Gan Zhang, PhD
Gan Zhang was born in Qinzhou in the South of China and moved to Tianjin for his BSc in Chemistry in Nankai University. Gan performed his first MSc in synthetic chemistry in Leiden University, Holland with Dr. Alexander Kros. After developing a passion for crystals and crystal growth, Gan moved to Granada to the group of Prof. Dr. J.M. García-Ruiz in the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute for an MSc and then PhD, entitled; “Morphogenesis of self-assembled crystalline materials of calcium carbonate and silica” (2015). He joined the group of Profs. Lia Addadi and Steve Weiner at the Weizmann Institute as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2017 where he discovered and characterized a biogenic crystal - 7,8-dihydroxanthopterin. In October 2019, he started as a postdoc in Ben-Gurion University.
His research interests include biomineralization, self-assembled biomimetic materials and natural photonic crystals. He is familiar with crystallization techniques, Raman microscopy, Cryo-SEM and TEM. In his spare time, Gan is a keen footballer and an avid hiker.
Selected publications:
G. Zhang, et. al., Growth Behavior of Monohydrocalcite (CaCO3·H2O) in Silica-Rich Alkaline Solution, Cryst. Growth Des., 2015, 15, 564–572.
G. Zhang et. al., Thermal assisted self-organization of calcium carbonate. Nat. Commun., 2018, 9, 5221.
G. Zhang, et. al., Guanine and 7,8-Dihydroxanthopterin Reflecting Crystals in the Zander Fish Eye: Crystal Locations, Compositions, and Structures. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2019, 141, 19736-19745.
