NRF POC AWARDEES – 6TH GRANT CALL, NOVEMBER 2011

1. A Scalable Technology for Transparent Conducting Oxide Thin Films on Flexible Substrates

Nanostructured transparent conducting oxides (TCOs) are of essential technological importance in optoelectronics. Demand for thin film and device fabrication of TCOs onto flexible substrates for emerging applications such as OLEDs, flat panel display and thin film solar cells has grown rapidly in recent years and is expected to reach $6.9B in sales by 2015. Thin, lightweight, unbreakable, conformable, bendable, rollable, cloth-like and inexpensive are desirable attributes for these applications, for which plastic substrates are well-suited. A high volume roll-to-roll processing operation would result in 50% lower production costs and 50% less capital expenditures for comparable greenfield sites.

Our patented technology to be demonstrated in the proposed research enables large scale, low temperature thin film fabrications of TCOs on flexible, including polymeric, substrates with low resistivity and high stability. By turning the negative charges on TCO nanoparticle surfaces into positive charges through a novel chemical process, electron hopping rate among nanoparticles can be significantly increased and thus nanoparticle resistivity is greatly minimized. The stability of the thin film can be greatly enhanced through nanoparticle crosslinking initiated by a novel photochemical process. The entire fabrication processes can be done below the glass transition temperature of the flexible substrates and are highly scalable to enable roll-to-roll thin film fabrications. The technology is expected to open an exciting opportunity not only for emerging markets in OLED, thin film solar cells and flat panel displays but also for new applications in flexible electronics.

 

Cheng Hansong received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1991 and subsequently joined Air Products and Chemicals, Inc, headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, as a senior scientist. In 2004, he became one of the founding members of the U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Sorption Center of Excellence, which included 5 national labs, 9 universities and 1 multinational company, and served as a member of its Steering Committee. In recognition of their contribution to the hydrogen program, he and his team received 2010 DOE Hydrogen Program Special Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2010, he joined the faculty of Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, as an associate professor. Dr. Cheng has been conducting active research in the area of theoretical chemistry and materials science for over 20 years with extensive experience in design and discovery of novel materials for a wide variety of applications. In particular, his work on hydrogen storage and semiconductor surface thin film growths has led to several technologically important commercial processes. He is an author/co-author and over 100 peer-reviewed publications and an inventor of 27 U.S. patents and patent applications and has delivered over 80 invited lectures in professional conferences, academic, government and industrial labs worldwide.

 

2. Energy efficient hydrogen production via a hybrid photocatalysis/electrolysis prototype

Electrolysing water to produce hydrogen is an energy-intensive process. The proposed idea is to hybrid electrolysis with photocatalysis for water splitting to significantly reduce the energy required. Hybridization lowers the cost of energy and the amount of hydrogen generated is significantly more compared to purely electrolysis or photocatalysis.

This project aims to develop a hybrid photocatalysis/electrolysis system that overcomes the disadvantages of conventional electrolysis or photocatalysis. Because of the decrease in the amount of energy needed for electrolysis by incorporating high-performing photocatalyst, bulk hydrogen is manufactured at a lower cost. This technology is a high impact and implementable solution for hydrogen production.

This indigenous hydrogen production technology is a game-changing one for energy suppliers. It is highly versatile, scalable and deployable to evolve power systems for portable use and on building rooftop. The immediate impact is the substantial improvement in the performance of commercial electrolysers by incorporating our novel photocatalyst. A new generation of energy-efficient high performing electrolysers can be manufactured. 

Dr. Chua Kian Jon Ernest
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
National University of Singapore

 

Dr Chua Kian Jon Ernest received his Ph. D. and M.Eng in Mechanical Engineering, from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1997 and 2001, respectively. He is currently an Assistant Professor at NUS. He holds joint faculty appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Programme. He was awarded the Hitachi Fellowship Award in 2010 to conduct ground-breaking solar-hydrogen water splitting research at Osaka University. Dr Chua’s primary research interests include bio-thermal engineering, building energy efficiency and renewable/clean energy technologies. He has been involved as a Principal Investigator (or Co-Investigator) in research projects funded by MOE, Mindef, and A*STAR. His biography is listed in several “Who's Who” compilations. He has published more than 70 technical papers in international journals and conferences, authored/co-authored 6 book chapters and owns 2 patents related to renewable technologies.

 

3. Development of a ‘wound dressing patch’ made up of an aloe-vera-nanomesh impregnated with human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly stem cells or its extracts for wound healing

Non-healing wounds is a chronic problem in patients suffering from diabetes, kidney failure, burns and bed sores and the pain from such wounds can be excruciating. Diabetic wounds lead to foot ulcers which eventually end up in foot amputation. Some individuals are susceptible to abnormal wound healing resulting in ugly raised-up scars which is bothersome cosmetically and psychologically. Present methods to improve wound healing have met with limited success. An estimated US$25 billion is expected to be the wound care market by 2015 for treatment of chronic wounds and the problem is growing worldwide because of an aging population and rise in the incidence of diabetes and obesity.

We have derived and studied a novel stem cell from the gelatinous material within the human umbilical cord that possesses certain unique properties and releases special factors that can be applied to wound healing. We wish to take advantage of these released factors found in the stem cell extracts to prepare a 'wound dressing patch'. This patch will be made up of a biodegradable Aloe vera-nanofibre mesh impregnated with the extracts to be applied to wounds to deliver the special factors that would encourage all processes involved in good wound healing. Our team is multidisciplinary comprising of renowned medical scientists, doctors, bioengineers and nanotechnology experts. The novelty of this study is the production of a marketable product from a recently derived unique stem cell that is safe, can be harvested painlessly in abundance and releases ingredients that are the building blocks for tissue repair. The potential applications of this patch are that it can be applied to all patients undergoing any form of surgery, patients suffering with slow-healing diabetic and non-diabetic wounds, bed sores, burns and also the animal care industry.

Dr Fong Chui Yee,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology,
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine
National University Health System

 

 

Dr Fong Chui Yee is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, National University of Singapore and was the Chief Embryologist of the National University Hospital IVF program. She obtained her MSc and PhD under Professor Ariff Bongso. She pioneered the zona-free blastocyst transfer technique for improved success in IVF programs and is a renowned stem cell scientist. She received the Outstanding Researcher award from NUS in 1997. Her current research interests focus on developing novel stem cells for the treatment of incurable diseases.

 

4. SMART Active Nanopores Membrane; integrated Catalytic Disinfectant and Sensory for Air/Water

The project aims to fabricate a multifunction membrane for enhanced photocatalytic disinfectant, anti-fouling (self-cleaning) and detection.  It is noteworthy that most of the commercialized membranes are based on physical or passive filtration. There are some which emphasized on photocatalytic (active) filtration however lack of other functionalities such as detection capability and structural integrity. The proposed membrane was designed to have an optimum structural morphology and nanoparticles functionalization for optimized adsorption-desorption sensing and light absorption photocatalytic disinfectant properties.

The project aims to develop multifunction membrane; sensor in combination with filtration system both passive (particulate filtration) and active (disinfectant). The proposed integrated system has the benefits of monitoring and cleaning technologies for broad environmental compatibility, holistically under a single platform. The potential application is for low cost integrated detection, disinfection and filtration system for improved indoor air quality delivered to homes/public places. 

Dr. Ho Ghim Wei,
Assistant Professor,
Electrical & Computer Engineering,
National University of Singapore

 

 

Dr Ho Ghim Wei received her Ph. D. Electrical Engineering, from the University of Cambridge in 2006. She is currently an Assistant Professor and holds joint faculty appointments at Electrical and Computer Engineering department and Engineering Science Programme at National University of Singapore. Her research is focused on wet chemistry materials synthesis and engineering towards fabrication of functional nanostructured materials for sensors and solar cells applications.  She is the first in the world to develop novel SiC nanoflowers and multi-coaxial nanowires with media TV coverage in NBC, ScienCentral and BBC News, UK and many newspaper coverages. She is a Principal Investigator (or Co-Investigator) for research projects funded by MOE, A*STAR and Applied Materials. She has made contributions to various book chapters, patents and international peer reviewed publications.

 

5. Application of Nano-Sized Adsorbent for Treatment of Arsenic Contaminated Water

Arsenic is highly toxic to humans and living organisms. Arsenic pollution is a serious global environmental problem. More than 160 million people are affected by the arsenic contamination. It affects humans through drinking water and food. As such, much stricter rule has been adopted to limit its concentration as low as 10 ppb in drinking water. It is of great urgency to develop an affordable and robust technology to remove arsenic from polluted water.

Adsorption by iron oxide, ion exchange, precipitation, and membrane filtration are the available technologies for the removal of arsenic. They may reduce the arsenic concentration to below 10 ppb.

However, the drawbacks are low efficiency, high chemical consumption and need for post-treatment. In our lab, a nano-sized binary metal oxide was in-situ synthesized and tested for its treatment capacity for arsenic through a series of lab-scale studies. It can remove greatly arsenic species from the contaminated aqueous solutions. It can also remove other toxic heavy metal ions from water.

We will further scale-up our technology from small lab-scale operation to a pilot-scale operation in this POC project. A complete water treatment system will be designed and optimized based on a series of experimental studies. Our technology with the adsorbent in-situ produced will remove the arsenic and other contaminants with efficiency much higher than many other commercially available technologies.

The success in this POC project would lead to the commercialization of the cost-effective and environmental friendly nano-technology for the treatment of arsenic in water. It would provide a better solution to the drinking water in many places in the world such as India, China and USA.

 

Dr J. Paul Chen
Associate Professor,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
National University of Singapore

 

Dr J. Paul Chen is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) in National University of Singapore (NUS). He joined the NUS in 1998 after he obtained his PhD degree from Georgia Tech, USA. His teaching experiences include: Water Pollution Control Technology, Industrial Effluent Treatment, Environmental Chemistry, Mass Transfer & Separation, and Safety, Health and Environment. His research interests are physicochemical treatment of water and wastewater and mathematical modeling of chemical and environmental processes. His current research activities are adsorption of toxic metal ions (e.g. arsenic, copper and lead), ballast water management system, electrochemical technologies for organic and metal waste treatment, and instrumental and modeling analysis of environmental processes. He has published 3 books and more than 100 journal papers and book chapters with external citation of above 22 per published paper and H-index of 24. He holds 2 patents on wastewater treatment. He received a research award “Distinguished Overseas Chinese Young Scholar” from National Natural Science Foundation of China and Mr. Yuh-Jie Lee Scholarship from Sun Yat-Sen Culture and Education Foundation. He is recognized as an Author of highly cited papers (Chemistry and Engineering) of ISI Web of Knowledge. Dr Chen has served as a peer research proposal reviewer for international funding agencies including National Science Foundation (USA), Research Council of Norway, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and National Natural Science Foundation of China. He has acted as a reviewer for various journals (e.g., EST, Langmuir, JPC, JCIS, and Water Research).

 

6. Microfluidics Biochip for Cancer Diagnosis

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world accounting for over 7.6 million deaths annually.  Early diagnosis and treatment can drastically reduce cancer mortality rates.  Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that have been shed from the primary tumour and enter into the bloodstream to travel to distant sites to form secondary tumors during metastasis.  These CTCs in peripheral blood of cancer patients can act as important markers for early detection, cancer staging and even monitoring of cancer treatment.  Also, access to these CTCs can allow pharmaceutical companies to identify important molecular targets for the development of anti-cancer drugs. 

However, the number of CTCs in blood is extremely low (as few as 1 per billion red blood cells or just 5 cells per 1ml of blood) making their enumeration and isolation from blood technologically challenging. Current techniques use antibodies and biomarkers to target specific surface proteins on CTCs to identify and capture these cancer cells.  However, as the expression of surface proteins is not uniform across all CTCs, such methods are not effective as they can only capture a subpopulation of CTCs that expresses the selected specific protein.  Also, the use of antibodies means we may not be able to retrieve viable or live cancer cells.  We have recently developed an ultra-high throughput size-based separation method to isolate and separate live CTCs from blood in a microfluidic device using inertial microfluidics principles (Fig. 1). The technique, which does not use biomarkers or antibodies, makes use of the large difference in cell size and stiffness between CTCs and other blood components to separate CTCs from blood cells as blood travels through a specially designed long microfluidic channel (see Fig.1 (a) regions  X & Y).  This biochip offers high-throughput sorting and collection allowing easy retrieval of the larger and stiffer live cancer cells (see Fig. 1 (a) region Z) for downstream studies such as single cell and genetic analysis. 

Fig. 1 (a) Layout of patent pending microfluidic biochip showing flow of blood cells with CTCs (in green) being isolated into centre outlet in region Z, and (b) platform to operate biochip (courtesy of Clearbridge Biomedics).

This innovative yet simple to use device can be the next generation of non-invasive 'liquid biopsy' as cancer cells can now be collected from blood for analysis rather than through the painful route of needle biopsy. In this project, we intend to validate the biochip with clinical samples and develop a pre-clinical prototype towards commercialization by partnering with Clearbridge BioMedics, a Singapore based early stage onco-diagnostic company.

Professor Lim Chwee Teck
Mechanobiology Institute
Department of Bioengineering & Department of Mechanical Engineering
National University of Singapore

 

 

Professor Lim Chwee Teck is a Professor at the Departments of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering at NUS.  He is also a Principal Investigator of the Mechanobiology Institute. Prof Lim heads the Nano Biomechanics Lab which conducts research in cell and molecular biomechanics and mechanobiology of human diseases as well as the development of cell mechanics based microfluidic devices for disease detection and diagnosis. 

Prof Lim has authored or co-authored more than 180 journal papers (including 30 invited/review articles), 17 book chapters and delivered more than 175 invited talks. He is currently on the editorial boards of 11 international journals. Prof Lim has recently been elected as a Council Member of the World Council for Biomechanics. He has won several research awards including the President’s Technology Award, Faculty Research Award, IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award, highly cited author and paper awards as well as Best Paper awards in international conferences. His research was cited by the MIT Technology Review magazine as one of the top ten emerging technologies of 2006 that will "have a significant impact on business, medicine or culture".

 

7. A novel multiple-zone soft contact lens to slow myopia progression

Myopia or short-sightedness is a huge public health problem in East Asian countries, especially Singapore. Hence, it is important to identify effective interventions to retard myopia progression. To date, there are no effective and safe control measures for myopia. The latest animal and human experiments have demonstrated 2 new concepts of more hyperopic peripheries in myopic children and the role of myopic defocus to prevent myopia. The objective is to develop a new daily disposable soft contact lens (CL) which corrects myopia with (i) clear alternating zones taking into account more hyperopic peripheries and (ii) concentric treatment zones with lesser myopic power that induce simultaneous myopic defocus. Our proposed CLs fabrication method will use the injection moulding and manufacturing process. CLs are also preferred to spectacle lenses, because of the inevitable ocular movement associated with changing gaze fixation. Young myopic children aged 5 to 16 years of all ethnicities are our target patients. There is a large market as there are 40 million myopic children in Asia and 8 million in the United States.

Professor Saw Seang Mei
Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
National University of Singapore

 

 

Prof Saw Seang Mei received her MBBS degree from the National University of Singapore, and MPH and PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include the epidemiology, clinical interventions and genetics of myopia. She has published more than 250 peer-reviewed international journals, including Lancet and JAMA, and is currently PI /co-PI of grants totalling > $15 million from the NMRC, NRF, NIH and NHMRC (Australia). She is an Editorial Board member of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Ophthalmic and Physiologic Optics, the Annals Academy of Medicine (Singapore) and the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology. She is the recipient of the Edward Clarence Dyason Universitis 21 Award, Garland W. Clay Award, Great Women of our Times Award (Science and Technology), Singapore, American Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award and the Faculty Research Excellence Award.

 

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