1. Bio-based and biodegradable polymer materials

At present, the global annual output of plastic products is around 400 million tons. Their production and discard will bring some serious problems to the ecological environment. In 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecological Environment of China jointly announced “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Treatment of Plastic Pollution”, which specified to ban and restrict some traditional plastic products, and simultaneously encouraged the development of degradable and renewable polymer materials.

Biodegradable polymers, which are prepared from biomass or petroleum resources, can be degraded into CO₂ and H₂O by the microorganisms under certain conditions. They are divided into biomass originated polymer materials (such as starch, cellulose, lignin, PLA, PHAs, etc.) and petroleum based degradable polymer materials (such as PGA, PBAT, PBS, PCL, etc.). Our group has been committed to solving the key scientific and technological issues during the synthesis, processing and modification of bio-based and biodegradable polymer materials. Our objectives are to develop the environmentally friendly polymer materials/products with excellent performance, and provide some effective solutions for the protection of ecological environment, white pollution and marine micro plastics problems.

2. Polymer Crystallization and Condensed Matter Structure Regulation

Polymer crystallization is the process of orderly arrangement of polymer chains under the induction of crystal nuclei, which includes two processes, nucleation and crystal growth. The orderly regions formed by the folding of polymer chains are called lamellae, and the lamellae are stacked into larger spherical structures that called spherulites. Polymer can be crystallized through melt cooling, stretching induction, solvent evaporation, or restricted crystallization in a small space and then form a rich condensed structure such as single crystals, spherulites and string crystals. Polymer crystallization is closely related to molecular chain structure and molding process. Its crystallization behavior will directly affects the optical, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties of polymer materials and products.

Our group has committed to basic theoretical research on the design and synthesis of high-efficiency organic nucleating agents, nucleation induction mechanism, polymer crystal morphology evolution, and multi-level condensed matter structure construction.

3. Polymer (Nano) Composites

Polymers usually need to be compounded with functional additives or other components (such as functional/nano materials) to improve their practical applications. With excellent thermal & mechanical properties, versatility and designability, Polymer (nano) composites have wide applications in aerospace, military equipment, transportation, electronics, electrical appliances and so on.

Our group has committed to the basic research on the design & synthesis of functional/nano materials and the processing & modification of polymer composites. Through surface modification, organic & inorganic hybridization, reactive compatibilization and multi-level structure design, we construct the relationship of the "functional design-material processing-microstructure-properties" to develop various high-performance polymer composites to meet the industrial and daily demand.

In addition, in recent years, our group has undertaken more than 10 projects from leading      domestic and foreign enterprises, such as LANXESS, ARLANXEO, Wanhua Chemical Group     Co., Ltd., Shanghai Pu Jing Chemical Co., Ltd..