Our group is interested in the development of various luminescent nanomaterials and applications of the nanomaterials in biomedical and environmental studies. Currently we are working on the following projects:

1. Design and Synthesis of Novel Nanoparticles. The objective of this project is to develop more effective luminescent nanomaterials as labeling regents for ultra-sensitive bioanalysis. Nanocrystals and fluorescent nanoparticles have shown great potential for use as efficient bionanomaterials. We will take advantages of both nanocrystals and nanoparticles to develop new types of luminescent nanomaterials.

2. Investigation of Toxicity of Nanomaterials to Living System. We are interested in the toxicity of nanomaterials to living cells at the cellular and molecular levels, such as the effects of nanomaterials on DNA damage and cell proliferation and death. We expect that this study will provide critical information for biotechnological and biomedical applications of nanomaterials.

3. Development of Nanosensors for Environmental Quality Monitoring. We intend to develop various nanosensors for sensitive and simple determination of inorganic, organic and biological samples.

4. Early Cancer Diagnoses Using Nanotechnology. Our specific aim in this project is to diagnose cancers in early stages using fluorescent nanoparticles as highly fluorescent probes based on specific protein reactions.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

Featured inNature, Vol 43, P923, Oct 21,2004, http://www.nature.com/cgitaf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v431/n7011/full/431923a_fs.html

Xiaojun Zhao, Rahul Bawge, and Weihong Tan, Synthesis of organic dye doped silica nanoparticles in reverse microemulsion, Adv. Mater., 16(2):173-176, 2004 http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/107582414/PDFSTART

Xiaojun Zhao, Lisa R. Hilliard, Kemin Wang, and Weihong Tan, Bioconjugated silica nanoparticles for bioanalysis, Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and nanotechnology, Edited by H.S.Nalwa, American Scientific Publishers, Stevenson Ranch, CA, Vol. 1, pp. 255-268, 2004

Xiaojun Zhao, Roverlyn T. Dytocio, and Weihong Tan, Ultrasensitive DNA detection using highly fluorescent bioconjugated nanoparticles, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 125 (38): 11474-11475, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ja0358854

Xiaojun Zhao, Rovelyn Tapec, and Weihong Tan, Collection of trace amounts of DNA/mRNA molecules using genomagnetic nanocapturers, Anal. Chem., 75(14): 3476-3483, 2003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ac034330o