Kaiwen Zeng

Title: Young Research Scientist

Research Interests: Metal-Backboned Polymers

Kaiwen Zeng is a young research scientist at the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science. He received his Ph.D. in Applied Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology in 2020. Following a postdoctoral appointment at Fudan University, he joined the faculty in 2024. His current research focuses on the synthesis and functional exploration of advanced materials, with a particular emphasis on a new class of metal-backboned polymers (MBPs). His work has relocated the focus of structural design from traditional nonmetallic atoms to fully metallic backbones, opening a new avenue for materials innovation. As first and correspondent authors, he has published a series of articles in leading international journals, including Nat. Protoc., Nat. Rev. Mater., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed, Adv. Mater., Energy Environ. Sci. He holds two authorized Chinese invention patents and served as principal investigator for both a General Program and a Young Scientists Fund project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Research Work:

1) Design and synthesis of metal-backboned polymers; 2) Investigation of their optical, electrical, and magnetic properties; 3) Exploration of their applications in fiber electronic devices, new energy technologies, and catalysis.

Selected Publications:

1. Zeng, KW^#; Shi, X^#; Tang, CQ^#; Liu, T*; Peng, HS*. Design, fabrication and assembly considerations for electronic systems made of fibre devices, Nat. Rev. Mater. 2023, 8, 552–561.
2. Zhang, KL^#; Shi, X^#; Jiang, HB^#; Zeng, KW^#; Zhou, ZH; Zhai, P; Zhang, LH; Peng, HS*. Design and fabrication of wearable electronic textiles using twisted fiber-based threads, Nat. Protoc. 2024, 19, 1557–1589.
3. Zeng, KW*; Liu, JZ; Wu, ZJ; Qin, YD; Shen, JY; Huang, FY; Peng, HS*. A material viewpoint on metal-backboned polymers, Adv. Mater. 2025, doi: 10.1002/adma.202509064.
4. Zeng, KW^#; Yang, YB^#; Xu, JN; Wang, N; Tang, WQ; Xu, JC; Zhang, YF; Wu, YRZ; Xu, YF; Wang, GW*; Chen, PN; Wang, BJ; Sun, XM; Jin, GX; Peng, HS*. Metal-backboned polymers with well-defined lengths, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, 62, e202216060.
5. Wang, N^#; Zeng, KW^#; Zheng, YY; Jiang, HY; Yang, YY; Zhang, YF; Li, DK; Yu, SH; Ye, Q; Peng, HS*. High-performance thermoelectric fibers from metal-backboned polymers for body-temperature wearable power devices, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2024, 63, e202403415.
6. Zeng, KW; Chen, YY; Zhu, WH; Tian, H; Xie, YS*. Efficient solar cells based on concerted companion dyes containing two complementary components: An alternative approach for cosensitization, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 5154–5161.
7. Zeng, KW; Tong, ZF; Ma, L; Zhu, WH; Wu, WJ; Xie, YS*. Molecular engineering strategies for fabricating efficient porphyrin-based dye-sensitized solar cells, Energy Environ. Sci. 2020, 13, 1617–1657.
8. Zeng, KW^#; Wang, N^#; Wu, ZJ; Peng HS*. Metal-backboned polymers: A new concept for thermoelectric materials, Chem. Eur. J. 2025, 31, e202404798.
9. Zeng, KW; Lu, YY; Tang, WQ; Zhao, SL; Liu, QY; Zhu, WH; Tian, H; Xie, YS*. Efficient solar cells sensitized by a promising new type of porphyrin: Dye-aggregation suppressed by double strapping, Chem. Sci. 2019, 10, 2186–2192.
10. Zeng, KW; Tang, WQ; Li, CJ; Chen, YY; Zhao, SL; Liu, QY; Xie, YS*. Systematic optimization of the substituents on the phenothiazine donor of doubly strapped porphyrin sensitizers: An efficiency over 11% unassisted by any cosensitizer or coadsorbent, J. Mater. Chem. A 2019, 7, 20854–20860.