Contact

Laboratory for General Biochemistry and Physical Pharmacy
Ghent University
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
9000 Gent
Belgium
Tel: 0032 9 264 80 47 (secretary)
Tel: 0032 9 264 83 65 (direct)
E-mail: dawei.hua@ugent.be

Biography

Education:
2017.5-present
Exchange PhD student in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Ghent University
2014.6-2017.5
Doctoral Training in the College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University
2011.9-2014.6
Master in the School of Life Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology
Scholarship:
2017.5-2018.5 Full Scholarship of the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (Nanjing Forestry University)

Research interests

Electrospinning, micro-/nano- fibers, stimuli-responsive drug delivery system

Summary of Research Project(s)

The research of Dawei focus on electrospinning stimuli-responsive fibers for drug delivery. Due to ‘‘geometry reasons’’ electrospun fibers, with a submicrometre diameter and a high surface to volume ratio, which facilitates the transfer of the stimulus to the whole fiber, could lead to materials with a fast response.
We use coaxial electrospinning to produce core-shell composite micro-/nano-fibers of polyurethane (PU) and cellulose acetate phthalate (CAP). The designed fibers possess enhanced mechanical properties with a tensile strength of 13.27±2.32 MPa, which is a clear improvement over the existing CAP fibers that suffer from a poor mechanical strength (0.2±0.03 MPa). The CAP imparts pH responsiveness to the core-shell structure giving the fibers potential for “semen sensitive” (intravaginal) drug delivery.