The Zhou lab

for Food Materials and Nanotechnology

We explore sustainable food proteins, investigate their fundamental mechanisms and interactions with bioactive molecules, and design novel food structure. Our mission is to advance future functional foods for the benefit of human health and well-being.

Our Research

Our team particularly focus on the natural sustainable proteins from plant, sea-products and industrial by-products, and investigate the fundamental mechanisms of protein self-assembling into protein nanofibrils, including their intrinsic properties, novel self-assembling behaviors, and interactions with other bioactives. Besides, we are also interested in natural biopolymers including polysaccharide, cellulose and silk-fibroin.

We utilize the unique mechanisms and features of these nanostructures to develop matrices and biomaterials for various applications across functional foods, nutrition delivery, biomedical materials, and other functional materials.

Featured Publications

Full list see Publications, Google Scholar and ORCID

  1. J. Zhou, S. Gowachirapant, C. Zender, A. Wieczorek, J. Guth, I. Kutzli, S. Siol, F. Meyenn, M. Zimmermann*, R. Mezzenga*. Oat protein nanofibril-iron hybrids offer a stable, high-absorption iron delivery platform for iron fortification. Nature Food, 2025. [DOI] [ETH News]

  2. L. Frey‡, J. Zhou‡,*. G. Cereghetti, M. Emanuel, D. Rhyner, A. Pokharna, L. Wenchel, H. Kadavath, M. Weber, Y. Cao, B. Meier, M. Peter, J. Greenwald, R. Riek*, R. Mezzenga*. A structural rationale for reversible vs irreversible amyloid fibril formation from a single protein. Nature Communications 15(1), 1-11, 2024. (‡ denotes co-first author and * denotes co-corresponding author)

  3. J. Zhou, A. Salvatore, M. Tatli, J. Tian, I. Illie, E. Starostin, A. Calflisch, T. Knowles, G. Dietler, F. Ruggeri, H. Stahlberg, S. Sekatskii, R. Mezzenga*. The role of inter-protofilament interaction in the formation mechanism of hierarchically twisted protein nanofibrils. Advanced Science 11(32), 2402740, 2024.

  4. J. Zhou‡,*, C. Liao‡,*, M. Villalba, C. Xiong, Cong. Zhao, L. Venturelli, D. Liu, A. Kohler, S. Sekatskii, G. Dietler, Y. Wang*, S. Kasas*. An optical fiber-based nanomotion sensor for rapid antibiotic and antifungal susceptibility test. Nano Letters 24 (10), 2980-2988, 2024.  (Cover Paper).

  5. D. Xu‡, J. Zhou‡,*, W. Soon, I. Kutzli, A. Moliere, M. Radiom, S. Handschin, B. Li, L. Li, C. Ewald and R. Mezzenga*. Food protein amyloids are safe intergrades for human nutrition Food Amyloid Fibrils as Safe Nutrition Ingredients: In-vitro and In-vivo Assessment. Nature Communications 14(1) 6806, 2023 (co-first author, co-corresponding author).

  6. J. Zhou, T. Li, M. Peydayesh, M. Usuelli, V. Bueno, J. Teng, L. Wang and R. Mezzenga*. Oat plant amyloids for sustainable functional materials. Advanced Science 9(4), 2104445, 2022. (Cover Paper)

Interested in joining our lab ?

We are recruiting for postdocs and talented PhD students.

We are always welcoming visiting scholars and self-funded postdoc/students.

Please send your CV and the names of three references to Dr. Jiangtao Zhou (jtzhou@nus.edu.sg)