Chi D. Cheng

Senior Lecturer & ARC Future Fellow @ UNSW Sydney, Australia.

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Hilmer 522, Gate 2

UNSW Sydney, High St

Kensington, NSW 2052

I lead the Chi Lab at UNSW Sydney, where we study nanofluidics and advanced membranes. Our research advances chemical separations, green energy, and sustainable resource technologies. I also serve as Deputy Director of the UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology.

Before joining UNSW, I was a Research Scientist and Postdoctoral Associate at MIT and held a research fellowship at the University of Melbourne. I completed my PhD in Materials Science at Monash University.

If you are interested in joining the lab or collaborating, feel free to get in touch at chi.cheng2@unsw.edu.au.

We gratefully acknowledge the Australian Research Council, UNSW Sydney, and our industry partners for their generous support of our research.

news

Apr 15, 2026 Zhouhao was awarded the 2026 HDR Development and Research Training Grant (DRTG). Congratulations! 🎉
Apr 07, 2026 Dr. Yuan Yan joins the Chi Lab as a Postdoctoral Fellow! Yuan completed his PhD at the University of Melbourne. We are thrilled to have him on board and look forward to the exciting science ahead together. Welcome, Yuan! 🎉
Mar 12, 2026 Dr. Tongxi Lin joins the Chi Lab! Tongxi completed his PhD in Materials Science studying graphene oxide membranes with Prof. Rakesh Joshi. We are thrilled to have him on board and look forward to the exciting science ahead together. Welcome, Tongxi! 🎉
Mar 02, 2026 David appointed Deputy Director of the UNSW UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology. 🎉
Feb 25, 2026 Zhengyao Chen (Kairos) joins the Chi Lab as an MPhil student. Welcome, Kairos! 😊

selected publications

  1. Nat. Commun.
    Edge-activated graphene nanopores for thermally robust hydrogen membrane separations
    Chi Cheng, Lohyun Kim, Aaron H Persad, and 2 more authors
    Nature Communications, 2025
  2. Nature
    Cascaded compression of size distribution of nanopores in monolayer graphene
    Jiangtao Wang, Chi Cheng, Xudong Zheng, and 8 more authors
    Nature, 2023
  3. Nat. Nanotechnol.
    Molecular size-dependent subcontinuum solvent permeation and ultrafast nanofiltration across nanoporous graphene membranes
    Chi Cheng, Sathvik Ajay Iyengar, and Rohit Karnik
    Nature Nanotechnology, 2021