IVA Gold Medal 2024: Xiaodong Zou – the brain behind a new method for designing the materials of the future
Xiaodong Zou is a chemist who fell in love with electron microscopes and who has succeeded in developing completely new methods for creating 3D images of atomic structures in porous materials. Through their groundbreaking discoveries, her research team has opened up new opportunities to tailor materials that can be used for everything from developing new drugs to capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
When chemist Xiaodong Zou came to Stockholm University from China in the 1980s, it was to study crystal structures in inorganic materials. The goal was to understand how the atoms are placed in different materials and how this affects their properties. Despite the scepticism of the outside world, she was convinced that it would be possible to determine with the help of electron microscopy, which made it possible to study nanocrystals that are so small that they could not be examined with previous methods. Through her tireless work and groundbreaking research, she has over the years developed several tools that have made it possible to create detailed 3D images of atomic structures in different materials.
The methods, which have now become widespread in both the research community and industry, have made it possible to map atomic structures in existing materials. But also to tailor completely new materials that can be used to solve important societal challenges. Among other things, it has opened the way for more efficient production of socially important fuels and chemicals, and for capturing and separating carbon dioxide from industrial processes and from the atmosphere. In recent years, Xiaodong Zou has shifted his focus from materials research to life science. By developing new methods for studying the 3D structures of proteins, she dreams of increasing the understanding of the molecules that are the basis for many of life's processes and for the development of new drugs.
“No one believed it would be possible to use electron microscopy to determine these 3D atomic structures. But we demonstrated and pushed forward that it was possible. Now we have a fantastic method that we use to solve difficult problems that we couldn’t solve before.”
Jury citation
Professor Xiaodong Zou is awarded IVA's Gold Medal for her contribution to developing methods for rapid structural determination of small crystals of inorganic, porous and organic materials and for her contribution to the development of porous materials for more efficient chemical and fuel production and carbon capture. She has shown how purposeful realization of a scientific vision can be combined with committed supervision and mentoring of a large number of doctoral students and young researchers.
About Xiaodong Zou
Xiaodong Zou was born in China in 1964 and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Solid State Physics from Peking University in 1984, followed by a Master’s degree in Metal Physics from Beijing University of Technology two years later. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Sweden for doctoral studies and earned her PhD in Structural Chemistry from Stockholm University in 1995. She has been a Swedish citizen since the late 1990s.
During her 30 years as a researcher, Xiaodong Zou has worked at the Department of Geology at Lund University and as a visiting professor at the Institut des Materiaux Jean Rouxel in Nantes, France. Since 2005, she has been a Professor of Structural Chemistry at the Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry at Stockholm University. She has also coordinated and led the Berzelii Centre for Porous Materials for several years.
Xiaodong Zou has received several awards for her research, including the Tage Erlander Prize for Science and Technology in 2002 and the Göran Gustafsson Prize in Chemistry in 2008. In 2017, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), and two years later, of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Since 2021, she has also been a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry.
IVA's Gold Medal
For more than a century, IVA has celebrated excellence in technology, economics, business and society by awarding Gold Medals to people who, through their outstanding achievements, have helped to create a better society.
IVA's Gold Medal is awarded for meritorious work within the academy's field of activity.
More on IVA's Gold Medals
