Research Interests
1.) Biomimetic microcapsule engineering by droplet-based microfluidics
I have interested in designing multi-functional microcapsules in order to mimic the functional features of living cells and eventually apply to engineering problems in the fields of biomedicine, energy, and water treatment. Droplet microfluidics can produce microdroplets with precisely tunable configurations at high through-put. Microcapsules, also termed micro-compartments, are promising candidates for the building of proto-cells in bottom-up synthetic biology. The design variability of the microcapsule platform and its practical application are experimentally demonstrated.
2.) Cell-sheet harvesting technology
The generation of cell sheets in scaffold-free way is a new technology to regenerate injured or damaged tissues, which has shown promising potential in tissue regeneration. As a gentle and unique way of cell sheet fabrication, stimuli-responsive surface is used to form a dense cell sheet that can be detached when stimuli is applied. It is a method that causes minimal damage to the cells maintaining its extracellular structure, and is a simple, easy, and inexpensive way to produce cell sheets for tissue reconstruction. I have interest in exploring the mechanism of cell adhesion on the functional substrates, designing as well as fabricating the functional surfaces for successful cell sheet harvesting.
3.) Biomimetic water management technologies
Water scarcity is among the main problems to be faced by many societies and the World. According to the WHO's announcement, by 2026, 60% of the world's population will face water shortages. Despite the intensive development of technology, conventional water management methods still suffer from technical limitations such as high power consumption, expensive operating costs, and limited system durability. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new concept of technology that overcomes the limitations of existing water management technologies. I have broad interests in discovering and mimicking the physical and hydrodynamic characteristics of plants, which will lead to derive new, advanced, and eco-friendly water management technologies in a highly efficient manner. Plants that can survive in extreme environments have optimized fluid transport, purification and control functions. Accordingly, I intend to proceed with research on biomimetic fluids transportation, purification, and control technologies.