
Associate Professor Kang Liang
Dr Kang Liang FRSC is a Scientia听Associate Professor听and group leader of Nano-Micro-Bio Systems. He received his Bachelor (Hon) and PhD degrees听from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Melbourne in 2010 and 2014, respectively. After conferral of his PhD, he joined CSIRO Manufacturing under the Office-of-the-Chief-Executive听scheme in 2014 as a research fellow and then became a research scientist. In 2017, he joined the School of Chemical Engineering and the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering at 探花系列 Sydney. He is a Co-Chair of Australian Synchrotron听Program Advisory Committee for SAXS/WAXS and BioSAXS. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is an awardee of Victoria Fellowship in Physical Sciences in 2017. He is a former NHMRC Career Development Fellow (2019-2022), and an ARC Future Fellow (2023-2027).
- PhD scholarships available! We encourage听highly motivated PhD and MPhil听students听to join our group.
- Postdoctoral researchers please do not hesitate to contact me听about possible funding opportunities.听
听
Research interests听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听
Interfacial Engineering of Nanostructured Materials
We are interested in interfacial engineering of nanostructured materials, in particular coordination based materials;听understanding the material properties at a fundamental molecular level and relating听nanostructure characteristics to bulk properties and material performance.
- Adv. Mater. 2022,听10.1002/adma.202205674
- J. Am. Chem. Soc.听2022,听10.1021/jacs.2c06471
- Nano Today 2021, 40, 101256听
- Small 2021, 17, 2100300
- Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 1905321
- 听Chem, 2019, 5, 1597
- 听Mater. Today 2019, 28, 10
- 听Appl. Mater. Today 2018, 10, 93
- 听Acc. Chem. Res. 2017, 50, 1423
- 听Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7910
- 听Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 7240
听
NanoBionics
We are interested in engineering nanobionics by interfacing nanomaterials with living organisms to introduce new or enhanced biological functions.
- Adv. Funct Mater. 2021,听10.1002/adfm.202106787
- Environ. Sci. Technol.听2020,听54, 11356
- Science Advances 2020, 6, eaaz0330听
- Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 1905321
- Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29, 1808900
- Small 2018, 14, 1702958
- Appl. Mater. Today 2018, 10, 93
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 8510
- Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7910
听
Biomimetics and Biomineralization
Biominerals, formed by living organisms through the self-organization of inorganic and organic building blocks, possess diverse and highly-organized hierarchical structures with superior material properties. Biomineralization has served as a source of inspiration for the development of materials with highly controllable and specialized properties. Our group first introduced the biomineralization of coordination materials, showing potential in catalysis, drug delivery, cytoprotection, and cell manipulation.
- Chem. Eng. J. 2021, 426, 131861
- Appl. Mater. Today 2018, 10, 93
- Chem. Commun. 2017, 53, 1249
- Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7910
- Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 7240
- CrystEngComm 2016, 18, 4264
- Chem. Commun. 2016, 52, 473
- Adv. Mater. 2015,听27, 7293
听
Smart Nano-micro-bio Systems
We are interested in developing smart bioactive nanomaterials听by interfacing bioactive compounds with functional听materials, making it possible to perform desired听tasks rapidly and efficiently when needed. These systems will have great potential for advanced energy and biotechnological applications.
- Adv. Mater. 2022, 10.1002/adma.202205746
- Angew Chem. Int. Ed. 2022,听10.1002/anie.202209747
- Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 5421
- Advanced Nanobiomed Research 2021, 1, 2000034
- Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 14837
- Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 7852
- Mater. Today 2019, 28, 10
- Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 201808900听
- Chem, 2019, 5, 1597
- Adv.听Sci.听2018, 5, 1801155听
- Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 7240听
听
Publication highlights
- J. Xue, J. Ruan, K. Hakobyan, J. Xu, K. Liang* "Regenerative Biomimetic Photosynthesis by Covalent鈥怬rganic Framework鈥怋ased Nanobiohybrids"听Adv. Mater. 2024, doi:听.
- J. Liang, J. Ruan, B. Njegic, A. Rawal, J. Scott, J. Xu, C Boyer, K. Liang*听"Insight into Bioactivity of In鈥恠itu Trapped Enzyme鈥怌ovalent鈥恛rganic Frameworks"听Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023,听.听
- J. Liang, B. Johannessen, Z. Wu, R. F. Webster, J. Yong, M. Y. B. Zulkifli, J. S. Harbort, Y. R. Cheok, H. Wen, Z. Ao, B. Kong, S. L.Y. Chang, J. Scott,听K. Liang*听"Regulating the Coordination Environment of Mesopore-confined Single Atoms from Metalloprotein-MOFs for Highly Efficient Biocatalysis"听Adv. Mater. 2022,听doi: 10.1002/adma.202205674.
- J. Yong, A. S. Mellick, J. Whitelock, J. Wang, K. Liang*听"A biomolecular toolbox for precision nanomotors" Adv. Mater. 2022, doi: 10.1002/adma.202205746.
- J. Liang, M. Y. B. Zulkifli, J. Yong, Z. Du, Z. Ao, A. Rawal, J. Scott, J. Harmer, J. Wang,听K. Liang* "Locking the Ultrasound-induced Active Conformation of Metalloenzymes in Metal-organic Frameworks"听J. Am. Chem. Soc.听2022, 144, 39, .
- Z. Guo,听Y. Wu, Z. Xie, J. Shao, J. Liu, Y. Yao, J. Wang, Y. Shen*, J. J. Gooding*, K. Liang* "Self-Propelled Initiative Collision at Microelectrodes with Vertically Mobile Micromotors"听Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022,听.
- J. Liu,J. Xue,L. Fu,J. Xu, M. S. Lord, K. Liang* "Genetically Encoded Synthetic Beta Cells for Insulin Biosynthesis and Release under Hyperglycemic Conditions"听Adv. Funct. Mater. 2022,听.
- J. Liang, K. Liang* "Nano-bio-interface engineering of metal-organic frameworks" Nano Today 2021, 40, .
- J. Liang, M. Yu, J. Liu, Z.听Yu, K. Liang,* D.-W. Wang* "Energy Storing Plant Stem with Cytocompatibility for Supercapacitor Electrode" Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021,听
- J. Liang, S.听Gao, J. Liu, M. Y.B. Zulkifli, J. Xu, J. Scott, V. Chen, J. Shi, A. Rawal, K. Liang* "Hierarchically Porous Biocatalytic MOF Microreactor as a Versatile Platform towards Enhanced Multienzyme and Cofactor鈥怐ependent Biocatalysis" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021
- J. Liang, M.Y.B. Zulkifli, S. Choy, Y. Li, M. Gao, B. Kong, J. Yun, K. Liang* "Metal-Organic Framework-Plant Nanobiohybrids as Living Sensors for On-Site Environmental Pollutants Detection"听Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020,
- J. Liang, K. Liang* "Biocatalytic Metal-Organic Frameworks: Prospects Beyond Bioprotective Porous Matrices"听Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, .
- Z. Guo, J. J. Richardson, B. Kong, K. Liang* "Nanobiohybrids: Materials approaches for bioaugmentation"听Sci. Adv.听2020, 6, .听
- J. Liu, Z. Guo, K. Liang* "Biocatalytic metal-organic framework-based artificial cells" Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, .
- J.听Liang,听F,听Mazur, C.听Tang,听X.听Ning,*听R.听Chandrawati,*听K.听Liang* "Peptide-Induced Super-Assembly of Biocatalytic Metal-Organic Frameworks for Programmed Enzyme Cascade" Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, .听
- Z.听Guo, T.听Wang, A.听Rawal, J.听Hou, Z.听Cao, H.听Zhang, J.听Xu, Z听Gu,* V.听Chen,听K.听Liang*听"Biocatalytic self-propelled submarine-like microparticles with pH-triggered buoyancy control for directional vertical motion" Mater. Today 2019, 28, .
- S.听Gao, J. Hou,* Z. Deng,听T. Wang,听S. Beyer,听A. Guilherme Buzanich, J. J. Richardson,听A. Rawal,听R. Seidel,听M. Y. Zulkifli,听W. Li,听T. D. Bennett, 听A. K. Cheetham,听K. Liang,*听V听Chen "Improving the acidic stability of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks by bio-functional molecules" Chem 2019, 5, .
听
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
Current active grants
- ARC Discovery Project 2025-2027 (DP250101401) "Single-atom engineering to ignite nanozyme catalysts"
- ARC Future Fellowship 2022-2026 (FT220100479) "Nanobionic plants"
- NBCF Investigator Initiated Research Scheme 2022-2025 (IIRS-22-104) "Development of a next generation platform for early detection of malignant breast cancer"
- ARC Discovery Project 2021-2023 (DP210100422) "Highly Efficient Nanomotors for Autonomous Cell Recognition and Isolation"
- ARC Linkage Project 2019-2022 (LP190100029) "Development of electrophoretic cell sorters"
- 探花系列-Tsinghua University Collaborative Research听Fund 2023-2024 'Biocatalytic nanosystems for CO2 conversion to valuable products'
- Commonwealth Innovation Connection Grant 2023-2024
听
Past grants
- ARC Discovery Project 2023-2025 (DP230101312) "Engineering nanomembranes for Long-term Implanted Flexible Electronics" (Relinquished due to FT)
- NHMRC Career Development Fellowship 2019-2022 (GNT1163786) "Vision for a versatile nanodevice for early-stage disease and cancer diagnostics"
- ARC Discovery Project 2019-2021 (DP190101008) "Redox-sensitised dense graphene to boost compact supercapacitors"
- Research Infrastructure Scheme听(RIS)听Network lab 2019-2021
- 探花系列-CAS Bridging Grant 2019-2023
- 探花系列 Scientia Fellowship 2017-2021
- CSIRO OCE Fellowship 2014-2017
- Science and Industry Endowment Fund 2015听
-
ARC Future Fellowship, 2022
-
Second runner up of the for Best Environmental Technology Article in 2020, 2021
-
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), 2021
-
Research Excellence Award, 探花系列, 2018
-
Career Development Fellowship, NHMRC, 2019
-
Scientia Fellowship, 探花系列, 2017
-
Vicoria Fellowship, VESKI, 2017
-
Performance Cash Award, CSIRO, 2015
-
Australian Nanotechnology Network (ANN) award, 2015
-
65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting nominee, Executive Secretariat Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, Lindau Germany, 2015