EI Recipients of RGC Collaborative Fund (CRF) 2022/2023
Three cross-institutional multidisciplinary projects led by Energy Institute faculty were awarded a total of over HK$13.1 million under the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 2022/23 of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC). These include two Collaborative Research Project Grants and one Young Collaborative Research Grants. All three studies will be conducted over a three-year period.
The research team led by Prof. Baoling HUANG of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering received a Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) of around HK$4.78 milliion for the project titled “High-Performance Ionic Thermoelectric Hydrogels for Multifunctional Smart Skin and Body Heat Harvesting”. Working together with CityU and CUHK researchers, the study aims to investigate the factors that influence the thermopower in polymer electrolytes and to develop different strategies for tuning the thermoelectric properties of ionic hydrogels. Ionic hydrogel-based multifunctional smart skin and hybrid body heat harvester will then be developed to explore the potential applications of high-performance ionic hydrogels in thermal sensing and low-grade heat harvesting.
Another Collaborative Research Project Grant of nearly HK$4.16 million was awarded to a project led by Prof. LI Zhigang of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The project focuses on “Shaping Gas Fuel Storage: Understanding the Thermal Properties of Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks”. It sets out to advance the understanding and manipulate the physical and thermal properties of porous metal-organic frameworks, thereby providing design guidance for future gas fuel storage systems. Collaborators include CityU and HKU researchers.
Prof. Mitch LI, Integrative Systems & Design and Electronic & Computer Engineering, and his collaborators from HKU received a Young Collaborative Research Grant of around HK$4.17 million for their project on “Scalable Manufacturing of Antiviral Self-Cleaning Surfaces Against Respiratory Infectious Diseases”. The work seeks to develop a smart manufacturing system to fabricate low-cost antiviral films for deploying on public surfaces against such diseases.
Congratulations to Prof. Baoling HUANG, Prof. Zhigang LI and Prof. Mitch LI!
More Information:
- List of Proposals supported by RGC Collaborative Research Fund 2022/23
- https://seng.hkust.edu.hk/news/20230210/four-professors-awarded-grants-rgc-collaborative-research-fund-202223?fbclid=IwAR353zcw-4p0doe4rIUSEp3lwjsRJYoTFUDZoIagASHE-wiIqWLywkDG93k