Chaobin HeAssociate Professor

Research Interests
Dr. He’s research focuses on the physical chemistry of polymer materials and polymer nano-composites, and their applications. His current research interests are Polymer nanocomposites /Organic-inorganic Hybrids and Self-assembly of block-copolymers.

Polymer nanocomposites/Organic-inorganic Hybrids are multi-phase materials comprising discrete constituents of less than 100 nanometers in at least one dimension. At such small length scale, the interaction between fillers and matrix is dominated by molecular interaction, which gives rise to many interesting properties. Moreover, the property improvements achieved with nanocomposites are not limited to modulus. Nanocomposites also promise a wide range of other interesting functional properties such as optical properties, conductivity, barrier and anti-scratch properties and many new applications.
Self-assembly of block-copolymers present another alternative approach to achieve multi-phase nano-structured materials, not only in condensed state but also in diluted (solution) conditions. Self-assembled block copolymers consist of hard/soft or hydrophobic/hydrophilic domains in a length scale of a few tens of nanometers to sub-micrometer, which open up many potential applications, such as functional coating, rheology modifier for cosmetic, vehicle for controlled release and photonic crystals.