Photo of Dr. Hu   Dr. Zhibing Hu, Regents Professor
 
 
  Department of Physics
P.O. Box 311427
Denton, Texas  76203-1427		 (940) 565-4583
Physics Building, Room 008
zbhu@unt.edu
 
   
Education:  

B.Sc. - Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
 Ph.D. - McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, 1988
            Experimental condensed matter physics
Postdoctoral Research - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
Research:   -   Experimental soft condensed matter physics
-   Polymer chemistry and physics, Colloidal chemistry and physics
-   Biomaterials chemistry, nanostructured materials, and hydrogel materials
 
Projects:   -   Physical and chemical properties of polymer gels and related biomaterials
-   Self assembling and phase behaviors of hydrogel nanoparticles in solvents
-   Crystallization, glass transition, and gelation of colloidal dispersions
-   Synthesis and study of smart gels for sensors and devices applications
-   Developing nanostructured, biodegradable hydrogel materials for applications in controlled drug delivery, tissue engineering, food, cosmetics, super-absorbents and contact lenses.
-   Static and dynamic laser light scattering characterization. Rheological characterization. UV-visible spectroscopy. 
 
   
   

Crystalline hydrogels with high polymer concentration were synthesized by initiating crystallization of a colloidal fluid near the freezing point but stabilizing the crystalline structure below the glass temperature following a phase diagram.  Iridescent colors of such hydrogels in water shift from blue to red as the polymer concentration decreases from 5.4 to 3.5 wt% as shown in the photos.  [From Hu and Huang, Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed., 42, 4799(2003)]
Selected Publications:    
  1. Z. B. Hu, X. M. Zhang, and Y. Li, "Synthesis and application of modulated polymer gels." Science 269, 525 (1995).
 
  2. Y. Li, G. Wang, and Z. B.  Hu, "Turbidity study of spinodal decomposition of an N-isopropylacrylamide gel," Macromolecules 28, 4194 (1995).
 
  3. C. J. Wang, Y. Li, and Z. B. Hu, “Swelling kinetics of polymer gels.” Macromolecules 30, 4727 (1997).
 
  4.  Z. B. Hu, Y. Y. Chen, C. J. Wang, Y. Y. Zheng, and Y. Li, “Polymer gels with engineered environmentally responsive surface patterns.” Nature 393, 149 (1998).
 
  5. Z. B. Hu, X. H. Lu, J. Gao, and C. J. Wang, “Polymer gel nanoparticle networks.” Advanced Materials 12, 1173 (2000).
 
  6. H. E. Teal, Z. B. Hu, and D. D. Root, “Native purification of biomolecules with temperature mediated hydrophobic modulation liquid chromatography.” Analytic Biochemistry 283, 159 (2000).
 
  7.  Z. B. Hu, X. H. Lu, and J. Gao,  “Hydrogel opals.” Advanced Materials 13 (Cover), 1708 (2001).
 
  8. J. Gao and Z. B. Hu, “Optical properties of N-isopropylacrylamide microgel spheres in water.” Langmuir 18, 1360 (2002).
 
  9. X. H. Xia, Z. B. Hu, J.  Gao, D. J. Qin, H. D. Durst, and R. Yin, “Light scattering study of self-association behavior of long chain polymers in solvents.” Langmuir 18, 8300 (2002).
 
  10. J. Z. Wu, B. Zhou, and Z. B. Hu, “Phase behavior of thermally responsive microgel colloids.” Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 048304 (2003).
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  11.  Z. Z. Yang, Z. W. Niu, Y. Lu, Z. B. Hu, and Charles C. Han, “Templated synthesis of inorganic hollow spheres with a tunable cavity size onto core-shell gel particles.” Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 42, 1943 (2003).
 
  12. T. Cai, Z. B. Hu, B. Ponder, J. V. St. John, and D. Moro, “Synthesis and study of and controlled release from nanoparticles and their networks based on functionalized hydroxypropylcellulose.” Macromolecules 36, 6559 (2003).
 
  13. Z. B. Hu and G. Huang, “A new route to crystalline hydrogels as guided by a phase diagram.” Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed., 42, 4799 (2003).
 
  14. G. Huang, J. Gao, Z. B. Hu, J. V. St. John, B. Ponder, and D. Moro, “Controlled drug release from hydrogel nanoparticle networks,” J. Controlled Release 94, 303-311 (2004).
 
  15. Z. B. Hu and X. H. Xia,   “Hydrorgel nanoparticle dispersions with inverse thermoreversible gelation,” Advanced Materials 16, 305-309 (2004).
 
  16. S.J. Tang, Z. B. Hu, Z. D. Cheng, and J. Z. Wu, “Crystallization kinetics of thermosensitive colloids probed by transmission spectroscopy,” Langmuir 20, 8858-8864 (2004).
 
  17. T. Cai, Z. B. Hu, and M. Marquez, “Synthesis and self-assembly of nearly monodisperse nanoparticles of a naturally occurring polymer,” Langmuir 20, 7355-7359 (2004).
 
  18. H. Weng, J. Zhou, L. P. Tang, and Z. B. Hu, “Tissue responses to thermally-responsive hydrogel nanoparticles,” J. Biomaterials Sci.–Polymer Ed. 15, 1167-1180 (2004).
 
  19. L. Arleth, X. H. Xia, R. P. Hjelm, J. Z. Wu, and Z. B. Hu, “Volume transition and internal structures of small poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels,” Journal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics 43, 849-860 (2005).
 
  20. J. Zhou, T. Cai, S. J. Tang, M. Marquez, Z. B. Hu, "Growth of Columnar Hydrogel Colloidal Crystals in Water-Organic Solvent Mixture," Langmuir (Letter), 22(3), 863-866 (2006).
 
  21. A. Garcia, M. Marquez, T. Cai, R. Rosario, Z. B. Hu, D. Gust, M. Hayes, S. A. Vail, C. Park, "Photo-, Thermally, and pH-Responsive Microgels," Langmuir, 23 (1), 224-229, (2007).
 
  22. D. Lawrence, T. Cai, Z. Hu, M. Marquez, A. D. Dinsmore, "Temperature-Responsive Semipermeable Capsules Composed of Colloidal Microgel Spheres," Langmuir (Letter, 23 (2), 395-398, (2007).
 
  23. J. Kim, A. Utada, A. Fernandez-Nieves, Z. Hu, D. Weitz, "Fabrication of Monodisperse Gel Shells and Functional Microgels in Microfluidic Devices," Angewandte Chemie International Ed. 46, 1-6 (2007).
 
  24. T. Cai, M. Marquez, Z. Hu, "Monodisperse Thermoresponsive Microgels of Poly(ethylene glycol) Analogue-Based Biopolymers," Langmuir (Letter) 23 (17), 8663-8666 (2007).
 
  25. S. Tang, Z. Hu, B. Zhou, Z. Cheng, J. Wu, M. Marquez, "Melting Kinetics of Thermally Responsive Microgel Crystals," Macromolecules (Article) 40 (26), 9544-9548 (2007).
 
  26. T. Gong, J. Shen, Z. Hu, M. Marquez, Z. Cheng, "Nucleation Rate Measurement of Colloidal Crystallization Using Microfluidic Emulsion Droplets," Langmuir (Letter) 23 (6) 2919-2923 (2007).
 
  27. H. Wyss, K. Miyazaki, J. Mattsson, Z. Hu, D. Reichman, D. Weitz, "Strain-Rate Frequency Superposition: A Rheological Probe of Structural Relaxation in Soft Materials," Physical Review Letters, 98, 238303 (2007).
 
  28. G. Huang, Z. Hu, "Phase Behavior and Stabilization of Microgel Arrays," Macromolecules (Article), 40 (10), 3749-3756 (2007).
 
  29. B. Zhou, J. Gao, Z. Hu, "Robust polymer gel opals--An easy approach by inter-sphere cross-linking gel nanoparticle assembly in acetone," Polymer, 48, 2874-2881 (2007).
 
   
   
   

Nearly monodisperse nanoparticles have been synthesized based on a naturally occurring polymer of hydropropylcellulose using precipitation polymerization method. These nanoparticles can self-assemble into an ordered structure, displaying bright colors. Here an incident white light was focused into a sheet beam using a cylindrical lens and passed through a nanoparticle dispersion in a vial (top) and a gelled nanoparticle network in water (bottom) at 210C. The color of the samples changes with the scattering angle between the incident beam and the scattered light recorded by a camera. The scattering angles are 150o (A), 110o (B), 90o (C), and 70o (D) for the top panel, and 150o (A), 120o (B), 90o (C), and 60o (D) for the bottom panel. [From Cai, Hu, and Marquez, Langmuir 20, 7355-7359 (2004).]
     

For more Information:

You may e-mail Dr. Hu at zbhu@unt.edu

Or send mail to

Department of Physics
P.O. Box 311427
University of North Texas Denton, Texas 76203-1427

Express Mail:

211 Avenue A, Physics Bldg., Room 008
University of North Texas
Denton, TX 76203

(940) 565-4583

Last Updated 07-Apr-2008