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Smart Polymers and Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Dr Tey , Beng Ti Professor PhD , CEng
Research expertise : Bioprocess engineering , Bioseparation , Smart polymer , Biosensor , Drug delivery , Biocatalyst
E : tey . beng . ti @ monash . edu T : + 603 5514 6204
Smart or stimuli-responsive polymers and hydrogels undergo abrupt changes in volume and structure in response to environmental changes , such as pH , temperature , electric field , and antigen / antibody . Our current research focuses on utilizing these fascinating properties of stimuliresponsive hydrogels and polymers for various biomedical applications such as smart biosensor systems , targeted drug delivery and protein separation . The critical challenges of biosensor development are reduction in detection time , minimizing sensor size , simplifying fabrication , and developing a more accurate and reliable protocol . Antigen-antibody stimuliresponsive hydrogels can be used as a biosensor platform to detect an antigen / antibody .
An ideal protein drug delivery system should have a controlled release of the encapsulated drug at the targeted site of action and protect them from proteolytic degradation and acid hydrolysis . pH-responsive hydrogels can be used to design an oral protein drug delivery system . In addition , the pH and temperature responsiveness of the smart polymer can be used as a salt- and solventfree environmentally friendly chromatographic matrix media for protein purification .
Thermo-responsive size-selective protein adsorption
Biosensing of hepatitis B antigen with poly ( acrylic acid ) hydrogel immobilized with antigens and antibodies
Photocatalysis and Nanomaterials for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Applications
Ir Dr Chai , Siang Piao Professor BEng , PhD , CEng , PEng
Research expertise : Catalysis , Reaction Engineering , Photocatalysis , Energy Materials , Nanomaterials
E : chai . siang . piao @ monash . edu T : + 603 5514 6234
In recent decades , significant endeavours have been dedicated to resolving the escalating energy and environmental problems which have increased at an alarming rate . Photocatalysis , a process which drives chemical transformations by harvesting solar light in the presence of a catalyst , has emerged as a promising route to address these challenges . This technology ' s appeal lies in its sustainability and low energy consumption due to its prominent feature of utilizing inexhaustible solar energy as the main driving force . My group ’ s research activities primarily focus on the rational design of novel , robust functional materials for applications in solar to chemical energy production , and environmental remediation , which include pollutants degradation , hydrogen and oxygen evolution by water splitting as well as carbon dioxide photoreduction into hydrocarbon fuels . These projects are funded by NanoMITe-LRGS , FRGS and MRUN .
Carbon atom
Nitrogen atom
Photogenerated charge transfer mechanism for carbon dioxide reduction
Hydrogen atom
Photocatalysis setup for continuous gas-phase reaction
R E S E A R C H E R P R O F I L E 2022 / 2023