Contact

Tel : (852) 3400 8721

Fax : (852) 2364 9932

E-mail : bcpeili@polyu.edu.hk

Office : Y845

Personal Website

http://myweb.polyu.edu.hk/~bchkm

Education

B.Sc., Jinan University, P. R. China (1984)

Ph.D., University of Ottawa, Canada (1990)

Discipline New Materials and Nano-technology 

Honors and Awards

Outstanding Professional Services and Innovation Awards, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2004 and 2006)

Gold Medal Award & Best Invention from International Jury, 35th International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products, Geneva, Switzerland (Title of the invention: “Smart Core-Shell Nanosorbents for Wastewater Treatment”) (2007)

Bronze Award for the Environmentally Friendly Antibacterial Treatment Technology, 5th China International Invention Expo. (2004)

President’s Award for Outstanding Performance/Achievement: Research and Scholarly Activities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2008)

2008 Hong Kong Awards for Industries: Technological Achievement Grand Award (Collaboration with Dunwell Engineering Company Limited, Hong Kong)

High Impact Achievement Awards: Technological/Industrial Achievement, Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2009)

Technology Transfer Award, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2009)

Member of the International Polymer Colloid Group (http://www.ipcg.info/joomla) (Since 2009 to now)

Editorial Board Membership

Colloid and Polymer Science, Springer

Research Summary

Prof. Li’s research interests center around the development of new functional polymeric materials for emerging applications. The group mainly focuses on the design and synthesis of nano- and micro-particles with properties that are tailored to the desired application. For example, we have been developing novel and versatile methods to synthesize a wide range of amphiphilic core–shell particles and hydrophilic microgels which consist of well-defined core-shell nanostructure in nano– to micro-scaled sizes.

These particles have demonstrated many useful applications in various fields (Figure 1). For example, particles with small PMMA cores (~90 nm in diameter) and hairy poly(ethyleneimine) shells have been successfully used as carriers in gene delivery. Particles with biopolymer shells such as chitosan and soft poly(n-butyl acrylate) cores have been applied on cotton fabrics as a biocompatible antibacterial finishing.Particles with PMMA cores coated with either polyethylenimine or chitosan shells (~150 to 500 nm in diameter) have been applied as effective nanosorbents to remove heavy metals and organic contaminants in wastewater treatment. The core-shell particles can be recycled and reused for many times via a process of regeneration. For application in enzyme immobilization, a novel one-step immobilization of celluase onto non-porous nanoparticles has been developed. The core-shell nanoenzyme particles show many advantages over conventional immobilization methods.Furthermore, modification of the core-shell particles to hollow particles allows us to create novel materials such as nanotubes, nanofibers and other complex hierarchical structures.Magnetic-responsive core-shell particles with magnetic nanoparticles encapsulated inside the core have also been prepared for usage in bioseparation, targeted drug and gene deliveries and immobilization of enzyme。