Jixin Chen
Education
B.S., Chemistry, Nankai University, China, 1999
M.S., Chemistry, Nankai University, China, 2002
Ph.D., Chemistry, Texas A&M University, 2010
Postdoc, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010-2012
Postdoc, Rice University, 2012-2014
Research
- Biophysical Chemistry and Microscopy
As an experimental physical chemist, the overall goal of my research is to develop and apply techniques and methods to understand the complex behavior of molecules and nanoparticles at surfaces and interfaces, leading to the development of new materials and technologies that will benefit our lives.
I have extensive experience in analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, and biochemistry. More specifically, my strengths are in the development of analytical strategies, and in understanding chemistry at surfaces and interfaces. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from Nankai University in Tianjin, China. There, in Naijia Guan’s group, I focused on surface chemistry and kinetics for catalysis, including synthesis, characterization, and application of catalysts. During my Ph.D. studies in Paul Cremer’s and James Batteas’ groups at Texas A&M University, College Station, I was trained in biosensing. I have used plasmonics of noble metal nanostructures and fluorescence of quantum dots as platforms. After I graduated, I continued my training in Robert Hamers’ group at the University of Wisconsin, Madison for two years in surface modification of metal oxides for solar cell applications. In July 2012, I joined the Landes group at Rice University. Since then, I have been conducting research on a few bio-platforms using single-molecule super-resolution imaging and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET).
Current Research
Development of an analytical technique for conducting super-resolution single-genome optical mapping and single-genome sensing. In many genome sequencing projects, such as the Human Genome Project, optical mapping has been used to construct ordered restriction maps for whole genomes. These maps provide scaffolds for shotgun sequence assembly and validation. Optical mapping was first developed in the 1990s by David Schwartz and his lab at New York University, and has been successfully applied in many genome sequencing projects. My research goal is to develop new optical mapping strategies with super-resolution optical nanoscopy to improve the resolution of optical mapping. Recently at Rice University, I was involved in the development of a super-resolution optical nanoscopy called motion blur point accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography (mbPAINT), and used it to study ion-exchange chromatography for single protein separation and DNA imaging. I will continue working in the optical mapping project, and start to explore a variety of single-molecule areas, such as molecular tracking and single-molecule FRET. In addition, I will continue to work on the surface modifications of a few materials (e.g. metal, metal oxides, semiconductor, and glass), and molecular interfacial dynamics for applications such as catalysis, separation, biosensing, anticorrosion coating, and biosensing.
Selected Publications
Jixin Chen. Simulating stochastic adsorption of diluted solute molecules at interfaces. AIP Advances 2022, 12, 015318.
Juvinch R Vicente, Ali Rafiei Miandashti, Kurt Waldo E Sy Piecco, Joseph R Pyle, Martin E Kordesch, Jixin Chen. Single-Particle Organolead Halide Perovskite Photoluminescence as a Probe for Surface Reaction Kinetics. ACS applied materials & interfaces 2019, 11, 18034-18043.
Lei Wang, Joseph R. Pyle, Katherine L. A. Cimatu, Jixin Chen. Ultrafast transient absorption spectra of photoexcited YOYO-1 molecules call for additional investigations of their fluorescence quenching mechanism. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2018, 367, 411-419.
Joseph R. Pyle, Jixin Chen. Photobleaching of YOYO-1 in Super-Resolution Single-DNA Fluorescence Imaging. BJNano. 2017, 8, 2296-2306.
Jixin Chen, Joseph R Pyle, Kurt Waldo Sy Piecco, Anatoly B Kolomeisky, Christy F Landes. A Two-Step Method for smFRET Data Analysis. J. Phys. Chem. B 2016, 120(29), 7128-7132.
Jixin Chen, Nitesh K Poddar, Lawrence J Tauzin, David Cooper, Anatoly B Kolomeisky, Christy F Landes. Single-Molecule FRET Studies of HIV TAR–DNA Hairpin Unfolding Dynamics. J. Phys. Chem. B 2014, 118, 12130-12139.
Chen, J. X.; Bremauntz, A.; Kisley, L.; Shuang, B.; Landes, C. F. Super-Resolution mbPAINT for Optical Localization of Single-Stranded DNA. ACS Applied Materials & Interface, 2013, 5, 9338−9343.
Chen, J.X.; Ruther, R.; Tan, Y.; Bishop, L.; Hamers. R. J. Molecules on ZnO surfaces: Molecular Adsorption on ZnO(10-10) Single Crystal Surfaces: Morphology and Charge Transfer. Langmuir 2012, 28, 10437-10455.
Chen, J. X.; Chan, Y. H.; Yang, T. L.; Wark, S. E.; Son, D. H.; Batteas, J. D. Spatially Selective Optical Tuning of Quantum Dot Thin Film Luminescence. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2009, 131, 18204-18205.
Chen, J. X.; Liao, W. S.; Chen, X.; Yang, T. L.; Wark, S. E.; Son, D. H.; Batteas, J. D.; Cremer, P. S. Evaporation-Induced Assembly of Quantum Dots into Nanorings. ACS Nano 2009, 3, 173-180.
Zhang, F. X.; Jin, R. C.; Chen, J. X.; Shao, C. Z.; Gao, W. L.; Li, L. D.; Guan, N. J. High Photocatalytic Activity and Selectivity for Nitrogen in Nitrate Reduction on Ag/TiO2 Catalyst with Fine Silver Clusters. Journal of Catalysis 2005, 232, 424-431.