Research output per year
Research output per year
Personal profile
Author IDs
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4672-8585
Scopus Author ID: 7403247745
ResearcherID: C-1590-2013
Impact
Biography
Professor Xiaocheng Zeng, inspired by his father - late Professor Jinyan ZENG (曾谨言) in Peking University - pursued a career in physical science. After receiving his bachelor degree in Physics from Peking University, he pursued postgraduate study in US via CUSPEA program (initiated by Nobel Laureate in Physics Professor Tsung-Dao Lee), and received his Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics from The Ohio State University. He then did his postdoctoral research in Physical Chemistry at University of Chicago and UCLA. Before he joined the MSE faculty of City University of Hong Kong, he was a Chancellor’s University Professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). He served as an Associate Editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Nanoscale from 2012 – 2022.
His computational research has focused on physics and chemistry of water surface/interface, confined fluid in nanopores, wetting/dewetting on nanostructured surfaces, thermodynamics and phase transitions of water/ice/ice hydrate, structural evolution of nanoclusters, heterogeneous catalysis, and physical properties of low-dimensional materials and perovskites.
As of June 2025, he has published 735 scientific papers (see Table below for selected publications) in refereed journals, with Google Scholar h-index of 124 and citations of 62,000+; Web of Science h-index of 110 and citations of 52,000+. Among these publications, 11 were featured in ACS Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) and 4 featured in RSC Chemistry World.
| Journal Name | Number [* (co)-corresponding author] |
| Nature/Science | 7 [3 *] |
| Nature Physics/Nanotechnology/Photonics/Sustainability/Energy/Catalysis/Synthesis | 7 [5 *] |
| Nature Communications/Science Advances | 20 [11 *] |
| Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (PNAS) | 26 [24 *] |
| J. Am. Chem. Soc. (JACS) | 73 [60 *] |
| Angewandte Chemie | 21 [15 *] |
| Phys. Rev. Lett./Phys. Rev. X | 9 [4 *] |
| ACS Nano/Nano Lett. | 45 [31 *] |
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Related Links
Education/Academic qualification
BS, Peking University, China
PhD, The Ohio State University, USA
Experiences and Professional Affiliations
Foreign Fellow, Chemistry Division, European Academy of Sciences
2020 → …
Fellow, Materials Research Society (MRS)
2019 → …
Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry
2013 → …
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2007 → …
Fellow, American Physical Society (APS)
2005 → …
Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
2004 → …
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics where Xiaocheng ZENG is active. These topic labels come from the works of this person. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
Research output
-
Artificial-intelligence-assisted design principle for developing high-performance single-atom catalysts
Xu, L. (Co-first Author), Wang, X. (Co-first Author), Hu, X. (Co-first Author), Wang, Y. (Co-first Author), Zhang, C., Xu, W., Zhao, W., Xu, N., Woo, D., Yao, H., Li, X., Jiang, H., Huang, M., Lee, J., Zeng, X. C. & Han, Z.-K., 17 Apr 2025, (Online published) In: Innovation(United States). 100911.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
Open Access -
Author Correction: Balancing carrier transport in interconnection layer for efficient perovskite/organic tandem solar cells
An, Y. (Co-first Author), Zhang, N. (Co-first Author), Liu, Q., Jiang, W., Du, G., Chen, D., Liu, M., Huang, X., Lei, T., Qiu, Q., Lin, F. R., Zeng, X. C., Jen, A.K.-Y. & Yip, H.-L., 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 3519.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › Erratum
-
Balancing carrier transport in interconnection layer for efficient perovskite/organic tandem solar cells
An, Y. (Co-first Author), Zhang, N. (Co-first Author), Liu, Q., Jiang, W., Du, G., Chen, D., Liu, M., Huang, X., Lei, T., Qiu, Q., Lin, F. R., Zeng, X. C., Jen, A.K.-Y. & Yip, H.-L., 2025, In: Nature Communications. 16, 2759.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)12 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars) -
Complementary self-assembled monolayers enabling improved energy level alignment in inverted perovskite solar cells
Zhang, S., Jiang, X., Wang, X., Gao, Y., Hou, T., Teng, X., Wang, H., Chen, W., Gao, S., Li, X., Hu, Z., Wu, X., Xiao, Z., Chen, T., Zhu, Y., Lu, Y., Zeng, X., Zhu, Z. & Yang, S., May 2025, In: Journal of Energy Chemistry. 104, p. 136-145Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
3 Citations (Scopus) -
Enhancing UV Stability and Charge Extraction in Organic Solar Cells with Phenyl-Linked Aromatic Self-Assembled Monolayer
Zhang, N. (Co-first Author), Jiang, W. (Co-first Author), An, Y., Liu, Q., Du, G., Xia, T., Chen, D., Wong, C.-T., Zeng, X. C., Lin, F. R., Jen, A.K.-Y. & Yip, H.-L., 10 Feb 2025, (Online published) In: Advanced Functional Materials. 2423178.Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus)
-
STDSP-YP-CRI: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Protein Sequencing by CsgG Nanopores
HUANG, C. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & ZENG, X. (Co-Investigator)
1/01/25 → …
Project: Research
-
NSFC-CRS: Theoretically Guided Material Design, Syntheses and Device Engineering for Efficient and Stable Perovskite/Organic Tandem Solar Cells
ZENG, X. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), CHEN, S. (Co-Principal Investigator), YANG, S. (Co-Principal Investigator) & ZHU, Z. (Co-Principal Investigator)
1/01/25 → …
Project: Research
-
DON-JC(F): Artificial Intelligence-Powered Design of Next-Generation Semiconductor Chip Materials (Seed Funding)
LU, S. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & ZENG, X. (Co-Investigator)
9/09/24 → …
Project: Research
-
DON-JC(F): Artificial Intelligence-Powered Design of Next-Generation Semiconductor Chip Materials
ZENG, X. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator) & LU, S. (Co-Investigator)
9/09/24 → …
Project: Research
-
CRF: Fundamental Understanding on Stability for Halide Perovskite Electronics: from Materials Design to Device Engineering
ZHU, Z. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator), LI, M. (Co-Principal Investigator), LU, H. (Co-Principal Investigator), Lu, X. (Co-Principal Investigator), ZENG, X. (Co-Principal Investigator), HAN, H. (Collaborator) & HAQUE, S. A. (Collaborator)
1/06/24 → …
Project: Research
Prizes
-
Stanford's top 2% most highly cited scientists 2024
ZENG, X. (Recipient), Sept 2024
Prize: RGC 64B - Prizes and awards
-
Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-Field, 2024
ZENG, X. (Recipient), Nov 2024
Prize: RGC 64B - Prizes and awards
-
Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-Field, 2023
ZENG, X. (Recipient), Nov 2023
Prize: RGC 64B - Prizes and awards
-
Stanford's top 2% most highly cited scientists 2023
ZENG, X. (Recipient), Oct 2023
Prize: RGC 64B - Prizes and awards
-
Highly Cited Researcher in Cross-Field, 2022
ZENG, X. (Recipient), Nov 2022
Prize: RGC 64B - Prizes and awards
Press/Media
-
CityUHK commends 32 Top 1% of global scholars; “Highly Cited Researchers” ratio ranked 1st in Hong Kong for the 9th consecutive year
LU, Y., LOU, D. X. W., ZHANG, H., ZHI, C., TAN, C., ZHANG, Q., CHU, P. K. H., HO, W. C. D., HUANG, Z., LEE, C. S., LIN, F., LIU, H., LUAN, D., MA, K., NG, Y. H., ROGACH, A., WANG, X., YE, R., YIP, H. L., YUAN, Z., ZENG, X., ZENG, Z., ZHANG, Q., ZHANG, W., ZHU, Z., FENG, G. G., WANG, J., HE, J.-H., JEN, A., LIU, B. & LIU, Q.
27/03/25
2 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
-
Interdisciplinary science research for enhancing sustainability through solar cells
ZHU, Z., GAO, D., LIU, Q., LI, B. & ZENG, X.
14/10/24 → 17/10/24
10 items of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
-
14 MSE faculty members have been named the Highly Cited Researchers 2023
CHU, P. K. H., HE, J.-H., JEN, A., LEE, C. S., LIU, B., REN, Y., ROGACH, A., YIP, H. L., ZENG, X., ZHANG, H., ZHANG, Q., ZHI, C. & ZHU, Z.
15/11/23
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
-
17 MSE Faculty Members in Stanford’s List of World’s Top 2% Scientists
CHI, Y., CHUNG, C. Y., HE, J.-H., JEN, A., WU, L., LIU, C. T., ROGACH, A., SHEK, C. H., TU, K. N., WANG, F., YIP, H. L., ZENG, X., ZHANG, Q., ZHANG, W., ZHI, C. & ZHU, Y.
21/10/22
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
-
Unravelling the fascinating behavior of water and ice in extreme conditions
11/04/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
-
Nature Physics (Journal)
ZENG, X. (Associate Editor)
22 Jan 2024Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work (RGC: 61) › Publication peer-review
-
The President's Lecture No. 50 (City University of Hong Kong)
ZENG, X. (Speaker)
1 Dec 2022Activity: Talk/lecture or presentation › Presentation
File