Abstract:

Over the past 20 years, our research group has been working on developing novel supramolecular self-assembled polymeric micro-and nano-structures starting from bio-based and synthetic polymers as building blocks. The polymer blocks were designed to form self-assembled structures such as stimuli-responsive hydrogels, micelles, nano-vesicles, micro- and nanoparticles and capsules, surface coatings, etc., which have been explored as functional materials for applications in two important areas: biomedicine and environmental sustainability. In my talk, I will share some of our past works on how the supramolecular polymers were developed. For example, we demonstrated a method for building multifunctional drug and gene carrier systems with controllable molecular architectures based on supramolecular self-assemblies. Novel smart hydrogels and nanovesicles were developed from bio-polyesters and naturally occurring polysaccharides. Biomass-based hydrogels have been explored for water purification and sustainable urban farming.

Biography:

Dr. Jun Li received his PhD (1995) and MSc (1992) in macromolecular science from Osaka University, Japan. He is currently a Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also a Principal Investigator at NUS Environmental Research Institute, NUS (Chongqing) Research Institute, and NUS (Suzhou) Research Institute. Before joining NUS, he worked as a Senior Scientist at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, and as a Special Postdoctoral Researcher at the RIKEN Institute in Japan. Prof. Li’s expertise lies across the synthetic and bio-based polymers, and their supramolecular self-assemblies forming nanostructures for various applications such as drug and gene delivery, tissue engineering, personal care, and environmental sustainability. So far, he has published more than 200 article in international journals including Nature, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, JACS, Angew Chem, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Biomaterials, etc., which have received more than 16,800 citations with an h-index of 70. He filed 12 patents, authored a few book chapters, and edited one research book. He served chairs/co-chairs for 6 international symposia/conferences on the topics of bio-based polymers, hydrogels, and biomaterials, and supramolecular chemistry.

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