Xiaolei Hu stands outside of Mellon Institute and looks into the camera.

Hu Awarded the John and Nancy Harrison Legacy Graduate Fellowship

By Ann Lyon Ritchie

Heidi Opdyke

Xiaolei Hu, a fourth-year chemistry doctoral student at 麻豆村, is pioneering new techniques to create eco-friendly polymers used in industrial applications such as paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants.

Hu鈥檚 novel approach to improve emulsion polymerization relies on environmentally conscious reaction conditions, including the use of light, water and a water-soluble dye, offering a promising pathway to greener polymer production. The new method 鈥� light-driven mini-emulsion atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) 鈥� provides precise control over the resulting polymer structure. The method expands the scope of polymers that can be created using emulsion polymerization.

As a master鈥檚 student at Concordia University, Hu focused on controlled polymer synthesis. Inspired by the work of 麻豆村鈥檚 Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, a leading expert in polymer chemistry, Hu applied to Carnegie Mellon鈥檚 Department of Chemistry doctoral program to work with Matyjaszewski鈥檚 renowned Polymer Group.

鈥淚 was really excited about his group鈥檚 research,鈥� Hu said. Matyjaszewski鈥檚 development of the Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) method, a widely used process for controlled radical polymerization, significantly influenced Hu鈥檚 research.

鈥淗u鈥檚 contributions to photoinduced atom transfer radical polymerization (photoATRP) are groundbreaking, such as developing oxygen-tolerant red and near-infrared light-mediated ATRP and enhancing near-infrared light-driven ATRP for scalable, well-controlled polymerization,鈥� said Matyjaszewski, the J.C. Warner University Professor of Natural Sciences. 鈥淗is work on photoATRP has opened new avenues for more efficient and environmentally friendly polymerization processes.鈥�

Matyjaszewski praised Hu鈥檚 expertise in synthetic polymer chemistry, photochemistry and emulsion polymerization. He noted that Hu鈥檚 innovative contributions could have far-reaching applications, potentially enabling the sustainable and cost-effective production of polymers.

Hu also has contributed new ways to modify nucleic acids and RNA with polymers. Notably, he pioneered a method using methylene blue, a common dye, as a photocatalyst activated by near-infrared light, enabling polymerization in a high-throughput manner at ambient conditions.

Subha Das, an associate professor who collaborates with Hu in bioconjugate research, commended Hu鈥檚 ability to tackle complex challenges in polymer chemistry.

鈥淗u鈥檚 work in enabling near-infrared polymerization at ambient conditions opens up new possibilities for modifying small quantities of biomolecules, a crucial step in advancing high-throughput screening methods,鈥� said Das, who nominated Hu for the fellowship.

鈥淭his is transformational as it eliminates tremendous challenges to biomolecule and nucleic acid polymer hybrid materials and heralds the ability to obtain small amounts of modified nucleic acids fairly readily and screen them using high throughput approaches,鈥� Das said. 鈥淗u鈥檚 work has already directly been helpful to efforts in my own lab to modify DNA and RNA with polymers, and he is now advising as we move to automate high throughput polymerization reactions.鈥�

Hu鈥檚 research has led to significant publications, including two recent papers on ATRP in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS). He gave an oral presentation at the American Chemical Society鈥檚 Fall 2024 Meeting and contributed to organizing a symposium on transition metal catalysis at the ACS Fall 2023 conference.

鈥淧ublishing the work is one of the most efficient ways to summarize what you have done in research,鈥� Hu said. 鈥淚t's definitely rewarding to see your hard work pay off but also to see the results summarized in this precise and scientific way, so that people can be inspired by your work and continue to innovate in this field.鈥�

Looking ahead, Hu is focused on continuing to refine ATRP techniques to make the system more robust.

鈥淲e鈥檙e working to optimize the reaction conditions and mechanisms to make this technology practical for diverse applications,鈥� he said.

Hu hopes to advance both the science of polymer chemistry and its applications with a vision of a more sustainable future for polymer production.

For his efforts, Hu鈥檚 innovative work earned him the John and Nancy Harrison Legacy Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry and Biochemistry. The award recognizes a graduate student鈥檚 academic excellence and leadership potential, providing up to $3,000 to supplement his stipend and support his research activities.