CHENG NanoBionics Group

Biological machinery mainly composes of soft materials, which is a fansinating dynamic and intelligent system. In contrast, conventional microelctronic devices are dominated by inorganic hard materials which ofen lack of adaptive characteristics. Now, the two seemingly unrelated domains meet at the nanoscale, affording new opportunities to build new-generation self-sustainable, evolvable optoelectronic devices.

Cheng's nanobionics research laboratory focuses on the rational design of nanobionic materials system by combining design rules in microelctronic and biological systems. We enable this concept through a highly interdisciplinary research program across chemistry, biology, materials science and microelectronic engineering. In particular, the main goals of the nanobionics laboratory is to synthesize functional high-quality nanocrystals and conjugate them with biomolecules; rationally program synthesis of nanobiomaterials; elucidate the fundamental structure-function relationshipes; develop adaptive energy-harvesting and sensing devices.