The goal of our research is to explore new methodologies in the synthesis of well-defined structure polymers and organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials, and to exploit the structure-property relationships in the development of multifunctional materials for practical or potential applications in biotechnology, cosmetics, medicines, bioprobes, nanotechnology, advanced coatings, and so on.
Our current research directions are:
1.Well-Defined Structure Polymers via the Convergence of Synthetic Organic and Polymer Chemistries.
We are interested in developing new methodologies to synthesize novel and well-defined block, star, dendrimer, comb polymers by combination of ring-opening polymerization (ROP), atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (RAFT), cationic and anionic polymerization. A series of biodegradable copolymers with well-defined structure and expected molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions were successfully synthesized.
2.Synthesis and applications of Novel Functional Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanomaterials using Surface-Initiated "Living" Polymerization Method and Graft-onto Method.
The motivation of our research is to improve the applications of nano-materials, including nano-Fe3O4, nano-ZnO, nano-TiO2, nano-Au, nano-Y2O3, nano-CeO2, nano-La2O3, nano-Eu2O3, etc. Different inorganic/organic nanocomposites are synthesized using surface-initiated "living" polymerization method and graft-onto method. The functionality of nanoparticles can be modified, and their assembly with other functional polymers is studied.
3.Novel Functional Micro/ Nano-Structure Materials.