From 2014-2018, I performed my PhD in Van ‘t Hoff Laboratory for Physical & Colloid Chemistry at Utrecht

University. My dissertation titled ‘Patchy colloids with orthogonal functionality’ focused on the synthesis

of Janus particles with functional patches which can be modified orthogonally and independently. For

example, I developed an efficient and scalable approach for the synthesis of uniform Janus particles with

two chemically orthogonal patches carrying ATRP initiators and alkyne functionalities. Besides the Janus

spheres, by combining seeded dispersion polymerization with heterogeneous nucleation, I was able to

prepare bifunctional anisotropic particles, such as snowman, dumbbells, trimers etc. The resulting particles

featuring controllable geometry and orthogonal chemistry have potential applications in the fields of

tandem catalysis, directed self-assembly, or as multi-responsive self-propelling particles.

From 2018 November I worked as a postdoc in Organic Chemistry & Catalysis group at Utrecht University

on the project of application of Pickering emulsions (PE) for tandem catalysis reactions. To achieve PE with

higher stability, I developed uniform bi-functional Janus silica spheres, polyphosphazene nanofibers,

raspberry shaped nanoparticles as heterogeneous catalysts and efficient solid emulsifiers for oil-in-water

or oil-in-oil Pickering interfacial catalysis. I also investigated the controllable synthesis of bi-functional

hollow spheres as nanoreactors for tandem catalysis. The prepared PE were further applied in continuous

flow catalytic systems in microchannel reactor or glass columns. Here I increased my knowledge and skills

in the area of organic chemistry, especially continuous flow tandem catalysis. Since my PhD, I have

supervised 4 master students and 5 bachelor students.

 In his work with the Davies group, Fuqiang will use his knowledge of colloid synthesis and surface modification to prepare both well defined 0D and 1D magnetic materials as efficient MRI contrast agents.