Speaker：Jie He（University of Connecticut）

Time：10:30 AM, December 19, 2025

Location: C3-c204, GuangzhouInternational Campus,SCUT  

Abstract:

Loading catalytic metals on polymer supports to produce “soluble” catalysts has long been used in catalysis. Harnessing synergies at the interface of polymers and inorganic catalytic components is, however, still challenging. Our group works on developing new synthetic methodologies of hybrid polymer/inorganic materials (metal ions and nanoparticles) with well-defined chemical compositions, nanostructures and synergetic functionalities. We seek to understand the role of polymers in tuning the interface of hybrid materials in order to control their accessibility and essentially tune the catalytic properties of inorganic components. My talk will show our recent effort on, i) the development of new synthetic methods to prepare polymer-tethered nanoparticles and explore the role of polymer tethers to design the surface patterning; and ii) control over the in the stabilizing metal nanoparticles in electrocatalysis and accessibility of nanoparticles or metal ions that are incorporated in polymer frameworks. I will introduce the concept of polymer-tethered nanoparticles and the use of polymer ligands to control the surface patterning of gold nanoparticles and nanorods. The add-on functionality of polymer to hybrid materials will be deliberated in the context of electrocatalytic conversion of CO2. The incorporation of metal ions within polymeric frameworks as functional metallopolymers to mimic natural metalloenzymes will be discussed at the end.

Biography: 

Jie He received his BS and MS degrees in Polymer Materials Science and Engineering from Sichuan University and his PhD in Chemistry from Université de Sherbrooke in 2010. He joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut after working as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland in 2011–2013. He is currently a Professor of Chemistry and Polymer Program at the Institute of Materials Science, University of Connecticut. His research group focuses on design and synthesis of hybrid materials of polymers and metals that are capable activating small molecules as inspired by metalloenzymes.