I am very interested in interdisciplinary research projects where I can use my education backgrounds, such as analytical separations, organic synthesis, polymer chemistry, chemical sensors, and electronics. Now I would like to use some examples rather than abstract description to help you understand what I have done.

My current project is to design and synthesize novel stationary phases on silica for acidic and basic analyte HPLC separations. As you know, reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RRLC) is a very popular analytical technique due to its convenience, versatility, and reproducibility. However, the inadequate pH stability of RPLC stationary phases has limited the range application especially for separating basic analytes to pHs from 3-8. Insufficient pH stability can cause retention time drift, loss of efficiency, peak shape distortion, and other serious chromatographic problems. In Figure 1, you can see that our phase is much stable than the sterically protected C18 phase under highly aggressive conditions. Please remember that the sterically protected C18 phase is the most stable silica phase commercially.

I don't know if you like organic synthesis and polymer chemistry. But I did get a lot of fun from them because you can make your own target molecules. Figure 2 shows poly(vinylbenzyl chloride-trichlorophenyl acrylate) (polyVBC-TCPA) microspheres that were prepared by dispersion polymerization. You can derivatize these particles to introduce amine groups onto the polymer backbone. Then these derivatized polymer microspheres swell and shrink with changing pH. Is it interesting?

If you put the above-derivatized polyVBC-TCPA particles in hydrogel, you make chemically sensitive membranes. As I mentioned previously, these particles swell and shrink with changing pH, which then cause turbidity changes of the chemically sensitive membranes. The turbidity change can be monitored with UV/Vis spectrophotometer or optical fiber sensors. Figure 3 shows the swelling and shrinking of the particles inside a hydrogel membrane. What I studied is a new type of chemical sensor, called magnetoacoustic sensors. They do not require any physical connections to the sensing elements. Therefore, they are ideally suited for applications where physical connections are undesired or not possible, such as a sealed container.

The above three examples just help you quickly to get familiar with my research projects. Please contact me if you need more detail information.

HOBBY

My hobby is practicing Martial Arts, especially Chinese Gong Fu, such as Shao Lin Temple and Tai Chi. I used to teach Tai Chi when I was in Tianjin, China and New Hampshire, US.

REFERENCE

My resume and references are available upon request. Please contact me if you need more information about my research.