Spectroscopy and Imaging

40-year Mystery Solved by Scientist Group Led by Prof Xun-li Wang

Professor Xun-li WANG, our Head of Department and Chair Professor of Physics, together with his research collaborators from Australia, Japan and United States, recently uncovered a hidden amorphous phase in the formation of metallic glass. This new breakthrough in the discovery of metallic glass formation has been published in the internationally acclaimed journal Nature Communications.

Owing to its high resilience which can sustain larger elastic deformation, metallic glass has been used in a variety of applications including but not limited to sports equipment, medical devices and electricity transformers. Building upon the discovery of the hidden amorphous phase, where atoms show a different kind of packing, researchers hope to utilize the simple processing methods such as heat treatment to develop novel materials. The discovery solved a 40-year scientific mystery and will undoubtedly signify an important milestone in the development of new and better metallic alloys.

Applied Physics

Breakthrough Technologies for Cancer Treatment and Energy Saving Developed by Prof Paul Chu

Professor Paul Chu Kim-ho, Chair Professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and his research team recently developed breakthrough technologies for effective cancer treatment and energy saving.

Both applications were developed based on the study of photoluminescence and light scattering mechanisms, as well as the plasmonic properties of micro-nanostructures.

This research findings have earned the team, comprising researchers from CityU and Nanjing University in mainland China, the highly prestigious First Class Award (Natural Science) in the 2017 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) of the Ministry of Education, China.

One of the applications involves using intense heat triggered by a photothermal process to kill cancer cells. Professor Chu described the strategy as a “Trojan horse” carrying “bombs”. He said “when the ‘bombs’ interact with near-infrared light, the temperature rapidly increases, killing the tumours.” His team has discovered two effective types of carriers with photothermal agents: Bi2Se3-laden-macrophages and Nile blue dye with black phosphorus. In trials, the tumours in mice were completely destroyed and removed, and there was no recurrence until the end of the experiment. The other application is thermochromic smart coating, which can control the transmission of solar radiation dynamically and automatically in accordance with the ambient temperature and illumination intensity.