People

Dr. Ayan Zhumekenov

...

Assistant Professor

The research in Dr. Ayan Zhumekenov’s laboratory bridges chemistry and materials science, focusing on the design, discovery, and development of new solution-processable functional materials for optoelectronics and other energy-related applications.

📍 Bldg. 4-117

☎ (+966) 13 860 4813

✉ ayan.zhumekenov@kfupm.edu.sa

🔗 ORCID: 0000-0002-3216-5315

🔗 Scopus: 57192430998

Research Area

⬡ Materials Chemistry
⬡ Functional Materials
⬡ Hybrid Semiconductors
⬡ Automated Synthesis

Solution-Processable Functional Materials

We develop new solution-processable functional materials for energy saving, detection, and conversion. Our research focuses on emerging crystalline semiconductors, including halide perovskites and other hybrid organic–inorganic material systems. We seek to understand their design principles and chemistry, along with their structure–property relationships, with the ultimate goal of discovering new materials that can be processed easily, sustainably, and at scale.

Dynamic and Complex Materials Systems

We explore materials where dynamic behavior and structural complexity create new functionality. In stimuli-responsive perovskites, we study reversible transformations driven by light, heat, chemical environments, and other external stimuli. We also explore multicomponent and high-entropy systems, where chemical and structural complexity can give rise to unexpected phases and physical phenomena.

High-Throughput Experimentation

The vast chemical space of functional materials cannot be explored one experiment at a time. We develop automated, high-throughput workflows that combine robot-assisted synthesis, rapid characterization, and data-driven experimentation. Our goal is to explore this space more efficiently and uncover connections between synthesis conditions, material composition, structure, and properties, thus accelerating the discovery of new material systems.

Education

✔︎ Postdoc: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2022-2026

✔︎ Postdoc: University of California, Berkeley, 2021-2022

✔︎ PhD: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, 2020

✔︎ BSc/MSc: Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2013

  • Zhumekenov, A. A.; Sharma, A.; Jamolov, A.; Nambiar, A.; Abuzeid, H. R.; Miftahullatif, E. B.; Singhal, N.; Pullarkat, S. A.; Hippalgaonkar, K.; Mathews, N. Expanding the Solvent Library for Halide Perovskites via Amine Additives. ACS Materials Lett. 2026, 8 (2), 446–454. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmaterialslett.5c01180.
  • Rak, D.; Lorenc, D.; Balazs, D. M.; Zhumekenov, A. A.; Bakr, O. M.; Alpichshev, Z. Flexoelectric Domain Walls Enable Charge Separation and Transport in Cubic Perovskites. Nat. Commun. 2026, 17 (1), 946. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5.
  • Abuzeid, H. R.; Sharma, A.; Tay, D. J. J.; Sun, H.; Tay, Y. B.; Salim, T.; Zhumekenov, A. A.; Pullarkat, S. A.; Mathews, N. Semiconducting Covalent Organic Frameworks as Functional Dopants for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells. Small 2026, e12864. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202512864.
  • Lorenc, D.; Volosniev, A. G.; Zhumekenov, A. A.; Lee, S.; Ibáñez, M.; Bakr, O. M.; Lemeshko, M.; Alpichshev, Z. Observation of Analogue Dynamic Schwinger Effect and Non-Perturbative Light Sensing in Lead Halide Perovskites. ACS Photonics 2025, 12 (9), 5220–5230. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.5c01360.
  • Miftahullatif, E. B.; Pethe, S. D.; Low, A. K. Y.; Zhumekenov, A. A.; Yantara, N.; Kajal, P.; Wu, Q.; Jie Tay, D. J.; Sharma, D.; Sebastian, S.; Recatala-Gomez, J.; Abhishek, N.; Mathews, N.; Hippalgaonkar, K. Machine-Learning-Driven in-Device Optimization of All-Printed Perovskite Solar Cells. ACS Energy Lett. 2025, 10 (8), 3952–3961. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.5c01475.
  • Zhumekenov, A. A.; Li, Y.; Zhou, Y.; Yantara, N.; Kanwat, A.; Febriansyah, B.; Tay, D. J. J.; Abuzeid, H. R.; Tay, Y. B.; Miftahullatif, E. B.; Hippalgaonkar, K.; Pullarkat, S. A.; Yin, J.; Mathews, N. Solvent-Templated Methylammonium-Based Ruddlesden–Popper Perovskites with Short Interlayer Distances. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146 (10), 6706–6720. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c12891.
  • Foong, J. J. Y. W.*; Dewi, H. A.*; Zhumekenov, A. A.*; Febriansyah, B.; Bruno, A.; Salim, T.; Tay, D. J. J.; Abuzeid, H. R.; Koh, T. M.; Mhaisalkar, S. G.; Mathews, N. Enhancing FAPbI3 Perovskite Solar Cell Performance with a Methanesulfonate-Based Additive. Sustainable Energy Fuels 2024, 8 (3), 491–495. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SE01369C.
  • Lorenc, D.; Zhumekenov, A.; Bakr, O. M.; Alpichshev, Z. No Extraordinary 𝜒(3) in Lead-Halide Perovskites: Placing an Upper Bound on Kerr Nonlinearity by Means of Time-Resolved Interferometry. Phys. Rev. Mater. 2024, 8 (8), 085403. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.085403.
  • Volosniev, A. G.; Shiva Kumar, A.; Lorenc, D.; Ashourishokri, Y.; Zhumekenov, A. A.; Bakr, O. M.; Lemeshko, M.; Alpichshev, Z. Spin-Electric Coupling in Lead Halide Perovskites. Phys. Rev. Lett. 2023, 130 (10), 106901. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.106901.
  • Zhumekenov, A. A.; Saidaminov, M. I.; Mohammed, O. F.; Bakr, O. M. Stimuli-Responsive Switchable Halide Perovskites: Taking Advantage of Instability. Joule 2021, 5 (8), 2027–2046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.07.008.