Faculty Profile

Dr. Muhammad Saqib
Assistant Professor
PhD (Analytical Chemistry), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China; Post Doctorate, SUSTech (China), Post Doctorate, CIAC-CAS (China)

Dr. Muhammad Saqib received his M.Sc. (Analytical Chemistry) and M.Phil. (Analytical/Inorganic Chemistry) degrees from University of Gujrat and University of Sargodha, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing (under supervision of Prof. Guobao Xu at the State Key Laboratory of Electroanalytical Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences), China. He then worked as an Assistant Professor at the Sulaiman Bin Abdullah Aba Al-Khail-Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Basic Science (SA-CIRBS), International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan. He finished his 1st postdoctoral research in Prof. Yongdong Jin’s lab at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CIAC, CAS) followed by a 2nd postdoctoral work with Prof. Rui Hao at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China. During his career, he has won various prestigious fellowships including CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship for PhD and CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for Post Doc. He has published >60 research papers in impact factor (IF) research journals of international repute with accumulative IF of above 315 (2023 JCR IF). He has applied for >02 International Patents. He has won prestigious National Natural Science Fund of China, Research Fund for Young International Scientists as a Principal Investigator (PI). He has attended significant number of conferences, summer camps, symposium and workshops about his field.

*correspondingauthor,#equalcontribution

  1. Muhammad Saqib, Yunshan Fan, Rui Hao*, Bo Zhang. Optical imaging of nanoscale electrochemical interfaces in energy applications. Nano Energy, 2021, 90 (Part A), 106539.
  2. Muhammad Saqib, Shahida Bashir, Haijuan Li, Chuanping Li, Shanshan Wang, Yongdong Jin*. Efficient electrogenerated chemiluminescence of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) with N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide as a coreactant for selective and sensitive detection of L-proline and mercury (II). Analytical Chemistry, 2019, 91 (19), 12517-12524.
  3. Muhammad Saqib, Shahida Bashir, Haijuan Li, Shanshan Wang, Yongdong Jin*. Lucigenin-tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine chemiluminescence for selective and sensitive detection of TCEP, superoxide dismutase, mercury (II), and dopamine. Analytical Chemistry, 2019, 91 (4), 3070-3077.
  4. Muhammad Saqib, Liming Qi, Pan Hui, Anaclet Nsabimana, Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Wei Zhang*, Guobao Xu*. Development of a new luminol-N-hydroxyphthalimide CL system for the highly selective and sensitive detection of superoxide dismutase, uric acid and Co2+, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2018, 99, 519-524.
  5. Muhammad Saqib, Shahida Bashir, Shimeles Addisu Kitte, Haijuan Li, Yongdong Jin*. Acridine orange as a coreactant for efficient electrogenerated chemiluminescence of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) and its use for selective and sensitive detection of thiourea. Chemical Communications, 2020, 56 (38), 5154-5157.
  6. Muhammad Saqib, Shahida Bashir, Shimeles Addisu Kitte, Haijuan Li, Yongdong Jin*. High-efficiency cathodic electrochemiluminescence of the tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II)/N-hydroxy compound system and its use for sensitive “turn-on” detection of mercury(II) and methyl blue. Chemical Communications, 2020, 56 (12), 1827-1830.
  7. Jiaxin Mao#, Guopeng Li#, Muhammad Saqib#, Jiantie Xu, Rui Hao*. Super-resolved dynamics of isolated zinc formation during extremely fast electrochemical deposition/dissolution processes. Chemical Science, 2022, 13, 12782-12790.
  8. Muhammad Saqib, Baohua Lou, Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Shimeles Addisu Kitte, Zhongyuan Liu, Guobao Xu*. Chemiluminescence of lucigenin-allantoin and its application for the detection of allantoin. Analytical Chemistry, 2017, 89 (3), 1863–1869.
  9. Muhammad Saqib, Wenyue Gao, Jianping Lai, Liming Qi, Saadat Majeed, MR Gilani, Guobao Xu*. Hydroxylamine-O-sulfonic acid as an efficient coreactant for luminol chemiluminescence for selective and sensitive detection. Chemical Communications, 2015, 51 (30), 6536-6539.
  10. Muhammad Saqib, Jianping Lai, Jianming Zhao, Suping Li, Guobao Xu*. Bipolar electrochemical approach with a thin layer of supporting electrolyte towards the growth of self-organizing TiO2 nanotubes. ChemElectroChem, 2016, 3 (3), 360-365. (Inside Front Cover + Cover Profile).
  11. Muhammad Saqib*, Shahida Bashir, Sajjad Ali, Rui Hao. Highly selective and sensitive detection of mercury (II) and dopamine based on the efficient electrochemiluminescence of Ru(bpy)32+ with acridine orange as a coreactant. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry, 2022, 906, 115896.
  12. Muhammad Saqib, Suping Li, Wenyue Gao, Saadat Majeed, Liming Qi, Zhongyuan Liu, Guobao Xu*. N-hydroxysuccinimide as an effective chemiluminescence coreactant for highly selective and sensitive detection. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2016, 408 (30), 8851-8857.
  13. Hongcheng Yang#, Muhammad Saqib#, Rui Hao*. Single-Entity Detection with TEM-Fabricated Nanopores. Frontiers in Chemistry, 2021, 9 (305), 664820.
  14. Xianqi Ye#, Muhammad Saqib#, Jiaxin Mao, Guopeng Li, Rui Hao*. Spatiotemporally super-resolved dendrites nucleation and early-stage growth dynamics in Zinc-ion batteries. Cell Reports Physical Science, 2021, 2 (5), 100420.
  15. Muhammad Saqib*, Shahid Iqbal, Asif Mahmood, Raheel Akram. Theoretical investigation for exploring the antioxidant potential of chlorogenic acid: a density functional theory study. International Journal of Food Properties, 2015, 19 (4), 745-751.
  16. Muhammad Saqib*, Muhammad Sagir, Munawar Lal Joshi, Shahida Bashir, Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Saman Ali, Hosam O Elansary, Ghulam Mustafa Kamal. Screening and designing of a large chemical space of organic semiconductors for photodetectors. Materials Today Communications, 2024, 38, 108062.
  17. Muhammad Saqib*, Mashal Rani, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, Momina Maryam, Afifa Mushtaq, Rafia Razzaq, Mohamed A El-Sheikh, Hosam O Elansary. Designing of low band gap organic semiconductors through data mining from multiple databases and machine learning assisted property prediction. Optical Materials, 2024, 150, 115295.
  18. Muhammad Saqib, Shahid Iqbal, Sumaira Naeem, Asif Mahmood*. DFT for exploring the antioxidant potential of homogentisic and orsellinic acids. Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2013, 26 (6), 1209-1214.
  19. Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Waseem Mumtaz, Asif Mahmood*, Muhammad Imran Abdullah. Optimized biodiesel production and environmental assessment of produced biodiesel. Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering, 2012, 17 (3), 617-623.
  20. Jianping Lai, Suping Li, Fengxia Wu, Muhammad Saqib, Rafael Luque*, Guobao Xu*. Unprecedented metal-free 3D porous carbonaceous electrodes for full water splitting. Energy & Environmental Science, 2016, 9 (4), 1210-1214. (Selected as Front Cover).
  21. Xin Zhao, Yanyan Li, Yu Cui, Muhammad Saqib, Xinyu Zhang*, Rui Hao*, Zhiping Zheng*. Spatiotemporally and chemically resolved imaging of electrocatalytic oxygen evolution on single nanoplates of cobalt-layered hydroxide. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2023, 145 (38), 20897-20906.
  22. Muhammad Saqib*, Mariam Zafar, Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Shahzad Murtaza, Ghulam Mustafa Kamal, Guobao Xu. Nanoscale Luminescence Imaging/Detection of Single Particles: State-of-the-Art and Future Prospects. ACS Measurement Science Au, 2024, 4 (1), 3-24. (2023 Rising Star Virtual Collection)
  23. Yu Cui#, Xin Zhao#, Muhammad Saqib#, Rui Hao*. Multimode imaging analysis of single particles at the electrochemical interfaces. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 2024, 46, 101527.
  24. Fatimah Mohammed A. Alzahrani, Muhammad Saqib*, Maria Arooj, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, Z.A. Alrowaili, M.S. Al-Buriahi. Virtual screening of efficient building blocks and designing of new polymers for organic solar cells. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, 2023, 178, 111340.
  25. Jehad Saleh, Sajjad Haider, Muhammad Saeed Akhtar, Muhammad Saqib*, Muqadas Javed, Sayed Elshahat, Ghulam Mustafa Kamal. Energy level prediction of organic semiconductors for photodetectors and mining of a photovoltaic database to search for new building units. Molecules, 2023, 28 (3), 1240.
  26. Nada Alfryyan, Muhammad Saqib*, Saman Ali, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Designing of near-IR organic semiconductors for photodetectors: Machine learning and data mining assisted efficient pipeline. Materials Today Communications, 2023, 36, 106556.
  27. Nada Alfryyan, Muhammad Saqib*, Muhammad Arsal Farooq, Muhammad Ali, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Virtual mining of polymer monomers for photodetectors application and regression-aided reorganization energy prediction. Chemical Physics Letters, 2023, 827, 140689.
  28. Khadijah Mohammedsaleh Katubi, Muhammad Saqib*, Momina Maryam, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, Muhammad Sulaman, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Machine learning assisted designing of organic semiconductors for organic solar cells: High-throughput screening and reorganization energy prediction. Inorganic Chemistry Communications, 2023, 151, 110610.
  29. Khadijah Mohammedsaleh Katubi, Muhammad Saqib*, Amna Rehman, Shahzad Murtaza, Shabbir Hussain, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Theoretical designing of small molecule donors for organic solar cells: Analyzing the effect of molecular polarity through structural engineering at terminal position. Chemical Physics Letters, 2023, 814, 140349.
  30. Haihan He#, Chuhong Wu#, Muhammad Saqib#, Rui Hao*. Single-molecule fluorescence methods for protein biomarker analysis. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2023, 415 (18), 3655-3669.
  31. Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa*, Muhammad Saqib*. Amplified electrochemiluminescence of the luminol-amisulpride system and its application for the ultrasensitive detection of amisulpride. ChemistrySelect, 2023, 8 (18), e202300317.
  32. Fatimah Mohammed A Alzahrani, Muhammad Sagir, Muhammad Saqib*, Shahida Bashir, Tayyaba Sarwar, Shabbir Hussain, Shahzad Murtaza, Afifa Mushtaq, Rafia Razzaq, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Machine learning assisted prediction of band gaps and designing of new polymers for photodetectors: A complete pipeline. Computational Materials Science, 2024, 239, 112961.
  33. Muhammad Sagir#, Muhammad Saqib#, Muhammad Bilal Tahir, Shabbir Hussain*, Laiba Javed#, Uzma Shoukat, Muhammad Khalid*, Ataualpa A.C. Braga, Sami Ullah, Mohammed Ali Assiri. Exploaration of the Influence of End-capped Structural Modification on Photovoltaic Properties of Selenopheno-thiophene Core based Non-fullerene Chromophores: A DFT Study. Synthetic Metals, 2024, 306, 117620.
  34. Shoaib Tariq, Muhammad Tahir, Iqra Shafiq, Muhammad Saqib*, Saadia Haq, Hina Aftab, Muhammad Imran*, Zahid Shafiq*. Exploration of Key Electronic Properties and Optical Nonlinearity of Diamine Based Schiff Bases: Spectroscopic Characterization and DFT Study. Journal of Molecular Structure, 2024, 1308, 138135.
  35. Muhammad Saqib*, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, Muqadas Javed, Asima Hameed, Asad Aziz. Designing of benzofuran-based monomers for photodetectors through similarity analysis and library enumeration. Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry, 2023, 36 (10), e4553.
  36. Fei Xiao, Muhammad Saqib*, Soha Razzaq, Tayyaba Mubashir, Mudassir Hussain Tahir, Ihab Mohamed Moussa, Hosam O El-Ansary. Performance prediction of polymer-fullerene organic solar cells and data mining-assisted designing of new polymers. Journal of Molecular Modeling, 2023, 29 (8), 1-12.
  37. Khadijah Mohammedsaleh Katubi, Muhammad Saqib*, Muhammad Sulaman, ZA Alrowaili, MS Al-Buriahi. Designing high-efficiency organic semi-conductors for organic photodetectors assisted by machine learning and property prediction. Chemical Physics, 2024, 582, 112295.
  38. Kateryna Muzyka, Muhammad Saqib, Zhongyuan Liu, Wei Zhang*, Guobao Xu*. Progress and challenges in electrochemiluminescent aptasensors. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2017, 92, 241-258.
  39. Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Muhammad Saqib, Weihao Lei, Lei Su*, Xueji Zhang*. Zirconium-directed supramolecular self-assembly of coenzyme A@GNCs with enhanced phosphorescence for developing ultrasensitive tracer probe of dipicolinic acid, a biomarker of bacterial spores. Analytical Chemistry, 2023, 95 (29), 11164–11171.
  40. Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Muhammad Saqib, Wenyue Gao, Liming Qi, Wei Zhang*, Guobao Xu*. Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate assay based on lucigenin chemiluminescence. Microchimica Acta, 2018, 185, 381-388.
  41. Wenyue Gao, Muhammad Saqib, Liming Qi, Wei Zhang*, Guobao Xu*. Recent advances in electrochemiluminescence devices for point-of-care testing. Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, 2017, 3, 4-10.
  42. Mohamed Ibrahim Halawa, Wenyue Gao, Muhammad Saqib, Shimeles Addisu Kitte, Guobao Xu*. Sensitive detection of alkaline phosphatase by switching on gold nanoclusters fluorescence quenched by pyridoxal phosphate. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2017, 95, 8-14.
  43. Shanshan Wang, Chuanping Li, Muhammad Saqib, Guohua Qi, Chunhua Ge, Haijuan Li, Yongdong Jin*. Quasi-photonic crystal light-scattering signal amplification of SiO2-nanomembrane for ultrasensitive electrochemiluminescence detection of cardiac troponin I. Analytical Chemistry, 2020, 92 (1), 845-852.
  44. Saima Hanif, Peter John, Wenyue Gao, Muhammad Saqib, Liming Qi, Guobao Xu*. Chemiluminescence of creatinine/H2O2/Co2+ and its application for selective creatinine detection. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2016, 75, 347-351.
  45. Shimeles Addisu Kitte, Terefe Tafese, Chen Xu, Muhammad Saqib, Haijuan Li, Yongdong Jin*. Plasmon-enhanced quantum dots electrochemiluminescence aptasensor for selective and sensitive detection of cardiac troponin I. Talanta, 2021, 221, 121674.
  46. Chuanping Li, Shanshan Wang, Haijuan Li, Muhammad Saqib, Chen Xu, Yongdong Jin*. Nanoengineered metasurface immunosensor with over 1000-fold electrochemiluminescence enhancement for ultra-sensitive bioassay. iScience, 2019, 17, 267-276.
  47. Guopeng Li, Jiaxin Mao, Muhammad Saqib, Rui Hao*. Operando optoelectrochemical analysis of single zinc dendrites with a reflective nanopore electrode. Chemistry-An Asian Journal, 2022, 17(22), e202200824.
  48. Raheel Akram, Anila Arshad*, Muhammad Saqib. Fluorescein isothiocyanate-tagged boronic acid sensor-based pH-dependent discerning tannic acid detection. Journal of the Chinese Chemical Society, 2023, 70 (10), 1908-1915.
  49. Shanshan Wang, Yangyang Zhao, Minmin Wang, Haijuan Li*, Muhammad Saqib, Chunhua Ge, Xiangdong Zhang, Yongdong Jin*. Enhancing luminol electrochemiluminescence by combined use of cobalt-based MOF and silver nanoparticles and its application in ultrasensitive detection of cardiac troponin I. Analytical Chemistry, 2019, 91 (4), 3048-3054.
  50. Muhammad Khalid*, Muhammad Sagir, Muhammad Zahid, Sara Figueirêdo de Alcântara Morais, Muhammad Saqib, Sami Ullah, Khurram Shahzad Munawar, Ataualpa A. C. Braga, Mohammed Ali Assiri. A theoretical expedition for enhancing photovoltaic performance: DFT investigation of benzo[c][1,2,5] thiadiazole-based scaffolds for organic solar cells. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2024, 63 (6), 2726–2739.
  51. Suping Li, Jianping Lai, Liming Qi, Muhammad Saqib, Saadat Majeed, Yuejing Tong*, Guobao Xu*. Sensitive and selective colorimetric detection of Hg2+ by a Hg2+ induced dual signal amplification strategy based on cascade-type catalytic reactions. Analyst, 2016, 141 (8), 2362-2366.
  52. Muhammad Ramzan Saeed Ashraf Janjua, Ahmad Irfan, Mohamed Hussien, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Sulaman*. Machine-learning analysis of small-molecule donors for fullerene based organic solar cells. Energy Technology, 2022, 10 (5), 2200019.
  53. Zhongyuan Liu, Wei Zhang, Wenjing Qi, Wenyue Gao, Saima Hanif, Muhammad Saqib, Guobao Xu*. Label-free signal-on ATP aptasensor based on the remarkable quenching of tris(2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(ii) electrochemiluminescence by single-walled carbon nanohorn. Chemical Communications, 2015, 51 (20), 4256-4258.
  54. Ghulam Mustafa Kamal*, Nafia Nazi, Asma Sabir, Muhammad Saqib, Xu Zhang*, Bin Jiang, Jallat Khan, Ayesha Noreen, Jalal Uddin, Shahzad Murtaza. Yield and chemical composition of ginger essential oils as affected by inter-varietal variation and drying treatments of rhizome. Separations, 2023, 10 (3), 186.
  55. Shabbir Hussain*, Rabia Kiran, Muhammad Ahmad, Muhammad Saqib, Khurram Shahzad Munawar, Muhammad Shahid, Muhammad Waqas, Shazma Massey, Rifat Jawaria, Rabia Baby. Synthesis, spectroscopy and biological studies of triphenyltin (IV) derivatives with carboxylated Schiff bases. Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society, 2023, 20, 1191–1203.
  56. Saadat Majeed, Dan Li, Wenyue Gao, Jianping Lai, Liming Qi, Muhammad Saqib, Guobao Xu*. Aqueous synthesis of tunable highly photoluminescent CdTe quantum dots using rongalite and bioimaging application. Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry, 2015, 43 (12), e101–e107.
  57. Muhammad Saqib*, Asif Mahmood, Raheel Akram, Bilal Khalid, Saad Afzal, Ghulam Mustafa Kamal. Density functional theory for exploring the structural characteristics and their effects on the antioxidant properties. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Applied Chemistry, 2015, 1 (2), 65-71.
  58. Raheel Akram, Muhammad Saqib*, Bilal Khalid, Anila Arshad. Effects of extraction media and techniques on the antioxidant properties and recovery of phenolics from roots of glycyrrhiza glabra. Journal of Molecular Pathophysiology, 2015, 4 (4), 138-143.
  59. Asif Mahmood*, Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Imran Abdullah, Bilal Khalid. Theoretical investigation for the designing of novel antioxidants. Canadian Journal of Chemistry, 2013, 91 (2), 126-130.
  60. Muhammad Yasir Akram*, Tuba Ashraf, Muhammad Saqaf Jagirani, Ahsan Nazir, Muhammad Saqib, Muhammad Imran*. Recent Advances in Graphene-Based Single-Atom Photocatalysts for CO2 Reduction and H2 Production. Catalysts, 2024, 14 (6), 343.

  • Biosensing/ Detection: Novel chemiluminescence and electrochemiluminescence methods for diagnostic/(bio-)analytical applications (immunoassay, biomarkers, heavy metal ions, dyes, drugs detection etc.)
  • Optical Imaging: Optical microscopy (e.g., electrochemiluminescence microscopy) for opto-electrochemical analysis of single particles for energy/ diagnostic applications
  • Machine Learning/ DFT: Density functional theory and machine learning assisted screening/ designing of high-performance compounds for broader applications (e.g., photovoltaics, batteries etc.)
  • Bipolar Electrochemistry/ Electrocatalysis: Electrocatalysis for water splitting applications (HER, OER). Bipolar electrochemistry for growth of materials and analytical applications

  • Rising Star 2023 in Measurement Science, ACS Measurement Science Au 01/2024
  • Post-doctorate Fellowship of Southern University of Science and Technology 05/2020
  • CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) 01/2018
  • CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship for PhD studies 07/2017
  • Chinese Government Scholarship for PhD studies 07/2017
  • Merit Scholarships

  • The Chemical Society of Pakistan (CSP)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
  • The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)