Dr . Zain Ul Abideen

Dr . Zain Ul Abideen

Engineer

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Materials Engineering (Nanotechnology)
The Australian National University (ANU), Australia (2020–2024)
Thesis: Flame Synthesized Metal Oxide Nanoparticles and Miniaturized Opto-Electronic Devices for Gas Sensing

Master of Engineering (ME) in Materials Engineering
Inha University, Republic of Korea (2014–2016)
Thesis: Semiconducting Oxide-Graphene Nanocomposite Gas Sensors for Environmental Monitoring and Noninvasive Medical Diagnostics

Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Materials Engineering
GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Pakistan (2010–2014)

Science
Centre for Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT)

Dr Zain Ul Abideen is a Microfactorie Engineer at the Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMART) Centre at UNSW Sydney. He specialises in sustainable materials and circular economy solutions, focusing on regenerating and reforming materials from electronic and industrial waste for energy storage devices and environmental monitoring applications.

Dr Zain completed a PhD in Materials Engineering (Nanotechnology) at the Australian National University, Australia, where he developed sensor technologies and advanced nanomaterials for environmental and health monitoring. He has worked on interdisciplinary and international research projects and has published in reputable peer-reviewed journals on sustainable materials, nanotechnology, and sensing technologies.

Dr Zain earned a Master of Engineering in Materials Engineering from Inha University, South Korea, where he developed expertise in advanced material synthesis. He further honed these skills as a Product Development Engineer at SukgyungAT, South Korea, contributing to the development and manufacturing of inorganic nanomaterials for advanced industrial applications.

Professional Experience

2024 – Present     Microfactorie Engineer
Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT) Centre, School of Materials Science and Engineering, UNSW, Australia

2024 – Present     Project Consultant
Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Research School of Physics, Australian National University, Australia

2024 – 2024     Teaching Assistant
Research School of Engineering, Australian National University, Australia

2020 – 2024     Ph.D. Researcher
Nanotechnology Research Laboratory, Research School of Engineering & Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Australia

2016 – 2018     Product Development Engineer
Research & Development Team, SukgyungAT Co. Ltd, Republic of Korea

Location
Room 449, Material and Science Engineering (Hilmer) Building (E10), UNSW, Sydney
  • Journal articles | 2025
    Arifeen WU; Akkinepally B; Abideen ZU; Hussain I; Siddiqui MR; Li S; Shim J; Ko TJ, 2025, 'Electrospun PAN membrane encapsulated in PEO as a polymer electrolyte for lithium metal batteries', Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 142, pp. 746 - 752, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2024.11.054
    Journal articles | 2024
    Abideen ZU; Arifeen WU; Bandara YMNDY, 2024, 'Emerging trends in metal oxide-based electronic noses for healthcare applications: a review', Nanoscale, 16, pp. 9259 - 9283, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00073k
    Journal articles | 2024
    Abideen ZU; Arifeen WU; Tricoli A, 2024, 'Advances in flame synthesis of nano-scale architectures for chemical, biomolecular, plasmonic, and light sensing', Nanoscale, 16, pp. 7752 - 7785, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00321g
    Journal articles | 2024
    Pecunia V; Petti L; Andrews JB; Ollearo R; Gelinck GH; Nasrollahi B; Jailani JM; Li N; Kim JH; Ng TN; Feng H; Chen Z; Guo Y; Shen L; Lhuillier E; Kuo L; Sangwan VK; Hersam MC; Fraboni B; Basiricò L; Ciavatti A; Wu H; Niu G; Tang J; Yang G; Kim D; Dremann D; Jurchescu OD; Bederak D; Shulga AG; Costa P; Perinka N; Lanceros-Mendez S; Chortos A; Khuje S; Yu J; Ren S; Mascia A; Concas M; Cosseddu P; Young RJ; Yokota T; Somoya T; Jeon SJ; Zhao N; Li Y; Shukla D; Wu S; Zhu Y; Takei K; Huang Y; Spiece J; Gehring P; Persaud K; Llobet E; Krik S; Vasquez S; Costa Angeli MA; Lugli P; Fabbri B; Spagnoli E; Rossi A; Occhipinti LG; Tang C; Yi W; Ravenscroft D; Kandukuri TR; Abideen ZU; Azimi Z; Tricoli A; Rivadeneyra A; Rojas S; Gaiardo A; Valt M; Galstyan V; Zappa D; Comini E; Noël V; Mattana G; Piro B; Strand E; Bihar E; Whiting GL; Shkodra B; Petrelli M; Moro G; Raucci A; Miglione A; Cinti S; Casson AJ; Wang Z; Bird D; Batchelor JC; Xing L; Johnson LSJ; Alwattar AA; Kyndiah A; Viola FA; Caironi M; Albarghouthi FM, 2024, 'Roadmap on printable electronic materials for next-generation sensors', Nano Futures, 8, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/2399-1984/ad36ff
    Journal articles | 2023
    Abideen ZU; Choi JG; Yuwono JA; Kiy A; Kumar PV; Murugappan K; Lee WJ; Kluth P; Nisbet DR; Tran-Phu T; Yoon MH; Tricoli A, 2023, 'Oxygen Vacancies Engineering in Thick Semiconductor Films via Deep Ultraviolet Photoactivation for Selective and Sensitive Gas Sensing', Advanced Electronic Materials, 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aelm.202200905
    Journal articles | 2023
    Abideen ZU; Choi JG; Yuwono JA; Lee WJ; Murugappan K; Kumar PV; Nisbet DR; Trần-Phú T; Yoon MH; Tricoli A, 2023, 'Structural Engineering Three-Dimensional Nano-Heterojunction Networks for High-Performance Photochemical Sensing', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 15, pp. 56464 - 56477, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c12668
    Journal articles | 2023
    Arifeen WU; Abideen ZU; Guru Parakash N; Xiaolong L; Ko TJ, 2023, 'Effects of a high-performance, solution-cast composite electrolyte on the host electrospun polymer membrane for solid-state lithium metal batteries', Materials Today Energy, 33, pp. 101270 - 101270, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mtener.2023.101270
    Journal articles | 2018
    Abideen ZU; Kim JH; Mirzaei A; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2018, 'Sensing behavior to ppm-level gases and synergistic sensing mechanism in metal-functionalized rGO-loaded ZnO nanofibers', Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 255, pp. 1884 - 1896, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2017.08.210
    Journal articles | 2017
    Abideen ZU; Kim JH; Kim SS, 2017, 'Optimization of metal nanoparticle amount on SnO2 nanowires to achieve superior gas sensing properties', Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 238, pp. 374 - 380, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.07.054
    Journal articles | 2017
    Abideen ZU; Kim JH; Lee JH; Kim JY; Mirzaei A; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2017, 'Electrospun metal oxide composite nanofibers gas sensors: A review', Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society, 54, pp. 366 - 379, http://dx.doi.org/10.4191/kcers.2017.54.5.12
    Journal articles | 2017
    Abideen ZU; Park JY; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2017, 'Graphene-loaded tin oxide nanofibers: Optimization and sensing performance', Nanotechnology, 28, http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6528/28/3/035501
    Journal articles | 2016
    Katoch A; Abideen ZU; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2016, 'Grain-Size-Tuned Highly H2-Selective Chemiresistive Sensors Based on ZnO-SnO2 Composite Nanofibers', ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 8, pp. 2486 - 2494, http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b08416
    Journal articles | 2016
    Katoch A; Abideen ZU; Kim JH; Kim SS, 2016, 'Crystallinity dependent gas-sensing abilities of ZnO hollow fibers', Metals and Materials International, 22, pp. 942 - 946, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12540-016-6099-1
    Journal articles | 2016
    Katoch A; Ul Abideen Z; Kim JH; Kim SS, 2016, 'Influence of hollowness variation on the gas-sensing properties of ZnO hollow nanofibers', Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 232, pp. 698 - 704, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2016.04.013
    Journal articles | 2016
    Kim JH; Abideen ZU; Zheng Y; Kim SS, 2016, 'Improvement of toluene-sensing performance of SnO2 nanofibers by pt functionalization', Sensors (Switzerland), 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s16111857
    Journal articles | 2015
    Abideen ZU; Katoch A; Kim J-H; Kwon YJ; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2015, 'Excellent gas detection of ZnO nanofibers by loading with reduced graphene oxide nanosheets', Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 221, pp. 1499 - 1507, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2015.07.120
    Journal articles | 2015
    Abideen ZU; Kim HW; Kim SS, 2015, 'An ultra-sensitive hydrogen gas sensor using reduced graphene oxide-loaded ZnO nanofibers', Chemical Communications, 51, pp. 15418 - 15421, http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5cc05370f
  • Conference Presentations | 2023
    Abideen ZU; Choi J-G; Murugappan K; Tran-Phu T; Yoon M-H; Tricoli A, 2023, 'Ultraporous NiO-ZnO Nano Heterojunction Networks Abundant in Oxygen Vacancies for Room Temperature VOCs Sensing', presented at 11th International Conference on Nano and Materials Science (ICNMS 2023), Singapore
    Conference Presentations | 2022
    Abideen ZU; Choi J-G; Lee W-J; Murugappan K; Tran-Phu T; Yoon M-H; Tricoli A, 2022, 'Thick Ultraporous Metal Oxide Nanostructures Abundant in Oxygen Vacancies for Room Temperature VOCs Sensing', presented at 22nd IEEE International Conference on Nanotechnology (IEEE NANO 2022), Palma de Majorca, Spain
    Conference Presentations | 2020
    Abideen ZU; Murugappan K; Low MX; Walia S; Dutt S; Nisbet D; Kluth P; Tricoli A, 2020, 'Development of an array of chemiresistive sensors for early detection of diseases through breath analysis', presented at Our Health In Our Hands (OHIOH) Symposium: Past, Present, and Beyond, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
    Conference Presentations | 2015
    Abideen ZU; Kim SS, 2015, 'High gas detection performances of ZnO nanofibers by optimal loading of reduced graphene oxide', presented at The spring meeting of Materials Research Society of Korea, GumiCo (Gumi Convention and Exhibition Centre), South Korea
    Patents | 2015
    Kim SS; Kim J-H; Kim HW; Abideen ZU, 2015, Gas Sensor for Hydrogen, Republic of Korea, Patent No. 10-1736795-0000

2023     ANU+ Award

2022     IEEE NANO 2022 Travel Award (700 USD)

2022     ANU Vice Chancellor’s Travel Grant (1500 AUD)

2020     Best Poster & Presentation Award: Our Health In Our Hands Runner-up

2020     ANU Ph.D. International Full Scholarship (ANU, Australia)

2020     ANU HDR Fee Remission Merit Scholarship (ANU, Australia)

2016     Best Research Student Award (Inha University, Korea)

2015     Best Paper Presentation Award (MRS Korea)

2014     Jungseok International Full Scholarship (Inha University, Korea)

Dr Zain focuses on sustainable materials and innovative waste recycling solutions, with an emphasis on addressing environmental challenges and advancing circular economy practices. His current projects include the identification and quantification of microplastics in mixed waste and wastewater, exploring their sources, and the investigation of degradation mechanisms in artificial turf and the formation of microplastics under real-world conditions. He also works on the characterization of gases from various wastes as potential fuels for industrial applications. His research integrates interdisciplinary approaches to develop innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions for environmental monitoring and resource recovery.