News

Media Interview: PolyU SFT research team tests the safety of sandals and slippers

To understand how the design of sandals and slippers impacts plantar pressure and gait stability, a research team led by Prof. Joanne Yip, Associate Dean and Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), collaborated with the Ming Pao Daily News to conduct tests on a variety of sandal and slipper models, assessing their influence on plantar pressure and gait stability. The results showed that overly soft soles fail to adequately support the ankle joints and plantar muscles, reducing stability and dynamic balance. This increases the risk of ankle sprains and falls. Furthermore, the leg muscles become tired as they exert more force to maintain balance. On the contrary, if the soles are excessively hard or thick, the forefoot forces an unnatural walking pattern that can cause leg muscle fatigue and joint pain. Prof. Kit Yick, Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles of PolyU, suggested that when choosing sandals, it is important to select the optimal level of hardness and softness. The sole design should balance softness and comfort with appropriate support and cushioning. Based on the foot shape and activity needs, individuals can choose the appropriate shoe type to ensure both "comfort" and "safety".

PolyU researchers invent intelligent soft robotic clothing for automatic thermal adaptation in extreme heat

As global warming intensifies, people increasingly suffer from extreme heat. For those working in a high-temperature environment indoors or outdoors, keeping thermally comfortable becomes particularly crucial. A team led by Dr Dahua SHOU, Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies and Associate Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed first-of-its-kind thermally-insulated and breathable soft robotic clothing that can automatically adapt to changing ambient temperatures, thereby helping to ensure worker safety in hot environments. Their research findings have been published in the international interdisciplinary journal Advanced Science. Maintaining a constant body temperature is one of the most critical requirements for living and working. High-temperature environments elevate energy consumption, leading to increased heat stress, thus exacerbating chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health issues and asthma, while also increasing the risk of infectious disease transmission. According to the World Health Organisation, globally, there were approximately 489,000 heat-related deaths annually between 2000 and 2019, with 45% occurring in Asia and 36% in Europe. Thermal protective clothing is essential to safeguard individuals in extreme high-temperature environments, such as firefighters who need to be present at fires scenes and construction workers who work outdoors for extended periods. However, traditional gear has been limited by statically fixed thermal resistance, which can lead to overheating and discomfort in moderate conditions, while its heat insulation may not offer sufficient protection in extreme fire events and other high-temperature environments. To address this issue, Dr Shou and his team have developed intelligent soft robotic clothing for automatic temperature adaptation and thermal insulation in hot environments, offering superior personal protection and thermal comfort across a range of temperatures. Their research was inspired by biomimicry in nature, like the adaptive thermal regulation mechanism in pigeons, which is mainly based on structural changes. Pigeons use their feathers to trap a layer of air surrounding their skin to reduce heat loss to the environment. When the temperature drops, they fluff up their feathers to trap a significant amount of still air, thereby increasing thermal resistance and retaining warmth. The protective clothing developed by the team uses soft robotic textile for dynamic adaptive thermal management. Soft actuators, designed like a human network-patterned exoskeleton and encapsulating a non-toxic, non-flammable, low-boiling-point fluid, were strategically embedded within the clothing. This thermo-stimulated system turns the fluid from a liquid into a gas when the ambient temperature rises, causing expansion of soft actuators and thickening the textile matrix, thereby enhancing the gap of still air and doubling the thermal resistance from 0.23 to 0.48 Km²/W. The protective clothing can also keep the inner surface temperatures at least 10°C cooler than conventional heat-resistant clothing, even when the outer surface reaches 120°C. This unique soft robotic textile, made by thermoplastic polyurethane, is soft, resilient and durable. Notably, it is far more skin-friendly and conformable than temperature-responsive clothing embedded with shape-memory alloys and is adjustable for a wide range of protective clothing. The soft actuators have exhibited no signs of leakage after undergoing rigorous standard washing tests. The porous, spaced knitting structure of the material can also significantly reduce convective heat transfer while maintaining high moisture breathability. Not relying on thermoelectric chips or circulatory liquid cooling systems for cooling or heat conduction, the light-weighted, soft robotic clothing can effectively regulate temperature itself without any energy consumption. Dr Shou said, “Wearing heavy firefighting gear can feel extremely stifling. When firefighters exit a fire scene and remove their gear, they are sometimes drained nearly a pound of sweat from their boots. This has motivated me to develop a novel suit capable of adapting to various environmental temperatures while maintaining excellent breathability. Our soft robotic clothing can seamlessly adapt to different seasons and climates, multiple working and living conditions, and transitions between indoor and outdoor environments to help users experience constant thermal comfort under intense heat.” Looking forward, Dr Shou finds the innovation to have a wide range of potential applications, from activewear, winter jackets, healthcare apparel and outdoor gear, to sustainable textile-based insulation for construction and buildings, contributing to energy-saving efforts. Supported by the Innovation and Technology Commission and the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel, Dr Shou and his team have also extended the thermo-adaptive concept to develop inflatable, breathable jackets and warm clothing. This soft robotic clothing is suitable for low-temperature environments or sudden temperature drops to aid those who are stranded in the wilderness to maintain normal body temperature.

Media Interview: PolyU RiFood study finds lactating women eating not enough fruit and vegetable

A recent study conducted by the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has found that while the fruit and vegetable intake of lactating women has increased significantly in the past decade, it is still below the recommended level by the Department of Health. The PolyU research team examined the eating habits of over 80 lactating women from 2022 to 2024 and compared the results to a similar survey done in 2014. It found that the women's vegetable intake increased by 34% compared to 2014 and their dietary fibre and vitamin A intake also rose by 19% and 20.4% respectively. However, their overall intake is still below the Department of Health's recommendations, lower from 22% to 103% of the daily goals. Only 10% of women meet the recommendation of 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables per day. The research team also revealed that more than half of breastfeeding women consume too much fat, saturated fat and sugar, and nearly half have bad cholesterol and weight levels outside the normal range. Dr Kenneth LO Ka-hei, Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition and member of RiFood of PolyU, suggests that lactating women should focus on a balanced diet. Fruits and vegetables contain different vitamins and minerals, which increase the absorption of protein, calcium and iron, helping alleviate postpartum problems such as constipation. 

Media Interview: PolyU’s outstanding innovative research shines on the international stage

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has been actively showcasing its latest scientific research and innovative achievements on the international stage. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations and the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. PolyU organised the “Flying High” exhibition in Paris to highlight two main themes, “Style in Motion” and “Sustainability in Innovation”, featuring 10 projects that highlight a diverse array of research and innovations across disciplines, from fashion to technology and sustainable materials. In addition, two research projects led by PolyU have recently won over HK$100 million in funding from the Research Grants Council’s (RGC) Theme-based Research Scheme 2024/25 to advance emerging research and innovations. Prof. Christina WONG, Professor of the School of Fashion and Textiles and Director of Research and Innovation of PolyU has also been awarded by the RGC’s Senior Research Fellow Scheme with a total grant of approximately HK$8 million in funding to promote research related to circular economy and sustainable development. PolyU will participate in the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Milan, Italy, in October this year. Prof. Wong said PolyU is committed to promoting the university's scientific and technological development. Moving forward, PolyU continues to expand innovative and cutting-edge research that enhances well-being and leads to a brighter future.

PolyU and ChemPartner collaborate on developing novel immunotherapy agents

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Shanghai ChemPartner Co. Ltd. (ChemPartner) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on 9 August to establish the partnership and jointly develop next-generation cancer immunotherapy agents. This partnership combines expertise from both academia and industry, with the long-term goal of benefiting cancer patients. PolyU continues to advance its novel targets into personalised cancer treatments based on antibodies. The collaboration integrates the University's strengths in fundamental scientific research and the industry's translational expertise, creating a synergistic relationship. The partnership aims to bridge research on drug development, accelerating innovation and commercialisation of cancer treatments. This synergy promotes knowledge exchange and resources, paving the way for oncology advancements. The MOU was signed by Prof. CHOW Ming-cheung, Larry, Head and Professor of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of PolyU, and Mr Shixin FAN, Board Director of ChemPartner. Prof. CHOW said, "This partnership exemplifies the need for academia and industry to collaborate closely to achieve success. To achieve complementary advantages, we will focus on the early discovery phase of markers, while ChemPartner will work on the later stages of antibody development." Mr. William Woo, Chairman and CEO of ChemPartner, said, "We hope that through this partnership, we can promote exchanges and collaboration between the two sides in the field of medical technology, share resources, complement each other's strengths, and jointly make greater contributions to human health."

PolyU brings together global quantum experts at the First Quantum Hong Kong

The First Quantum Hong Kong (Quantum HK) was successfully held on 9 August at The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU). The day was packed with insightful discussions and cutting-edge presentations. We were honoured to invite renowned plenary speakers, quantum industry leaders and quantum researchers from international institutions for thought-provoking panel discussions, and presentations. Prof. Wing-tak Wong, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU welcomed attendees and delivered opening remarks to kick off the event. The event attracted over 80 overseas researchers and participants and it was also enthusiastically received by the local research community. Quantum HK provided an invaluable international platform for the exchange of the latest findings in quantum computing, quantum communications, quantum metrology, and quantum materials. This has also greatly benefited the quantum research community, industry, professionals, funding agencies, and publishers in Hong Kong. Furthermore, the conference has also widened and strengthened collaborations between local and global academic and industrial scientists, driving fundamental research and science education forward.

PolyU develops versatile fluidic platform for programmable liquid processing

Society relies heavily on diverse fluidic technologies. The ability toprecisely capture and release various chemical and biological fluids plays a fundamental role in many fields.A long-standing challenge is to design a platform that enables the switchable capture and release of liquids with precise spatial and temporal control and accurate volumes of the fluid. Recently, researchers at The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong (PolyU) have invented a new method to effectively overcome this challenge. Led by Prof. WANG Liqiu, Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Professor in Smart and Sustainable Energy, Chair Professor of Thermal-Fluid and Energy Engineering, of the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, the research team has developed a unique fluidic processor, “Connected Polyhedral Frames” (CPFs). With CPFs, switching between liquid capture and release becomesreversible, programmable and independent of used polyhedral frames and processed liquids, making the processor a meta-metamaterial.This research has recently been published in Nature Chemical Engineering, with Dr ZHANG Yiyuan, Research Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as the first author. Unlike in the highly developed area of solids manipulation, convenient handling of fluids remains a cumbersome task despite the ubiquity of fluids in, for example, the healthcare, pharmaceutical, biological and chemical industries. As fluids interact with tools, they frequently wet and spread on the solids, preventing complete liquid transfer, impairing volumetric accuracy and causing inter-sample cross contamination. To preserve the purity of fluids, disposable plastics such as pipettes and microtubes are widely used, adding to the global problem of plastic waste. Reversible switching between capture and release is the key to CPFs’ capability to precisely process liquids, enabling the liquid in the network to be retained or drained locally, dynamically and reversibly as desired. In the CPFs, frames above the single-rod connection without a pathway for liquid drainage between frames, capture and retain liquids, thus functioning as capturers. While the frames above the double-rod connection imbibe but release liquids, serving as releasers. This is because when the CPFs are lifted from the liquid, a liquid film forms between the double-rod connections, creating channels between frames that facilitate liquid release. Reversible switching between capture and release can be achieved, using available tools, by constructing or breaking the liquid continuity between frames. CPFs offer a versatile platform that enables many unique functions including 3D programmable patterning of liquids, 3D spatiotemporal control of concentrations of multiple materials, packaging of 3D liquid arrays and large-scale manipulation of multiple liquids. It is compatible with a broad range of liquids, including but not limited to aqueous solutions, biofluids, hydrogels, organic solvents, polymer solutions and oils. Therefore, a variety of biomaterials and chemicals can be incorporated into CPFs for various applications. To demonstrate the practical utility of CPFs in controlled multidrug release, Prof. Wang’s team designed a CPF network for the 3D binary liquid patterning of vitamins B2 and B12. The two vitamins, representing two different types of drug molecules, were encapsulated in sodium alginate hydrogel and gellan gum, respectively, and released in aqueous solution. By altering the thickness of the gel membrane, the relative release rates of the two “drugs” can be precisely controlled. Traditional cotton swabs and flocking swabs suffer from severe sample residues during their sample release. CPFs can effectively overcome this challenge because their frame structure renders free liquid-liquid interfaces for high release efficiency. Using the influenza virus as an example, the research team demonstrated the superiority of CPFs as sampling tools with much better release performance. When the virus concentration was low, the CPFs detected the virus, while both the flocking swab and cotton swab failed to do so. The team has also demonstrated the application of CPFs in biomaterial encapsulation. Taking Acetobacterium encapsulation as an example, the CPFs show many advantages over traditional devices, including by facilitating the separation of bacteria and reaction products, simplifying the microbial reaction process and enhancing the utilisation rate of bacteria. It is conceivable that CPF could also be applied to encapsulate other biological materials for efficient production of other valuable products. In addition to medical and microbial applications, Prof. Wang’s team has further demonstrated the practicability of CPFsfor air conditioning. They prepared a commercial-scale humidifierprototype, which has a higher water storage capacity and requires less water flow, making them potentially more energy efficient.The CPFs also allow large-scale 3D liquid dispersionto form a larger surface area, making them very useful for gas absorption. An ideal CO2 cycle process is successfully generated with CPFs, which includes carbon capture and storage and CO2 reutilisation. Importantly, each frame in CPFs captures or releases liquids independent of its base materials, structures and handled liquids, being thus an innovative meta-metamaterial that makes the dream of “precisely scooping water with a bamboo basket” come true. The availability of such a fluidic processor sets a new standard for handling liquids with controllability, versatility and high performance, inspires a new field of meta-metamaterials, and facilitates new scientific and technological breakthroughs in various fields.  

PolyU team won first place in High-Efficiency Power Amplifier Student Design Competition

A team of three undergraduate students from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) won the First Place in High-Efficiency Power Amplifier Student Design Competition at the prestigious 2024 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium held in Washington, D.C., USA. The students were under the guidance of Dr Zhou Xinyu, Research Assistant Professor and Head of the RF Microelectronics Circuit (RFMC) Laboratory in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of PolyU. The three PolyU team winners are Wang Yanze, Bi Jingyu, and Yuan Ye, all studying the Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Degree in Internet-of-Things (IoT) with a Secondary major in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA). With a 20-year history, the competition aims to seek innovative topologies for high-efficiency power amplifiers for the next generation of wireless communications. This year, 42 teams of doctoral students from around the world (including the United States, Germany, Canada, Italy, Ireland, South Korea, and Mexico) participated in the event. The PolyU team won the honour for the first time in this international competition, and it was the only team composed of undergraduate students to stand out successfully. The award not only recognises the students’ effort but also demonstrates PolyU’s research strengths. The RFMC laboratory will continue to focus on research into RF microelectronic circuits based on third-generation semiconductor technology, leveraging the upcoming microelectronics development wave in Hong Kong to continue proposing innovative circuit design methods and concepts.  

PolyU develops ultra-stable, record high brightness perovskite LEDs with promising applications

Perovskite materials are significant for enhancing the development and performance of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, there are certain technological limitations in advancing overall device efficiency, brightness and lifetime, with the operational stability of Perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) remaining a major challenge. Researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have made a breakthrough by developing a 3DFAPbI3 perovskite material system that enables high brightness, efficiency and long device lifetime simultaneously. Prof. LI Gang, Sir Sze-yuen Chung Endowed Professor in Renewable Energy, Chair Professor of Energy Conversion Technology of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of PolyU, together with Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Zhiqi LI, Research Assistant Professor Dr Zhiwei REN, and the rest of the research team, have engineered a novel technology using an alkyl-chain-length-dependent ammonium salt molecule modulation strategy. They elucidated the roles of alkylammonium salts in managing crystal orientation, controlling grain size, suppressing non-radiative recombination, and thereby enhancing device performance. This represents a critical leap towards future applications and commercialisation of efficient and ultra-stable PeLEDs with record brightness. The research team have achieved efficient, ultra-bright, and stable PeLEDs simultaneously, with high  Electroluminescence External Quantum Efficiency of 23.2%, a record radiance of 1,593 W sr−1 m−2 and a much improved record lifetime of 227 h (at a high current density of 100 mA cm−2). This demonstrates the best performance for DC-drive near-infrared PeLEDs at high-brightness and stability levels. Their research “Grain orientation management and recombination suppression for ultra-stable PeLEDs with record brightness”, has been recently published in the energy journal Joule. Prof. Li Gang said, “This strategy suggests that PeLEDs are not only high-efficiency devices in the laboratory but also promising candidates for commercial high-brightness lighting and display applications, competing with commercially available quantum-dot-based and organic LEDs.” The research team revealed that the performance of PeLEDs is strongly affected by the balance among oriented crystallisation, grain size control and suppression of non-radiative recombination. The key to resolving this dilemma lies in adjusting the molecular interaction between the long-chain alkylammonium salts and perovskite nuclei. Alkylammoniums promote oriented crystallization of perovskite film for lighting, while the molecular interaction between alkylammonium and perovskite affects PeLEDs performance. Notably, the team has successfully utilised molecular engineering of long-chain alkylammonium salts to modulate crystallisation kinetics. This breakthrough strategy enables the production of high-efficiency and ultra-brightness near-infrared PeLEDs with ultralong stability, even under large current excitation. In the development of LEDs, PeLEDs possess substantial advantages, including pure colour, a wider display colour gamut range, cost effectiveness and solution processiblity offering greater flexibility in production. The team’s discovery contributes significantly to the advancement of PeLEDs and their technological impact. 

HEROCARE: A Fearless Journey in Radiotherapy

As part of their treatment preparation, a young cancer patient attends a simulated radiotherapy session at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) with her favourite cartoon characters. The immersive environment, crafted for the child's well-being and featuring her favourite characters, fosters confidence and diminishes fear with vibrant colours, love, and care. The PolyU “FRIENDS理伴童行” Team at the Department of Health Technology and Informatics, alongside the Industrial Centre, utilises immersive mixed reality technology at the Hybrid Immersive Virtual Environment (HiVE) of PolyU to create a personalised, comforting space for paediatric radiotherapy preparation. Supported by the Lee Hysan Foundation, the HEROCARE programme at PolyU harnesses HiVE technology to enhance positive experiences for both patients and caregivers throughout radiotherapy. As a result, over 88% of participants completed radiotherapy without anaesthesia.