Courses: Functional Polymers; Advanced Polymer SynthesisSchool: Queen Marry University of London Engineering School--leading lessons & small group activities for students--grading assignments and calculating grades

Project 1: Magnetic field induced orientation of Fe3O4-GO and toughening effect on epoxy resin• Synthesized Fe3O4 coated graphene oxide (Fe3O4-GO) using oxidation coprecipitation method, and realized orientation of Fe3O4-GO in epoxy under magnetic field through electromagnetic coil and permanent magnets• Improved mechanical properties (toughness) of epoxy by orientating Fe3O4-GO nanoparticles, and studied fracture mechanism of epoxy systems affected by the orientation of Fe3O4-GO

--Guide master and undergraduate students to perform experiments and utilization of equipments for characterization and tests

Project 1: Preparation of carbon foam for light-weight thermal insulation, energy storage• A novel approach using short polyinylacetyl fibers as sacrificial template was used to prepare carbon foam with channel like pores • Developed method to control excessive void formation and pore-size distribution• Characterized the density, porosity, pore-size distribution, thermal conductivity of the carbon foamProject 2: Preparation of Si3N4 for optical devices• Prepared ribbon-shaped nano Si3N4 via a novel by-product pyrolysis-nitridation process during carbon form manufacturing at 1450C• Characterized the crystal structure, morphology, chemical composition, growth mechanism and photoluminescence (PL) of Si3N4Project 3: Functionalization of graphene on the modification of epoxy • Synthesized graphene oxide (GO) and characterized the structures and morphologies using FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, Raman etc. • Functionalized graphene oxide using polyetheramine, diaminodiphenylmethane, dopamine, KH-550, 4,5-epoxy-cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylic acid diglycidyl ester, respectively and studied the effect of the above functionalized GO on the mechanical and thermal properties of the epoxy resin systems• Prepared carbon fibre reinforced functionalized GO/epoxy composites using winding molding process and measured the tensile, inter-laminar shear properties at both room temp and high temperatureProject 4: Functionalization of carbon nanotubes on the modification of polymers• Determined the conditions of functionalizing carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-PDA-Fe3O4) using dopamine and Fe3O4, and characterized the structures, morphologies, and magnetic parameters• Optimized the curing process of MWCNTs-PDA-Fe3O4/epoxy systems via DSC and gel time method, and realized alignment of MWCNTs-PDA-Fe3O4 in epoxy by applying magnetic field• Studied the effect of MWCNTs-PDA-Fe3O4 on the interfacial, mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced MWCNTs-PDA-Fe3O4/epoxy composites

Project 1: Modification of epoxy resin for application of advanced polymer composites• Synthesized bicyclo-benzoxazine (BOZ) and characterized the structures using FT-IR, NMR etc. • Speculated the curing mechanism of BOZ/Epoxy, and investigated the curing kinetics using Kissinger’s, Ozawa, and Crane methods for understanding of the curing reaction• Measured the mechanical and thermal properties of BOZ/Epoxy systems through impact, bending, compression, TGA, and HDT tests, and analysed the effect of BOZ content on the morphology of fracture surface using SEM• Prepared glass fiber reinforced BOZ/Epoxy composites using winding molding process, and measured tensile, bending, and inter-laminar shear performance and calculated the retention rate of the fiber reinforced composites both at room temperature and high temperatureProject 2: Development of low viscosity epoxy resin system for RTM process • Synthesized a low viscosity liquid epoxy via two-step method and characterized the structures • Determined formula and optimized curing process of the modified epoxy resin system, and studied chemorheological behaviors, chemical reactivity of the resin system, and performed mechanical, heat resistance properties for the cured resin systems• Established the three-dimensional model of viscosity-temperature-time of resin systems to predict the processing windows of the resin system for RTMProject 3: Accelerated aging test and life assessment of epoxy resin• Designed the experimental protocol and measured the bending strength of the samples after aging different times at different temperatures• Analysed data and built a model that can predict the aging process

--Teach master and undergraduate students to operation the instruments and equipments--Guide master student to perform experiment

Project 1: Kinetics study of CNTs migration in polymer under electric field• Designed, built, and calibrated the setup for CNTs migration experiment under electric field• Established a method using ImageJ and Python for analysis of real-time changes of polymer systems caused by the migration of CNTs • Studied the effect of temperature, electric field, CNTs concentration and length distribution on CNTs’ migration rate, and built a model of CNTs migration in epoxy that can applied to other polymer systemsProject 2: Bridging of carbon fibers (CF) in CNT/polymer composites under electric field for lightweight, high strength composites• Simulated changes of relative electric field strength around CF under electric field using COMSOL• Determined the conditions to bridge carbon fibers under electric field without forming short circuit• Selectively improved the mechanical properties of the composites by bridging carbon fibers and studied the microscopic morphology changes using UHRSEM