayedi, W. Xia, L. Lundergan, H. Yuan, and J. Xu, Langmuir, 2024, 40, 23125
″Crystal structure, Supramolecular framework, Hirshfeld Surface analysis and Photophysical studies of some Acridinium/Acridine Derivatives Prepared by Mechanochemical Synthesis″, J. Rajamoni, S. Datta, and J. Xu, Structural Chemistry, 2024, doi.org/10.1007s11224-024-02355-9
"Space-confined intercalation expansion strategy for simple and rapid synthesis of kish-based expanded graphite for high-performance aluminum ion batteries", Z. Wang, D. Zhang, X. Bao, T. Hsieh, Y. Xu, R. Hong, and J. Xu, Carbon, 2024, 223, 119016.
"Viscoelastic Fluorescent pi-Conjugated Polymer Liquids toward Direct Visualization of Microphase Separation", C. Pan, Z. Guo and J. Xu, ACS Appl. Eng. Mater., 2024, 2, 49.
"A Deep Eutectic Electrolyte of AlCl3-Acetamide for Rechargeable Aluminum-Ion Batteries", X. Bao, Z. Wang, D. Zhang, R. Hong, M. Li, C. M. Smith, and J. Xu, New J. Chem., 2024, 48, 5893.
"Halogen Substituted Tetraphenylethylene AIEgens: Facile Single-Crystal-to-Single-Crystal Transformation, Polymorphism and Mechanofluorochromism", Y. Cao, C. Pan, and J. Xu, Mater. Adv., 2024, 5, 3281.
"Insights into the Effect of Superficial Lattice Oxygen in Formaldehyde Oxidation on Birnessite", Z. Ma, Y. Li, K. Sun, X. Ma, W. Tian, and J. Xu, Nanoscale, 2024, 16, 12541.
"Recent Advances in Molecular to Supramolecular Self-Assembled Organic Room-Temperature Phosphorescent Materials for Biomedical Applications", S. Datta and J. Xu, ACS Appl. Bio. Mater., 2023, 6, 4572.
"Room-Temperature Columnar Liquid Crystals from Twisted and Macrocyclic 9,9′-Bifluorenylidene Mesogen with Ambipolar Carrier Transport Properties", J. Xu, ACS Materials Au, 2023, 3, 450
″Influence of DETA on Thermal and Corrosion Protection Properties of GPTMS-TEOS Hybrid Coating on Q215 Steel″, S. Yang, Z. Jia, J. Xu, and R. Hong, Coatings, 2023, 13, 1145.
″Structural design of organic battery electrode materials: from DFT to artificial intelligence″, T. Wu, G. Dai, J. Xu, F. Cao, X. Zhang, Y. Zhao, and Y. Qian, Rare Meta., 2023, 42, 3269.
