Research Topics
(More pictures)
Janus particles fabricated by
µ-contact printing
Janus Particles - Fundamental Science
“Janus” is the name of an ancient Roman God, who has two faces peering into the past and the future. Made known to the science community by Nobel Prize winner P.G. de Gennes, Janus particles have two distinguished surfaces/chemistries on the two sides, usually made of incompatible materials. Janus particles can be viewed as one kind of fundamental colloidal molecules, whose molecular counterpart can be surfactant or dipolar molecules. Our research will focus on developing new methods to fabricate these particles in large quantity and exploring the commercial applications for Janus particles.
Water droplets on water resisting wood stain
Coating Materials - Function & Sustainability
Coating materials are widely used in our everyday life and have a huge health and environment impact. In the mean time, consumers are demanding better performance and healthy product at a lower cost. To address these challenges, organic solvent based paint has been gradually replaced by waterborne latex polymer. To further improve the performance of waterborne coatings, it is critical to understand the fundamentals of structure-property relationship of polymer composition and formulation ingredients. The study on colloidal assembly and structural change during water evaporation will help us optimize coating performance and develop the next generation coating materials.
Plant cells transformed to express GFP
Biomaterials - Health & Agronomy
The advances in medical field are often coupled with the discovery of biology and novel materials. Advanced diagnosis and treatment for disease, such as cancer, requires precise delivery of diagnostical and therapeutical agents, which remains a major hurdle. Recent development in genetic screening and immunotherapy offers great hope to many hard to treat diseases. New targeted delivery vehicles are critical to fully take advantage of these new therapies. Our research will integrate the knowledge of biology and expertise in nanoparticle engineering, to develop novel nanoparticle platforms for disease diagnosis and treatment.
Funding Support Acknowledgements
