Dr Liwen Zhang

Additive manufacturing, 4D Printing, polymer science, and soft robotics

​Liwen's research focuses on the advancement of 3/4D-printed functional materials with diverse applications. These include (i) the development of metal-polymer composites for stimuli-responsive soft robots, (ii) the fabrication of hydrogel for tissue engineering, and (iii) the production of biodegradable plastics aimed at mitigating seawater pollution.

​In 2022, Liwen Zhang successfully obtained his Ph.D. from the Cluster for Advanced Macromolecular Design and the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at The University of New South Wales, working under the guidance of Professor Cyrille Boyer. His doctoral research centered on the development of metalloporphyrin-based photocatalysts for applications in photopolymerization and stereolithography. Subsequently, in January of the same year, Liwen transitioned to the Davis/Qiao groups at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) as a full-time researcher.

Davis Group

Polymer science expertise targeted at nanomedicine applications

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Qiao Group

Polymeric/inorganic nanocomposites

Industry

​Liwen is an active mentee in IMNIS (Industry Mentoring Network in STEM ): Industry Engagement.

Collaborations

Liwen is engaged in collaborative efforts with distinguished groups. Firstly, he partners with Professor Cyrille Boyer at UNSW, whose team spearheads advancements in photoinduced electron/energy transfer reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization (PET-RAFT) techniques and stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing. Secondly, he collaborates with Dr. Shi-yang Tang at the University of Southampton, an expert in the exploration and development of Soft Intelligent Systems for biomedical applications.

Key Publications

Liwen Zhang, Helen Forgham, Ao Shen, Jiafan Wang, Jiayuan Zhu, Xumin Huang, Shi-Yang Tang, Chun Xu, Thomas P Davis,* Ruirui Qiao* Nanomaterial integrated 3D printing for biomedical applications.  Journal of Materials Chemistry B 2022, 10(37), 7473-7490.

Liwen Zhang, Gervase Ng, Natasha Kapoor-Kaushik, Xiaobing Shi, Nathaniel Corrigan, Richard Webster, Kenward Jung, and Cyrille Boyer*. 2D Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Framework Nanosheets as Multidimensional Photocatalysts for Functional Materials. Angewandte Chemie. 2021, 60(42), 22664-22671.

Liwen Zhang, Xiaobing Shi, Zhiheng Zhang, Rhiannon P Kuchel, Rashin Namivandi-Zangeneh, Nathaniel Corrigan, Kenward Jung, Kang Liang* and Cyrille Boyer*. Porphyrinic Zirconium MOFs as Heterogeneous Photocatalysts for PET-RAFT Polymerization and Stereolithography. Angewandte Chemie. 2021, 133, 2-10.

Liwen Zhang, Chenyu Wu, Dr. Kenward Jung, Prof. Yun Hau Ng and Prof. Cyrille Boyer. An Oxygen Paradox: Catalytic Use of Oxygen in Radical Photopolymerization. Angewandte Chemie. 2019, 131(47), 16967-16970.

Liwen Zhang, Shi Gao, Fan Zhang, Kai Yang, Qingjie Ma, Lei Zhu*. Activatable Hyaluronic Acid Nanoparticle as a Theranostic Agent for Optical/Photoacoustic Image-Guided Photothermal Therapy. ACS Nano 2014, 8 (12), 12250-12258.