Jianjun Wei

Biosketch: Dr. Jianjun Wei joined the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2013, and is an Associate Professor of Nanoscience leading a research group at the Joint school of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN). Prior to joining JSNN, he had worked in CFD Research Corporation in Huntsville, AL, from 2006 to 2013, and led as a Principal Scientist (PI and co-PI) for a number of BAA, SBIR/STTR Phase I, II, and III US government contracts, primarily through NIH, NASA and DOD research grants. He obtained his Ph.D. in chemistry in 2004 at the University of Pittsburgh, followed with one-year postdoctoral fellowship at the same university. Dr. Wei was a lecture and researcher at Shanghai University during 1995-2000, and graduated with degrees of M.E. in 1995 and BS in 1992 in Applied Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China. Research Interests: Dr. Wei’s research is well centered in the cutting-edge nanoscience and nanotechnology areas, with a particular emphasis on a few important fundamental aspects of nanoscale systems under electrical, optical and/or magnetic fields, as well as its applications in biosensors for diagnosis, nanomedicine, and catalysis for energy conversion and storage. More specifically, he investigates both fundamentals of structure-correlated electron/energy transfer and nanoscale plasmonics with a motivating philosophy of exploiting synergies between functionalities and nanoscale materials or structures. His research is highly interdisciplinary and employs broad methods of materials synthesis, nanofabrication, self-assembly, electrochemistry, microscopy, spectroscopy, and computational modeling and simulation. The diagram illustrates the overview of his research theme and current focuses.

There are 50 included publications by Jianjun Wei :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Alternative SiO2 surface energies direct MCDK epithelial behavior 2017 216 The mechanical interactions of cells are mediated through adhesive interactions. In this study, we examined the growth, cellular behavior, and adhesion of MDCK epithelial cells on three different SiO2 substrates: amorphous glass coverslips and the si...
An amperometric Meldola Blue-mediated sensor high sensitive to hydrogen peroxide based on immobilization of horseradish peroxidase in a composite membrane of regenerated silk fibroin and poly(vinyl alcohol) 1996 749 A new composite membrane of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and regenerated silk fibroin (RSF) was successfully employed to immobilize horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and infrared (IR) was used to get insight in the structure of the composite membrane. An amp...
Antioxidant capacity of Nitrogen and Sulfur co-doped carbon nanodots 2018 1263 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have shown potential for antioxidative activity at the cellular level. Here we applied a facile hydrothermal method to prepare fluorescent nitrogen and sulfur (N,S-) codoped CNDs using a-lipoic acid, citric acid, and urea as pr...
A bi-functional configuration for a metal-oxide film supercapacitor 2019 983 Transition metal oxides can introduce high pseudocapacitance to an electric double layer capacitor for storing more electrical charges. Their role can be more than that since they possess high dielectric constant. Here, we propose a self-sustainable ...
Charge-Transfer Mechanism for Cytochrome c Adsorbed on Nanometer Thick Films. Distinguishing Frictional Control from Conformational Gating 2003 426 [image displayed in pdf]

Using nanometer thick tunneling barriers with specifically attached cytochrome c, the electrontransfer rate constant was studied as a function of the SAM composition (alkane versus terthiophene), the ?-terminating grou...
Control of the Electron Transfer Rate between Cytochrome c and Gold Electrodes by the Manipulation of the Electrode's Hydrogen Bonding Character 2003 806 Oxidation and reduction of cytochrome c in solution through 11 different self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold electrodes was investigated with cyclic voltammetry. Electron-transfer rate constants of cytochrome c through the 11 SAMs ranged from =1...
Direct Electron Transfer Reactions of Glucose Oxidase and D-Amino Acid Oxidase at a Glass Carbon Electrode in Organic Media 1998 399 Cyclic voltammetry is employed to demonstrate feasibility of direct electron transfer of glucose oxidase and D-amino acid oxidase at a glassy carbon electrode in organic media. The reversible slight conformational change of glucose oxidase is observe...
Direct wiring of cytochrome c's heme unit to an electrode: Electrochemical studies 2002 1475 [Image displayed in pdf]

A novel strategy for the immobilization of cytochrome c on the surface of chemically modified electrodes is demonstrated and used to investigate the protein's electron-transfer kinetics. Mixed monolayer films of alkane...
Electrochemical Study of DPPH Radical Scavenging for Evaluating the Antioxidant Capacity of Carbon Nanodots 2017 1761 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have become one of the potential candidates for antioxidants due to their excellent luminescence, biocompatibility, and lower cytotoxicity. While CNDs have experienced some research on radical scavenging activity via UV–vis spe...
Electron Transfer Dynamics of Cytochrome C. A Change in the Reaction Mechanism with Distance 2002 1422 [image displayed in pdf]

Directly linking a gold electrode coated with pyridine-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) to the redox-active heme unit of cytochrome c has enabled the electron-transfer mechanism to be studied as a fun...
An enhanced LSPR fiber-optic nanoprobe for ultrasensitive detection of protein biomarkers 2014 336 A miniaturized, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-coupled fiber-optic (FO) nanoprobe is reported as a biosensor that is capable of label-free, sensitive detection of a cancer protein biomarker, free prostate specific antigen (f-PSA). The bio...
Experimental and Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory Modeling Studies on the Optical Properties of Carbon Nanodots 2020 1109 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) are zero-dimensional carbon particles that have attracted interest in a variety of applications mostly because of their small size, structure–function versatility, and photoluminescence properties. Unfortunately, the complicate...
A fluorescence-electrochemical study of carbon nanodots (CNDs) in bio- and photoelectronic applications and energy gap investigation 2017 1098 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have attracted great attention due to their superior solubility, biocompatibility, tunable photoluminescence, and opto-electronic properties. This work describes a new fluorescence-based spectroelectrochemistry approach to simu...
Frontiers in nano-architectured carbon–metal oxide electrodes for supercapacitance energy storage 2016 344 Supercapacitor (SC) is an energy storage technology that bridges the gap between conventional capacitors and rechargeable batteries. Emerging nano-architectured carbon–metal oxide composites are promising for electrode designs for supercapacitors due...
Hierarchical carbon composite nanofibrous electrode material for high-performance aqueous supercapacitor 2018 226 In this research, a hierarchical carbon composite nanomaterial ECNFs/PtNPs, which is composed of electrospun carbon nanofibers (ECNFs) with both individual and agglomerate of Pt nanoparticles (PtNPs) homogeneously dispersed all over the ECNF surface,...
High Quantum Yield Fluorescent Carbon Nanodots for Detection of Fe(III) Ions and Electrochemical Study of Quenching Mechanism 2020 859 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) offer potential applications in photocatalysis, optoelectronics, bio-imaging, and sensing due to their excellent photoluminescence (PL) properties, biocompatibility, aqueous solubility, and easy functionalization. Recent emphas...
Highly water-soluble, near-infrared emissive BODIPY polymeric dye bearing RGD peptide residues for cancer imaging 2013 382 Near-infrared emissive BODIPY polymeric dye bearing cancer-homing cyclic arginine–glycine–aspartic acid (RGD) peptide residues (polymer B) was prepared by post-polymerization functionalization of BODIPY polymeric dye bearing bromo groups through tetr...
Improved Supercapacitor Performance of MnO2-Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers Electrodes by mT Magnetic Field 2017 967 This work reports on a finding of mT magnetic field induced energy storage enhancement of MnO2-based supercapacitance electrodes (magneto-supercapacitor). Electrodes with MnO2 electrochemically deposited at electrospun carbon nanofibers (ECNFs) film ...
Label-Free Detection of DNA Hybridization with A Compact LSPR-based Fiber-Optic Sensor 2017 1219 A miniaturized, robust, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)-coupled fiber-optic (FO) nanoprobe providing an integrated and portable solution for detection of DNA hybridization and measurement of DNA concentrations has been demonstrated. The FO...
Low-temperature co-purification of NOx and Hg0 from simulated flue gas by CexZryMnzO2/r-Al2O3: the performance and its mechanism 2018 288 In this study, series of CexZryMnzO2/r-Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method and explored to co-purification of NOx and Hg0 at low temperature. The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were investigated by XRD, BET, FTIR, ...
Magnetic Field Enhanced 4-electron Pathway of the Well-aligned Co3O4/ECNFs in the Oxygen Reduction Reaction 2018 590 The sluggish reaction kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has been the limiting factor for fuel energy utilization, hence it is desirable to develop high-performance electrocatalysts for a 4-electron pathway ORR. A constant low-current (5...
Magnetically-enhanced electron transfer from immobilized galvinoxyl radicals 2019 975 The stability and magnetic susceptibility of galvinoxyl radicals are believed to underpin the behaviour of ferromagnetic organic layers. However, the magnetic response associated with electron transfer from galvinoxyl radicals remains little understo...
Magnetoreception of photoactivated cryptochrome 1 in electrochemistry and electron transfer 2018 992 Cryptochromes are flavoproteins whose photochemistry is important for crucial functions associated with phototropism and circadian clocks. In this report, we, for the first time, observed a magnetic response of the cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) immobilized a...
Molecular Chirality and Charge Transfer through Self-Assembled Scaffold Monolayers 2005 1106 The effect of molecular chirality on electron transmission is explored by photoelectrochemistry. Thiol-terminated chiral scaffold molecules containing a porphyrin chromophore were self-assembled on gold surfaces to form a monolayer. Incorporation of ...
Nano-plasmonics sensing and integration with microfluidics for a lab-on-chip biosensor 2011 290 Ordered arrays of nanostructures in metal films have been studied for practical miniaturization of SPR sensing and microfluidic integration. We report a nanostructure array that is designed to permit significantly enhanced Extraordinary Optical Trans...
A nanocomposite of copper(II) functionalized graphene and application for sensing sulfurated organophosphorus pesticides 2013 1081 Reduced graphene oxide is modified with sulfanilic acid diazonium salt followed by copper(II) chelating to form a Cu complex nanocomposite. Characterization by Raman spectroscopy, FTIR and EDS, XPS, cyclic voltammetry demonstrates the successful func...
Nanostructured optical microchips for cancer biomarker detection 2012 253 Herein we report the label-free detection of a cancer biomarker using newly developed arrayed nanostructured Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) microchips. Specifically, the prostate cancer biomarker free prostate-specific antigen (f-PSA) has been dete...
New evidence for a quasi-simultaneous proton-coupled two-electron transfer and direct wiring for glucose oxidase captured by the carbon nanotube-polymer matrix 2015 1029 Systematic cyclic voltammetry (CV) studies of glucose oxidase (GOx) and its cofactor, flavine adenine dinucleotide (FAD), almost similarly captured by the matrix of single-walled carbon nanotube and polymer complex, in turn, deposited on GC electrode...
New insight into advection of organic contaminate plume at drain outlet areas 2016 994 To provide insight to optimize organic contaminants treatment at the drain outlet areas due to the discharge from the industrial plants, the fate and transport of variety kinds of organic contaminants were investigated. By taking the chemical propert...
New nitrogen-rich azo-bridged porphyrin conjugated microporous networks for high performance of gas capture and storage 2016 1214 A series of new conjugated microporous polymers (Azo-1, Azo-2 and Azo-3) based on a nitrogen-rich porphyrin building unit and an azo bond linkage were synthesized by KOH assisted condensation. These materials were characterized by Fourier transform i...
Nitrogen and sulfur co-doped carbon nanodots in living EA.hy926 and A549 cells: oxidative stress effect and mitochondria targeting 2020 1185 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have been studied in the field of biomedicine, such as drug delivery, bioimaging and theragnosis because of their superior biocompatibility and desirable optoelectronic properties. However, limited assessments on the biological...
Novel microwave synthesis of near-metallic copper sulfide nanodiscs with size control: experimental and DFT studies of charge carrier density 2020 1069 A simple unprecedented microwave synthesis of size controllable copper sufide (CuS) nanodiscs is reported. The experimental results and density functional theory (DFT)-calculated results show charge carrier densities on the order of 1021 cm-3 with an...
Plasmon enhanced fluorescence of carbon nanodots in gold nanoslit cavities 2019 1095 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) are featured with a wide range of light absorption and excitation-dependent fluorescence. The emission enhancement of CNDs is of great interest for the development of nanophotonics. Although the phenomenon of plasmon-enhanced f...
Plasmon-exciton coupling in photosystem I based biohybrid photoelectrochemical cells 2018 951 The light-induced property of photosystem I (PSI) has been utilized to convert solar energy to electrical energy in photoelectrochemical cells. Here we provide new results on the relationship between surface plasmon generation (SPG) efficiency of nan...
A plasmonic nanoledge array sensor for detection of anti-insulin antibodies of type 1 diabetes biomarker 2020 1197 Here we present a plasmonic nanoledge device with high sensitivity and selectivity used to detect protein biomarkers simply by functionalizing the device, which specifically binds to particular biomolecule or biomarkers. We employ this plasmonic nano...
Probing electron transfer pathway of cytochrome c and its mutant immobilized at surface 2004 504 The electron-transfer rates between gold electrodes and adsorbed cytochromes are compared for native cytochrome c and its mutant (K13A) using two different immobilization strategies. A recent study by Niki (Niki, K.; Hardy, W. R.; Hill, M. G.; Li, H....
Protein Trapping in Plasmonic Nanoslit and Nanoledge Cavities: The Behavior and Sensing 2017 1040 A novel plasmonic nanoledge device was presented to explore the geometry-induced trapping of nanoscale biomolecules and examine a generation of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for plasmonic sensing. To design an optimal plasmonic device, a semianalyt...
Reagentless amperometric biosensor highly sensitive to hydrogen peroxide based on the incorporation of Meldola Blue, fumed-silica and horseradish peroxidase into carbon paste 1997 449 A reagentless amperometric sensor highly sensitive to H2O2 has been prepared by incorporating fumed silica, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and Meldola Blue into carbon paste. The efficient mediating ability to shift electrons between HRP and the carbon...
Recent advances in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS): finite difference time domain (FDTD) method for SERS and sensing applications 2016 2796 There have been significant advancements in the field of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). Despite being an ultra-sensitive analytical technique, challenges, such as how to get a proper match between the SERS substrate and light for better ...
A semi-analytical decomposition analysis of surface plasmon generation and the optimal nanoledge plasmonic device 2016 1011 Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of nanostructured thin metal films (so-called nanoplasmonics) has attracted intense attention due to its versatility for optical sensing and chip-based device integration. Understanding the underlying physics and devel...
Simultaneous oxidation of Hg0 and NH3-SCR of NO by nanophase CexZryMnzO2 at low temperature: the interaction and mechanism 2018 1103 Simultaneous oxidation of Hg0 and NH3-SCR of NO by catalyst is one of the key methods for co-purification of coal-fired flue gas. Till now, the interaction between the oxidation of Hg0 and NH3-SCR of NO and its mechanism have not clarified. In this s...
Solid state synthesis of silver nanowires by biopolymer thin films 2018 394 In this paper, we describe a novel method of silver nanowire (AgNW) synthesis. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized under ambient conditions by a chitosan/chitin-based method. These crystalline AgNPs then served as seeds for the solid-state ...
A solid-state growth of Ag nanowires and analysis of self-growing process on a bio-polymer chitosan film 2019 1132 The growth mechanism of silver nanowires (AgNWs) in solution has been thoroughly investigated and it has been demonstrated that factors like oxidative etching and inclusion of Cl- ions in the reaction system play critical roles in the formation of Ag...
Stable Low-current Electrodeposition of a-MnO2 on Super-aligned Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers for High-performance Energy Storage 2017 1287 Metal oxide/carbonaceous nanomaterials are promising candidates for energy-storage applications. However, inhomogeneous mass and charge transfer across the electrode/electrolyte interface due to unstable metal oxide/carbonaceous nanomaterial synthesi...
A study of localized surface plasmon resonance nanoslit array and applications for chip-based protein detection 2014 331 Ordered arrays of nanostructures in thin metal (Au) films have been studied for localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing with a transmission spectral mode. We report on a nanoslit array device that is designed to permit extraordinary optica...
Surface plasmon resonance of a bimetallic nanostructured film for enhanced optical sensitivity 2018 1013 A bimetallic (Ag/Au) nanoslit film is reported on surface plasmon (SP) generation and refractive index (RI) sensitivity. These were compared to gold devices in transmission surface plasmon resonance (tSPR). The bimetallic films have a primary resonan...
Surface-Enhanced Resonance Raman Spectroscopic and Electrochemical Study of Cytochrome c Bound on Electrodes through Coordination with Pyridinyl-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers 2004 409 Cytochrome c (Cyt-c) is immobilized on Ag and Au electrodes coated with self-assembled monolayers (SAM), comprised of pyridine-terminated alkanethiols and a shorter chain diluent thiol. Surface-enhanced resonance Raman (SERR) spectroscopy of coated A...
Synthesis of modified melamine-formaldehyde resin 2000 1539 In this paper, the conditions of modified melamine-formaldehyde resin (MF) used for a flocculent such as the ratio of reactant, reaction time, reaction temperature and the value of pi I, were studied. The preferable synthetic conditions were melamine...
Tuning the functional groups on carbon nanodots and antioxidant studies 2019 1171 Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have shown good antioxidant capabilities by scavenging oxidant free radicals such as diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH•) and reactive oxygen species. While some studies suggest that the antioxidation activities associate ...
Uniformly electrodeposited a-MnO2 film on super-aligned electrospun carbon nanofibers as a bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction 2017 441 Metal oxide/carbonaceous nanomaterials are promising candidates for the oxygen reduction in energy converting systems. However, inhomogeneous surface coverage allows hydrogen peroxide to escape into the bulk solution due to unstable metal or metal ox...