Research Interests

Functional Nanomaterials for Advanced Sensing and Energy Storage

The rapid growth of healthcare, environmental monitoring, and renewable energy technologies demands materials that are smarter, more efficient, and multifunctional. Traditional sensing and energy storage materials often face trade-offs between sensitivity, stability, and scalability. To overcome these limitations, researchers are turning to functional nanomaterials, which offer unprecedented control over matter at the atomic and molecular scale. Their unique structures and tunable properties open exciting opportunities to detect trace signals, improve energy storage performance, and even combine these functions in integrated systems.

We develop and explore next-generation nanomaterials—including MXenes, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs)—to enable breakthroughs in sensing and energy storage. These materials offer extraordinary surface areas, tunable chemistry, and high conductivity, making them ideal platforms for detecting trace analytes and powering efficient devices.

A key focus of our work lies in bottom-up material engineering, where functionality is introduced during synthesis through assembly, hybridization, and molecular grafting. By tailoring surface chemistry, pore structure, and electronic conductivity, we create multifunctional materials capable of simultaneously achieving high sensitivity, selectivity, and stability. Our expertise spans chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of MXenes, graphene, and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), as well as solvothermal and interfacial synthesis of MOFs, COFs, and MIPs. These methods allow us to design nanoscale receptors that can recognize diverse analytes—including biomarkers for human health, pollutants in the environment, and green leaf volatiles critical to agricultural monitoring.

At the same time, the same material properties are harnessed to design high-performance batteries with improved stability and energy density. Our vision is to integrate these advanced materials into smart, energy-aware systems that not only store power but also monitor their surroundings, addressing critical needs in healthcare, environmental sustainability, and renewable energy.

TiC Nanoflowers for Na-ion Battery

WSe2 Nanosheets for Li-ion Battery

Bimetallic MOFs for Plant VOC Sensing

Related Publications:

1. Xiaojun Xian, Liying Jiao, Teng Xue, Zhongyu Wu, Zhongfan Liu. Nanoveneers: An Electrochemical Approach to Synthesizing Conductive Layered Nanostructures, ACS Nano, 5, 4000-4006 (2011)

2. Laxmi R Jaishi, Wei Ding, Jiahui Yuan, Mohd Anas, Parashu Kharel, and Xiaojun Xian*, A Piezoelectric-Optical Hybrid Sensor for Trace-Level Detection of (E)-2-Hexenal via Tuned Zn-Co/ZIF-8 Frameworks for Plant Health Monitoring, ACS Sensors, (2025) (https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.5c01131)

3. Wei Ding, Deniz Cakir,* Matthew Wieberdink, Laxmi Raj Jaishi, Jiahui Yuan, Mohd Anas, Parashu Kharel, Bin Yao, Zhenqiang Wang, and Xiaojun Xian*, Densely Packed Vertically Oriented WSe2 Nanosheets Synthesized by Chemical Vapor Deposition for Lithium-Ion Batteries, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17, 34021–34029 (2025) (https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c05266)

4. Wei Ding, Jingjing Yu. Francis Tsow, Laxmi Jaishi, Buddhi Sagar Lamsal, Rick Kittelson, Sarwar Ahmed, Parashu Kharel, Yue Zhou, Xiaojun Xian*, Highly Sensitive and Reversible MXene-Based Micro Quartz Tuning Fork Gas Sensors with Tunable Selectivity, njp 2D Materials and Applications, 8, 18 (2024) (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41699-024-00452-1)

5. Wei Ding, Jason Sternhagen, Laxmi Raj Jaishi, Parashu Kharel, Xiaojun Xian*, CVD-Synthesized Titanium Carbide Nanoflowers as High-Performance Anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries, Nano Letters, 24, 13324-13332 (2024) (https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.4c03597)