BPI Seminar by Dr. Qingye Lu

Biopolymer-based Hybrid Materials: Innovations by Introducing Biomimetic Strategies and Molecular Interactions 

LOCATION: PPC #210, Pulp & Paper Centre, 2385 East Mall, Vancouver BC V6T1Z4

Agenda

• 2:00 PM Introduction by Dr. Orlando Rojas
• 2:05 PM Presentation by Dr. Qingye Lu, Associate Professor, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary
• 2:45 PM Q&A

Abstract 

Natural or naturally derived materials are favorable building blocks for creating hybrid materials, taking advantage of their merits including cost-effectiveness, renewability, large surface area, and biodegradability. Nature also provides abundant resources to inspire us to resolve some challenges in energy, environmental, and biomedical fields through material innovations by mimicking some unique natural structures or mechanisms for building functional hybrid materials/devices. In addition, the macroscopic properties and functions of any composite/hybrid functional materials originate from an accurate control of the interactions between the building blocks in the composite. Despite the covalent bond, reversible molecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding, ionic bonding, hydrophobic interactions, coordination, cation-pi interactions, and host–guest interactions are popularly introduced to build flexible composite systems. Our group has been making efforts at building biopolymer-based hybrid/composite materials for energy, environmental, and biomedical applications, by introducing biomimetic strategies and molecular interactions combined with some microstructure/nanostructure controlling tools such as electrospinning, 3D printing, and freeze-drying. Some developed hybrid materials based on biopolymers (cellulose, cellulose nanocrystals, lignin, chitosan, polylactic acid) in recent years in the group will be given.

About the Speaker

Qingye (Gemma) Lu obtained her BSc and MSc in Chemistry at Wuhan University under the supervision of Prof. Juntao Lu and Prof. Lin Zhuang and obtained her PhD in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Prof. Jed Harrison. After her PhD, she was trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Prof. Yang Liu’s group, and the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering in Prof. Hongbo Zeng’s group at the University of Alberta. In July 2016, she joined the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Calgary as a tenure-tracked Assistant Professor and tenured with promotion to Associate Professor in July 2021. Her research interests are in colloids and interfacial science, biomimetic and natural materials, nanomaterials, and nanotechnology applicable in energy, environment and biomedical fields. She has published >95 peer-reviewed papers including top journals such as Nature Reviews Chemistry, Chemical Society Reviews, Advanced Functional Materials, Nano Energy, ACS Nano, Nature Synthesis, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Water Research, etc. She has been listed as one of Stanford University’s top 2% of global scientists for the most recent 3 years (2022, 2023, 2024), and won the Schulich Early Career Research Excellence Award 2020 and the Schulich Research Excellence Award 2024. 

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