People
News!
We are an interdisciplinary group composed of people with a variety of academic backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, materials engineering and chemical engineering. Currently we are seeking bright and open-minded PhD students to join our group to pursue state-of-the-art experiments to address fundamental questions on polymer dynamics under nanoconfinement. Interested individuals may email Prof. Ophelia Tsui at okctsui@ust.hk.
- Prof. Kenji Yamaoka from Osaka University will be visiting our lab for the next two months. We extend a warm welcome to him and look forward to an exciting collaboration!
- A collaborative paper on non-equilibrium effects on the near-surface Tg gradient in polymer glasses, co-authored by group members of Professors David Simmons and Xinping Wang, along with former postdoc Professor Jianquan Xu, has been accepted for publication in PNAS. (September 2024)
- Zongyi’s work on substrate influence on the surface Tg of polymers was accepted for publication in Polymer. (September 2024)
- Ophelia attended the POLY-CHAR 2024–IUPAC conference in Madrid, where she delivered a keynote lecture. (May 2024)
- Zongyi’s paper on correlation between fragility and surface Tg of polymer glasses was published in the Journal of Chemical Physics and selected as an Editor’s Pick. (December 2023)
Group leader
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Office: Rm. 4445, Lift 25/26
Lab: Rm. 4125
Tel: 852-3469-2671 (off) -2703 (lab)
Fax: 852-2358-1652
Email: okctsui@ust.hk
Research interest: Confinement effect of polymers, wetting properties of inhomogeneous surfaces, AFM nanomechanics, stretchable electronic polymers
Current Group Members
Members
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: zmaax@connect.ust.hk
Research interest: Factors controlling the surface glass transition temperature of polymer films
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: hnieaa@connect.ust.hk
Research interest: Origin of fast relaxation modes in thin polymer films as revealed in dynamic mechanical analysis
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: xchenhe@connect.ust.hk
Research interest: Simulations of polymer and liquid crystal systems
*Jointly supervised with Prof. Rui Zhang
Collaborators
Department of Chemistry
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University
Hangzhou
CHINA.
Department of Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida.
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Former Group Members
Postdoctoral fellows
Position afterwards: Associate Professor, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Changchun, Jilin, China.
Email: hfzhang@ns.ciac.jl.cn
Research interests: Phase transition and morphology of crystalline polymer, x-ray scattering, glass transition of polymer thin films
Position afterwards: Research group leader, Huanyu Battery Co. (环宇电源股份有限公司）
Email: fengchao_xie@yahoo.com
Research interests: Crystalline polymer, glass transition of polymer thin films, novel methods for liquid crystal alignment
Current position : Professor, Physics, Jishou University, Hunan, China.
Email: phhpzhao@vip.sina.com
Research interests: Theoretical studies of electrorheological fluids, Composite media
Current position: Associate Professor, School of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Email: xueminlu@sjtu.edu.cn
URL: http://scce.sjtu.edu.cn/en/jiaoshi.php?aid=63&c=3
Research interests: Synthesis and laser-processing of photosensitive materials, development of liquid crystal devices.
Position afterward: Research Assistant Professor, Physics Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Email: jwan@phy.cuhk.hk
Research interests: Modeling of liquid crystal alignment on inhomogeneous surfaces and bandgap properties of photonic crystals
Current position: Associate Professor, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Email: lbkong@iccas.ac.cn
Afterward: Assistant professor, Kyushu University, Japan.
Current position: Associate professor,
Department of Chemistry for Materials, Mie University, Japan.
Email: fujii@chem.mie-u.ac.jp
Current position: Professor, Department of Physics, Soochow University, China
Email: polymeryangzhaohui@gmail.com
Afterward: Postdoc at Northumbria University (Sept, 2016-June 2017), Associate Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University (July, 2017)
Awardee of the 1000 Youth Talent of China (2019)
Email: feichen@xjtu.edu.cn
Aftward: Department of Materials Science & Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
Email: pmyiu@mail.ntust.edu.tw
Afterward: Department of Chemistry
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University
Email: jqxu@ust.hk
Graduate students
M. Phil. Thesis: “RDS Study of Relaxation in Mechanically Aligned Polymer Films”
After graduation: Teaching instructor, Physics, HKUST
Ph. D. Thesis: “Nanomechanical Measurements of Polymer Surface”
Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (2003)
Current position: Professor, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang, China.
http://mypage.zju.edu.cn/dubinyang/570489.html
Ph.D. Thesis: “A Study of Substrate-Liquid Crystal Interaction”
After graduation: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Lethbrige, Alberta, Canada.
Current position: Scientific programmer, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA.
Recipient of the Academic Achievements Award, HKUST (2000)
M. Phil. Thesis: “Study of Strong Localization Effects in Quantum Interference Nanostructures”
Ph.D. Thesis: “Control of Liquid Crystal Alignment by Inhomogeneous Substrates”
Position afterwards: Research Scientist, Applied Physics, Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Hong Kong.
Email: fukylee@gmail.com
M. Phil. Thesis: “Polymer Thin Film Dewetting: Fundamentals and Applications”
Position afterward: Ph.D. student, Chemical Engineering, HKUST
Email: xyzhang@ust.hk
Current position: Research engineer, Vesta Technology R&D, Singapore.
Ph.D. Thesis: “Dewetting Instability of Polymer Thin Film”
Position afterward: Postdoctoral Fellow, Physics, HKUST.
Ph.D. Thesis: “Exploring Ways to Control the Properties of Polymer Thin Films”
Position afterward: Postdoc, Okalahoma State University, Stillwater, OK.
Current position: Lecturer, California Polytechnic State University
Ph.D. Thesis: “The Influence of Interface and Solvent Quality on the Dynamics of Polymer Films”
Position afterward: Shell Oil Company.
Email: nancyli@bu.edu
Ph.D. Thesis: “Study of Polymer Thin Films Using Atomic Force Microscopy”
Position afterward: Cggveritas
Email: ddpeng@buphy.bu.edu
Ph.D. Thesis: “Dynamic Studies of Nano-Confined Polymer Thin Films”
After graduation: Analog Devices
Materials Science & Engineering (MSE) Division
Boston University
Email: xuanjiy@bu.edu
Thesis: “Tuning the dynamics of polymer films by adjusting the polymer-substrate interaction and substrate compliance”
After graduation: Canadian Solar
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: tzhangbk@connect.ust.hk
Thesis: “Confinement effect on crystallinity and mechanical properties of polycaprolactone thin films”
Department of Physics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Email: hailinyuan@ust.hk
Thesis: “Surface and interfacial effects on the dynamics of thin polymer films”
After graduation: ExxonMobil (Guangzhou)
‡ co-advised student
Undergraduates
Afterward: PhD candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, USA.
Afterward: ExxonMobil (Huizhou) Chemical Co. Ltd., and later a PhD candidate of Chemical Engineering, Tufts University, USA.
Project: “Surface Structure of Confined Polymers”
After graduation: Physicist, Massachusetts General Hospital
Project: “Dewetting of Polymer Films”
Project : “Liquid Crystal Alignment by Inhomogeneous Substrate Patterning”
Project: “Patterning of Photoalignment film by Optical Projection Method”
Current Position: Scientist, Observatory of Hong Kong
Project: “Formation of Inhomogeneous Liquid Crystal Alignment Layer”
High School Students
Albemarle High School, Charlottesville, VA
Afterward: Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Randolph School, Huntsville, AL
Lynbrook High School, San Jose, CA
Afterward: Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA
Newton North High School, Newtonville, MA
Andover High School, Andover, MN
The Tatnall School, Wilmington, DE
Project: “Surface Tension of Polymer Ultra Thin Films”
First Prize Winners of the 2005 Physics Research Experience for the Sixth Form Students
Project: “Choreography with Rubens Flame Tube”
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First Prize Winners of the 2004 Physics Research Experience for the Sixth Form Students
Project: “Physics and Construction of Smoke Cannon”