Hoyong CHUNG

Edited by EEH on July 16, 2014

Biosketch

· Assistant Professor – Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, FSU, 2014

· Postdoctoral scholar, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology 2014 (Advisor: Robert H. Grubbs)

· Ph.D., Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University 2011 (Advisor: Newell R. Washburn)

· M.S., Chemistry, University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2006

· B.S., Polymer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea 2004

Research Interests (Key words)

· Development and applications of new polymeric materials

· Polymer synthesis

· Biomaterials

· Smart materials (multi-functional, stimulus responsive, and self-healing polymers)

· Functional polymeric materials synthesis using organometallic catalysts

· New polymerization development and kinetics of polymerization

· Polymer Science and Engineering

Research experience: My research experience includes the synthesis and appropriate characterization of bio-inspired medical adhesives, medically applied temperature sensitive polymers to remove ophthalmological impurities, targeted microbubbles for kidney stone fragmentation, Ru-based olefin metathesis polymerization catalysts and chemical modification to lignin-based biopolymers. My combined research experience is highly interdisciplinary including aspects of mechanical engineering, clinical medical practice, material science and biomedical engineering. Although my initial background is in polymer synthesis, I proactively developed various practical engineering skills to optimize the performance of new polymeric materials. My capability as a practical interdisciplinary polymer chemist was proved by multiple patents and peer-reviewed journal publications. I plan to continue his research to develop new multifunctional polymers relevant to human health and sustainability.

Research details: My group studies the design and synthesis of application-oriented polymers using interdisciplinary concepts from biology, materials science, organic chemistry, and chemical engineering. This research includes development of new biomedical materials, sustainable smart materials, and catalytic polymer materials. Each research topic seeks to answer fundamental questions in polymer chemistry and utilize this insight to solve real-world issues.

New polymers from bio-inspired chemistry:

Synthesis and application of innovative biomedical materials

Bio-inspired chemistry offers important opportunities for the design of new materials. For instance, special functional groups from marine organisms exhibit unparalleled adhesive properties, even in the presence of water. These unique properties foreshadow a new class of biomedical adhesives and biomaterials, which we aim to develop using novel synthetic methods. These studies are ultimately aimed at developing practical bio-medical adhesives and biomaterials.

Sustainable smart materials

Developing smart polymers from sustainable raw materials that have stimuli-responsive, self-healing and/or shape memory functions would provide important environmental and functional advances over traditional commodity polymers. My research group studies strategies for generating such smart polymers by integrating traditional organic chemistry, synthetic polymer methodologies, and biomedical material design. These potential smart materials provide promising routes towards renewable, sustainable, and functional materials for a wide range of applications.

Catalysts for advanced polymeric materials

Defined organometallic catalysts are ubiquitous across nearly all fields of chemistry including polymerization methodology, monomer synthesis, modification of polymers, and the generation of carbon-carbon bonds. Our research focuses on the development of highly controllable polymerizations, catalyst recycling systems, and new materials for the aforementioned stimuli responsive and self-healing polymers.