Professor Wen Zhang researches nanotechnology and its role in sustainable agriculture and water treatment.
Wen Zhang, a professor at NJIT’s Newark College of Engineering, has been named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The program honors academic and institutional inventors, and the induction recognizes Zhang’s work using nanomaterials to break down environmental pollutants, recover nutrients from wastewater and support sustainable agriculture.
Zhang, who leads the Sustainable Environmental Nanotechnology and Nanointerfaces Laboratory, is pioneering research in the production and application of nanobubbles — tiny gaseous bubbles with diameters of around 100 nanometers (to put that into perspective, the width of a human hair is about 100,000 nanometers). Nanobubbles exhibit many unique properties in water, and Zhang’s team explores their use in sanitizing food and water; mitigating pollution; and enhancing oxygenation, microbial health and nutrient flow in soil.
"Nanobubble science represents a rapidly emerging frontier with the potential to transform a wide spectrum of environmental, agricultural, biomedical, and industrial technologies,” said Zhang. Because nanobubbles exhibit exceptionally long lifetimes, high interfacial reactivity, and unique physicochemical behaviors at the nanoscale, they enable processes that conventional gas–liquid systems can’t.
“From advancing sustainable water and soil treatment, enhancing crop productivity, and enabling precision agriculture, to improving disinfection, biosensing, and therapeutic delivery, nanobubbles offer a powerful platform for innovation across disciplines,” Zhang added. “As we deepen our mechanistic understanding and expand real-world applications, nanobubble technology is poised to play a foundational role in addressing global challenges in food, water, energy and health.”
Zhang’s nanobubble research has garnered over $1.5 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), supporting nanobubble science and engineering.
Nanobubble science represents a rapidly emerging frontier
Under EPA P2 funding support, his team recently developed the first industrial-grade system for converting ozone into nanobubbles in water, delivering it for testing in August 2025 at a New Jersey farm. Their system improves the solubility of ozone, boosting water disinfection by disabling pathogens and reducing toxins from algae.
Zhang also organized the 2026 International Nanobubble Conference, to be held at NJIT from August 19–21, 2026. The event will bring together experts from around the world to address the latest developments in nanobubble technologies.
“I am deeply grateful to be elected as an NAI Fellow,” Zhang said. “This recognition would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my colleagues, mentors, and the NJIT leadership team. I am proud to share this honor with such a dedicated and inspiring community.”
Founded in 2012, the NAI Fellows program spotlights academic inventors whose transformative achievements shape economic and social progress. The program now includes 2,253 innovators who together hold more than 86,000 U.S. patents.
NAI’s 2025 Class of Fellows includes 169 U.S. Fellows and 16 International Fellows. Zhang and the other inductees will receive their medals from a senior official of the United States Patent Office on June 4, 2026, at a ceremony in Los Angeles, California.
For more information about the National Academy of Inventors and the 2025 class of Fellows, please visit the NAI website.