SoftMatter@interfaces

Plastics are everywhere. They may degrade into micro-/nano-plastics, and ultimately oligomeric plastics, impacting on the environment and our health. Guangzhen's research focuses on the interactions between oligomeric plastics and lung surfactants, aiming to elucidate the mechanisms underpinning potential inhalation risks of nano-plastics.

He combines interfacial and scattering techniques, including Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) trough, X-ray reflectivity (XRR), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), to investigate how oligomeric polymers influence the structure, packing behavior, and self-assembly of lung surfactant membranes. Guangzhen has had his heroic moments doing night shifts at ESRF, Diamond, ISIS, & ILL where he has secured scattering beam time. Whilst he prefers Fondant de bœuf when in Grenbole, Guangzhen begins to tolerate his colleagues' inexplicable addictions to fondues...

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Guangzhen is supported by a CSC-UoB PhD scholarship, and like Hongye, he obtained his master's degree from Jiangnan University in Wuxi (无锡). Guangzhen is proud (just like everyone from Shandong Province!) to originate from Jinan (济南), a city famous for its artesian springs and a dish called "Nine-Turn Large Intestine" - sorry, no fondues there!