Polymer Chemistry

Hongyun Tai

Senior Lecturer
Bangor University
United Kingdom

Biography

Dr Tai is a senior lecturer in Organic and Polymer Chemistry in the School of Chemistry at Bangor University. Dr Tai's scientific and academic background has covered a wide range and she has accumulated substantial research and industrial experience and expertise on the development of polymeric materials, e.g. seeking their synthetic/isolation/functionalization routes, characterising their structures, investigating their properties, evaluating their post processisiblity, and developing their applications. Her research concerns both synthetic polymers and natural polymers. Dr Tai’s recent research focuses on the development of synthetic and natural polymeric biomaterials for wound healing and drug delivery. She also works on the development of natural biopolymers from renewable sources for personal care and medical applications. Dr Tai has published 37 research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and two book chapters. She has also presented her research findings at more than 30 national and international conferences. Dr Tai teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules on the subjects in Organic Chemistry and Polymer Chemistry, as well as General and Research skills for Chemists. Dr Tai is also the Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes (MSc and MRes Courses Coordinator) in the School of Chemistry at Bangor University.

Research Area

Dr Tai is a polymer scientist. Her research concerns both synthetic polymers and natural polymers, including the synthesis, isolation, functionalization and engineering of polymeric materials for a variety of applications, in particular, for biological and biomedical applications. Polymeric biomaterials with rational designed and engineered chemical composition, functionality and topologies are highly desirable for drug delivery, tissue engineering, sensing, imaging and diagnostics. We isolate, synthesize and functionalize polymeric biomaterials by chemical and/or enzymatic approaches, living/controlled radical polymerisations, click chemistry and bioconjugation techniques. In addition, self-assembly and colloidal behaviours of biomacromolecules as well as physical and processing properties of polymeric biomaterials are studies.