Associate Professor
BSc, MSc, PhD, P.Eng
Department of Chemical Engineering
For Hadis Zarrin, life as an engineer is an adventure. “There are always problems to solve, and many possible routes to get to the solution,” she says. “You have to take risks and get creative.”
It’s a sensibility she brings to her classroom, which Zarrin keeps exciting with hands-on demonstrations that engage and challenge her students. A natural mentor, she’s always encouraging them to be undeterred by the prospect of failure, and to branch out and explore new things. “It’s the only way to grow and develop, as an engineer and as a person.”
While creativity and a sense of adventure are crucial to innovation, Zarrin is quick to remind her students of the importance of mastering the foundations. “Before you can invent and redesign, you need a solid knowledge of materials,” she says. “Once you have that, you can get as creative as you want—improving technology and really making an impact.”
Areas of Expertise
- Multifunctional nanoengineered materials
- Nano-hybrid composite membranes
- Clean energy storage and conversion
- Batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, electrolysers
- Wearable electronics and sensors
- Environmental remediation
- Smart coatings and textiles
Current Position
Dr. Hadis Zarrin is an Associate Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). She is also an Investigator at NSERC CREATE Hybrid Thermal Electric Microgrid (HYTEM) network (external link) , a collaborator and investigator at The Hydrogen Canada Network (H2CAN (external link) ), and a Principal Investigator at FIBRE (external link) — an academic research platform in the field of smart textile-based technologies under The Kite Research Institute banner at Toronto Rehab.
At TMU, Zarrin has established the Nanoengineering Laboratory for Energy and Environmental Technologies (NLEET) group to collaborate with diverse academic teams and industries and conduct the research and development of multifunctional nano-engineered materials towards different applications aligned with UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) (external link) : clean energy storage and conversion systems (SDG#7 (external link) and 13 (external link) ), smart healthcare wearable and biosensors (SDG#3 (external link) ), sustainable coating and packaging materials (SDG#3 (external link) and SDG#12 (external link) ), and environmental technologies (SDG#6 (external link) ).
Honours and Awards
- Dean's SRC Activity Award in 2022 and 2025
- Voices of the Future of Canadian Chemical Engineering in 2022
- Honorable Mention recipient of the 2014 Dr. Bernard S. Baker Student Award for Fuel Cell Research, Fuel Cell Seminar and Exposition.
- NSERC’s Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship - CGS ($70,000), 2012-2014.
- Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN) Fellowship ($20,000), University of Waterloo, 2012-2014.
- Waterloo President Graduate Scholarship ($20,000), University of Waterloo, 2012-2014.
Education
| Year | Institution | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | University of Waterloo | Ph.D. |
| 2008 | Iran University of Science & Technology (IUST) | M.Sc. |
| 2004 | Azad University (Science and Research Campus) | B.Sc. |
Teaching
Educating students to become future leaders in an engineering field is a challenging, and deeply rewarding task. Future leaders in engineering will be those who have learned to cope with complexity and ambiguity. To do that they must be able to zoom in/out the issues so that while focusing on specific details, they have a big picture of the whole subject. Recognizing these needs motivates Dr. Zarrin as an educator to teach the students to become insatiable learners, creative problem solvers, and prepared for the complex world they will face after leaving the campus.
| Course Code | Course Name |
|---|---|
| CE 8410 | Electrochemical Engineering |
Advice to Students
Life is about solving problems, and every obstacle is the way forward by making improvements, not excuses. Dr. Zarrin believes self-care, commitment, resilience and perseverance will take you far. To do so, her advice for graduate students at Ryerson are: (i) determine your priorities by considering what matters most to you; (ii) know your strengths; (iii) think long-term, but keep your options open, and (iv) be always true to yourself and consider what you are most passionate about.
Research
To Dr. Zarrin, materials are the foundations of everything we see and use in our everyday life. Any existing or emerging technology becomes functional based on its constituting ingredients and materials. On the other hand, the increase of global concerns surrounding energy consumption, depletion of fossil fuels as the main source of power generation, climate change and environmental quality have always urged me to contribute to these vital fields and come up with more sustainable and cleaner technologies for both energy consumption and generation.
- Homa Zarei
- Ali Manzour
- Mahdis Zareie
- Talha Ince
- Mymonah Meraj
- Reyhaneh Jahangiri
- Kanhchana Ly
- Connor Johnson
- Azadeh Torkamani
- Samantha Cohen
- Arvin Taghizadeh Tabrizi
- Caio Ferreira, PhD QES Scholar (external link) from University of Brasilia
- Rafael Dos Santos Magalhães, Master’s QES Scholar (external link) from University of Brasilia
- Dr. Jasneet Kaur as postdoctoral fellow (current position: Associate Professor at Brock University (external link) )
- Dr. Saba Goharshenas Moghadam as postdoctoral fellow (current position: Senior Research Scientist at Electrovaya (external link) )
- Dr. Reza Eslami as PhD candidate (current position: Postdoctoral Fellow at McMaster University (external link) )
- Dr. Amirhossein Kouhpour as PhD Candidate (current position: Technical Manager at PyroPhobic Systems (external link) )
- Dr. Nahid Azizi as PhD Candidate (current position: Research Partnerships Officer at Brock University (external link) )
- Dr. Yifan Liu as PhD Candidate (current position: Battery engineer at a company in China)
- Dr. Sahghayegh Goudarzi as PhD candidate (current position: Manufacturing Technology Lead at Jubilant Radiopharma (external link) )
- Pegah Emami Moghaddam as Master’s student (current position: Research scientist at
- Adel Malekkhouyan as Master’s student (current position: PhD Candidate at University of Toronto (external link) )
- Kane Ho as Master’s student (current position: Battery engineer at Daimler Truck North America (external link) )
- Ilya Karpov as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Environment, Helath, and Safety Leader at PepsiCo.) (external link)
- Sheema Khan as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Production Coordinator at Thermo Fisher Scientific (external link) )
- Fatima Aziz as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Area Manager at Amazon (external link) )
- Prrunthaa Santhirakumaran as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Assistant Project Leader at Ontario Power Generation (external link) )
- Mohammad Rafieimehr as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Materials and Process Engineer at Protectolite Composites Inc.) (external link)
- Mariya Kalinina as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Customs Support Clerk at Highlight Motor Group (external link) )
- Mohamed Roble as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Business analyst at Sanofi (external link) )
- Hamidreza Dargahi as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Engineering Consultant at PharmEng Technology (external link) and Founder of Saturnu Solutions Corp.)
- Raajvi Tailor as Undergraduate Research Assistant (current Position: Process/Validation Engineer Trinity Consultants (external link) )
- Lightweight ion-conductive hBN nanocomposite electrolytes for supercapacitors, lithium batteries, and water electrolyzers.
- Multifunctional hBN-based adsorbents and membranes for water treatment purposes.
- 3D electrodes and electrocatalysts for supercapacitors, lithium batteries, and solar-powered hydrogen-generating electrolyzers.
- Surface-engineered structures for antimicrobial, anti-spread, and self-healing coating materials.
- Nano-engineered biosensors for health-monitoring smart textiles.
- Pritish Kumar Behura, Kane Ho, Jasneet Kaur*, and Hadis Zarrin* (2026).
Ion-Conductive 2D Materials Beyond Graphene for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Systems. (external link)
Energy Storage Materials. 86: 105016. - João V. M. Lima, João V. Paulin, Pegah E. Moghaddam, Hadis Zarrin* Carlos F. O. Graeff* (2026).
Enhancing Charge Storage in Melanin via Sulfur Functionalization for Supercapacitors Applications. (external link)
Journal of Energy Storage. 149: 120268. - Reza Eslami, Adel Malekkhouyan, Prrunthaa Santhirakumaran, Mehrab Mehrvar, Hadis Zarrin*. (2025).
Sulfonated White-Graphene for High-Performance Gel Polymer Electrolytes: The Interplay Between Ion Conductivity and 3D Network Rheology. (external link)
Small. 21(7): 2410817. - Nahid Azizi, Reza Eslami, Pegah Emami Moghaddam, Ilya Kaprov, Connor Johnson, Hadis Zarrin*. (2025).
Revealing Nature's Beauty through Crafting Structural Color-Coated Fabrics with Bioinspired Modification of MXene. (external link)
Journal of Colloid And Interface Science. 679(Part A): 1253-1265. - Adel Malekkhouyan, Reza Eslami, Prrunthaa Santhirakumaran, Pegah Emami, Jasneet Kaur, Mehrab Mehrvar, Hadis Zarrin*. (2025).
Wearable flexible solid-state supercapacitors: Interface engineering using functionalized hexagonal boron nitride. (external link)
Nano Energy. 136: 110745. - Jasneet Kaur, Matthew Schweinbenz, Kane Ho, Adel Malekkhouyan, Kamal Ghotia, Franz Egert, Fatemeh Razmjooei, Syed Asif Ansar and Hadis Zarrin. (2025).
Hydroxyl-Conductive 2D Hexagonal Boron Nitrides for Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis and Sustainable Hydrogen Production. (external link)
Sustainable Energy & Fuels. 9(5): 1196-1206. - Yifan Liu, Amir Kouhpour, Dae Kun Hwang*, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Anisotropic, Free-standing Anodic Films With Aligned Anatase-bronze TiO2-integrated Graphene for High-capacity Lithium-ion Batteries. (external link)
Electrochimica Acta. 500: 144750. - Reza Eslami, Nahid Azizi, Prrunthaa Santhirakumaran, Mehrab Mehrvar, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
3D Dual Network Effect of Alkalinized MXene and hBN in PVA for Wearable Strain/Pressure Sensor Applications. (external link)
Chemical Engineering Journal. 480: 148063. - Nahid Azizi, Reza Eslami, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Youn Hee Cho, Joseph McPhee, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Bioinspired Protective Clothing Modified by Polydopamine-coated Curcumin with Ultraviolet Protection, Antioxidant, Antiviral, and Antibacterial Properties. (external link)
Cellulose. 31: 3185-3204. - Amir Kouhpour, Pegah Emami Moghadam, Ilya Karpov, Ehsan Behzadfar, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Semi-Intrinsic Self-healing Epoxy Coating Using Ionic liquid and Super Absorbent Polymer. (external link)
Progress in Organic Coatings. 199: 108951. - Kane Ho, Yifan Liu, Dae Kun Hwang, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Boron Nitride Gel Polymer Electrolytes for High-Performing and Stable Lithium Metal Batteries. (external link)
ACS Applied Nano Materials. 7(9): 10829-10839. - Nahid Azizi, Reza Eslami, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Harnessing synergy: Polydopamine-hBN integration in electrospun nanofibers for Co (II) ion, methylene blue and crystal violet dyes adsorption. (external link)
Chemosphere. 363: 142842. - Amirhossein Kouhpour, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Micro-nano-engineered slippery liquid-infused porous surface coating with highly sustainable superhydrophobicity and omniphobicity. (external link)
Progress in Organic Coatings. 187: 108182. - Reza Eslami, Adel Malekkhouyan, Prrunthaa Santhirakumaran, Mehrab Mehrvar, Hadis Zarrin*. (2023).
High-Performance Flexible Nanogenerators Based on Piezoelectric hBN-Induced Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Nanofibers (external link) .
Materials Today Chemistry. 30: 101609. - Nahid Azizi, Reza Eslami, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Youn Hee Cho, Joseph McPhee, Hadis Zarrin*. (2024).
Bioinspired Protective Clothing Modified by Polydopamine-coated Curcumin with Ultraviolet Protection, Antioxidant, Antiviral, and Antibacterial Properties. (external link)
Cellulose. 31: 3185-3204. - Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Jasneet Kaur, Reza Eslami, Amirhossein Kouhpour, Mariya Kalinina, Nariman Yousefi, Hadis Zarrin*. (2022).
Laccase-Functionalized HBN-Coated Sponges for Removal and Degradation of Anthracene. (external link)
ACS Applied Nanomaterials. 5(38): 4493-4505. - Reza Eslami, Nahid Azizi, Seyed Reza Ghaffarian, Mehrab Mehrvar, and Hadis Zarrin*. (2022).
Highly Sensitive and Selective Non-Enzymatic Measurement of Glucose Using Arraying of Two Separate Sweat Sensors at Physiological pH. (external link)
Electrochimica Acta. 404: 139749. - Ahmad Nawaz; Shaghayegh Goudarzi; Hadis Zarrin; Saravanan Pichiah*. (2022).
S-Scheme/Type-1 Heterostructure Stimulated WO3/g-C3N4-WS2 Ternary Photocatalyst with Improved Charge Transfer Mechanism for Full Solar Spectrum Photocatalysis. (external link)
Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 903: 163951. - Yifan Liu, Kane Ho, Dae Kun Hwang*, Hadis Zarrin*. (2022).
Highly Aligned Graphene Oxide for Lithium Storage in Lithium-Ion Battery Through A Novel Microfluidic Process: The Pulse Freezing. (external link)
Advanced Materials Interfaces. 2201612. - Jasneet Kaur, Adel Malekkhouyan, Gurpreet S. Selopal, Zhiming M. Wang, Federico Rosei, and Hadis Zarrin*. (2021).
Bidirectional Superionic Conduction in Surface-Engineered 2D Hexagonal Boron Nitrides. (external link)
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 13(5): 6532-6544. - Ahmad Nawaz, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, M. Amin Asghari, Saravanan Pichiah, Gupreet Singh Selopal, Federico Rosei, Zhimming Wang, Hadis Zarrin*. (2021).
Review of 1D/2D Hybrid Photocatalysts for Light Harvesting Applications. (external link)
ACS Applied Nanomaterials. 404(11): 11323-11352. - Ahmad Nawaz, Shaghayegh Goudarzi, Pichiah Saravanan, Hadis Zarrin*. (2021).
Z-scheme Induced g-C3N4/WS2 Heterojunction Photocatalyst with Improved Electron Mobility for Enhanced Solar Photocatalysis. (external link)
Solar Energy. 228: 53-67.
- Member and Co-Investigator, The Hydrogen Canada Network (H2CAN) (external link) , 2024-present
- Youth Editorial Board Member, Renewables, Journal, 2023-present
- Member of The Materials Research Society (MRS), 2022-present
- Member and Licensed Professional Engineer, Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), 2022-present
- Co-Chair, Nano Ontario 2021 Conference, November 2021
- Vice Chair of Energy Division of Chemical Institute of Canada
- Member and Principal Investigator at FIBRE (external link) under The KITE Research Institute Banner at Toronto Rehab, 2020-present
- Member, The American Chemical Society (ACS), 2020-present
- Member, The Electrochemical Society (ECS), 2011-present
- Member, The Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC), 2010-present
Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Dr. Zarrin always strives to provide equitable, diverse and inclusive research and teaching environments for the students where all feel welcome, supported and respected. To do so, Dr. Zarrin is committed to (i) using non-gendered, inclusive and unbiased language in classes or research meetings; (ii) accomodating the needs of people from different situations such as flexible hours for people with children and caregivers to ageing parents or other dependents, removing barriers for persons with disabilities and supporting career interruptions for individuals with familial issues, and cultural and bereavement leave; and (iii) create a formal/informal mentorship program and EDI workshop for newly hired trainees and students.