Application of Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology
Our long term research interests are in the developing materials with dimensions at nanometer scale and their applications. Materials with composition of metal oxide, semiconductors and polymers have been focused on, which are expected to have unique physical, chemical or biological properties. We focus on the photocatalytic properties, mechanical strength, biocompatibility of nanostructured materials.
Currently, we have developed variety of methods to created nanostructured materials. We use electrochemical anodisation, electrospinning, CVD, hydrothermal and VLS process to process nanostructured materials including nanotubes, nanofibers, nanobelt, nanobottles, nanocups and nanocrystals. Currently, we are in the process of developing the application of such materials.
We are exploring the application of nanomaterials in three main aspects: 1) in Environment Chemistry, 2) in Green Energy and 3) in Biotechnology. We develop photocatalysts for
treating organic pollutant in air and in water. Solar cells and photocatalytic water splitting have also been developed to harvest the solar energy. Hoping through our efforts, we will be able to maintain the living environment of our beautiful planet earth. More detailed information can be found here.
We have been awarded the Veeco Labs Energy Innovation Grant (2010).
The purpose of the award is to enable advanced research in energy generation, storage and conversion. Our proposed topic: In-situ mapping of electronic property of active anode for water splitting with c-AFM.
A presentation about our recent work can be found: PpTek presentation [PDF 16.63MB]