Oct 16 2013
Dr. Hong-Ping Lin, who is a professor at the Department of Chemistry in National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan, was invited by the Chemical Society Review (Chem. Soc. Rev.) to publish his research paper called “Synthesis of mesoporous silica nanoparticle,” and his research findings featured the front cover in May.
Dr. Lin revealed in an interview that good control of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) is of increasing importance to their use in catalyst, adsorption, polymer filler, optical devices, bio-imaging, drug delivery, and biomedical applications.
Different synthesis methodologies to prepare well-dispersed MSNs and hollow silica nanoparticles with tunable dimensions ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers of different mesostructures are discussed in his research paper.
In practical applications, Dr. Lin explained, “The materials demonstrate good potential for use in high-performance catalysis, antireflection coating, transparent polymer, drug-release and theranostic systems.”
Dr. Lin’s study on mesoporous materials currently comes to a breakthrough in technology. “The materials can be used as the adsorbent for semiconductor exhaust, and applied to the innovation of biomedical appliance,” according to Lin whose research interest is mainly in the synthesis and applications of the mesoporous materials.
Recently, he has applied mesoporous materials to develop an anti-hypersensitivity toothpaste and absorbents for removing toxic gas released from IC industry, which are about to enter the process of mass production.
“I think the application of research findings to benefit the industry and the general public is very important,” said Dr. Lin who put a great emphasis on the cooperation between the academia and the local industry.
He said that a material can be obtained through various synthetic methods, but it’s always the simplest and most economic one that has the potential to be widely used; therefore, his research interest is in developing low-cost material with simple and economic synthesis methods.
Dr. Lin recently is busy in the laboratory experimenting to isolate bio-mesoporous materials from a variety of plants including rice husk, straw, and horsetail grass. He said, the ashes after burning the plants is what he can recycle and reuse. Adding values to the recycled resources is one of his sought-after goals.
Source: http://web.ncku.edu.tw/