News

Prof. Meng Ni Co-authored A Research Article In Nature On Fuel Cells

In collaboration with Nanjing Tech University (China) and Colorado School of Mines (USA), Prof. Meng Ni co-authored a research article entitled “Thermal-expansion offset for high-performance fuel cell cathodes” in Nature. The first author, Dr. Yuan Zhang, worked in Prof. Meng Ni’s lab for 1 year where she conducted part of the experimental research reported in this Nature paper. The second author, Dr. Bin Chen (now an Assistant Professor at Shenzhen University, China), received his PhD in 2018 from BRE under supervision of Prof. Meng Ni. The corresponding authors are Prof. Zongping Shao and Prof. Wei Zhou, who are supervisors of Dr. Yuan Zhang and are both from Nanjing Tech University. High temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have the potential to replace conventional thermal power plants for energy conversion. One challenge for SOFC commercialization is thermo-mechanical instability due to mismatch in thermal expansion behaviour between different fuel cell components, which can cause cell performance degradation or even failure. In this research article, a novel electrode development strategy is proposed by compositing a cobalt-based perovskite with high electrochemical activity and large thermal expansion coefficient with a negative thermal expansion material. A new interface is formed between the two materials. A-site deficiencies in the perovskite are also observed. As a result, the composite electrode shows both high electrochemical activity and excellent thermos-mechanical stability. This research provides a new strategy for the development of high performance and durable solid oxide fuel cells for efficient and clean power generation. The details of this Nature article can be found at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03264-1

Call for Applications for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme and the RISUD Research Postgraduate Studentship Places 2021/22

The Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) invites candidates who are interested in carrying out inter/multi-disciplinary research in areas related to sustainable urban development to apply for full-time PhD studies at PolyU. Each year, a significant number of PhD students with an inter/multi-disciplinary research topic are admitted via RISUD with financial support from either RISUD or the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. Although students are admitted via RISUD, they will enroll in the affiliated department of their chief supervisor. Focus Areas of Study: While strong PhD candidates in other areas are also most welcome, we are particularly interested in receiving applications for PhD studies in the following focus areas of RISUD for inter/multi-disciplinary collaborative research:     Environment and Climate Change Observation and Prediction     Industrialization of Building Construction     Nanotechnology, Environment, and Urbanization Nexus     Offshore Wind Power Generation     Robotics for Urban Infrastructure     Safety of Unmanned Airborne System     Seashore Zero-Energy Community and Ocean Energy Development     Smart Energy Efficient and Grid-Responsive Buildings     Smart Firefighting       Smart Utilities       Urban Air Pollution and Health       Urban Ecology       Urban Water Management       Urban Simulation       Very Large Floating Structures For more information and the application procedure, please click here to download the leaflet. Should you have any queries, please contact RISUD at risud.polyu.edu.hk

1st Lecture of "Sustainable City Lecture Series: Can We Make our Planet Great Again?"

Speaker: Representatives from RISUD and French Consulate Date: 4 Nov 2020 (Wed) Time: 3:00p.m. - 4:50p.m. Venue: Online via Zoom Medium: English

Sharing Session on Smart, Green, Resilient and Carbon Neutral Initiatives with RISUD and Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) (可持續大嶼辦事處)

Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) (可持續大嶼辦事處) under Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) (土木工程拓展署) of HKSAR was set up on 1.12.2017 to take forward the planning, assessment, design and implementation of development projects and initiatives in conservation, local improvement, leisure and recreation in Lantau, such as development projects in Tung Chung New Town Extension. As a way to enhance the services to the public, SLO would like to invite the scholars in RISUD to share the research results/views/comments relating to the "Smart, Green, Resilient (SGR) and Carbon Neutral Initiatives". There are four representatives from RISUD to deliver fruitful presentations relating to the subjects and followed with some constructive discussions. Date: 30 Sept 2020 (Wednesday) Time: 2:30p.m. to 4:30p.m. Venue: Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics, Room ZN607, 6/F, North Tower, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Medium: English Speakers and Topics: Items Speakers Research Development in Smart Cities Prof. John SHI Chair Professor, LSGI Green Construction Materials for Civil Engineering Infrastructure Prof. Chi Sun POON Chair Professor, CEE How to make Megacities Resilient?: Prof. Asif USMANI Professor, BSE Green and Livable City – Urban Design for People Prof. Edwin CHAN Professor, BRE

Awardee of RGC Senior Research Fellow in 2020/21 Exercise

Government funding has been reserved for the RGC's RFS and SRFS on a regular yearly basis to provide sustained support to exceptionally outstanding academics in UGC-funded universities to facilitate their research efforts and promote research excellence. Professor Raymond WONG Wai-yeung, Chair Professor of Chemical Technology (ABCT) and Division Group Leader of RISUD, PolyU has received an award of RGC Senior Research Fellow in 2020/21 Exercise after a rigorous assessment process.

Distinguished Research Publication

Prof. Meng NI and his collaborator, Prof. Zongping SHAO from Nanjing Tech University, published an article titled Fuel cells that operate at 300° to 500°C” in Science, one of the world's top academic journals published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), in which RISUD is listed as the first author’s affiliation. Prof. NI thanks the matching fund provided by RISUD for the large equipment fund, which enables the establishment of the lab for fuel cell research.

Endowed Professorship

Prof. Xiangdong Li, Director of PolyU’s Research Institute of Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) has been appointed as Ko Jan Ming Professor in Sustainable Urban Development for a period of 5 years from 1 March 2020 to 28 February 2025. Prof. Li’s major research interests include regional pollution, urban environmental studies, and remediation of contaminated sites. He has published more than 200 papers in leading international journals, and is an author of 15 highly cited papers (top 1%) in Environment/Ecology in the Web of Science database. He was awarded an Outstanding Young Researcher (Overseas) Fund from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in 2007. A past president (2011-2013) of the International Society of Environmental Geochemistry and Health, he is currently an associate editor for Environmental Science and Technology, a journal published by the American Chemical Society, and serves on the editorial board for several other international journals in related fields.

2019 Higher Education Excellent Research Results Award

Prof. Hong-Xing Yang, Division Coordinator of RISUD, PolyU has received a 2019 Higher Education Excellent Research Results Award (second-class) in the category of science and technology from the Chinese Ministry of Education. His work was on radiation heat transfer based on key energy efficient and thermal comfort technologies and applications. Members of the research team come from PolyU, Hunan University, and industry and they have worked together on the winning project since 2013.

1st Prize of the CIC Construction Innovation Award 2019 by Construction Health and Safety Research Group of RISUD

A licensed technology of an early heat-stress warning system that was developed by the Construction Health and Safety Research Group, Division of Urban Infrastructure of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), PolyU and incorporated into SmartWorks, an end-to-end solution provided by Smartone Mobile Communications Ltd. to promote and manage worksite safety, has won the 1st Prize of the CIC Construction Innovation Award 2019 in the category of Construction Safety. Led by Prof. Albert Chan, Associate Director of RISUD and the Group Leader of Construction Health and Safety Research Group, his research group pioneered the early-warning system to monitor the heat strain levels of workers when they are performing their tasks in hot weather. An indispensable component of SmartWorks is the Heat Stress Artificial Intelligence Engine, which integrates technologies with 5 key smart services, namely, Smart Helmet, Smart Health Station, Environment Station, Dump Truck Management and Danger Alert & Access Control. It is a prime example of what can result from a close collaboration between academe and industry. The Construction Innovation Award was organized by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) on a biennial basis since 2015, with the aim to spearhead the development, promotion and implementation of new construction materials, methods, technologies for enhancing the competitiveness of the construction industry. The same research group won the Local Grand Prize of the Inaugural Construction Innovation Award in 2015 for their innovative development of anti-heat stress uniforms, which have been adopted as a standard work wear for construction workers in all government funded projects since 2017.

The opening of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Processes and Control in 2019

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Processes and Control which is one of the first ten joint laboratories in the Greater Bay Area (GBA),had its grand opening on 19 December 2019 in Guangzhou. The joint laboratory was a venture led by the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science and Technology, with Prof. Ping’an PENG (Professor of GIG and CAS Academician) and Prof. Xiangdong LI (Chair Professor of CEE at PolyU and Associate Dean of FCE and Director of RISUD at PolyU) as the co-directors. The establishment of the joint laboratory indicates the further integration of research teams and resources in the GBA, and encourages the large-scale collaborative research to address urgent environmental issues in the region, such as air quality and human health, ecological risks of emerging contaminants in estuarine and coastal environments, environmental quality in city clusters, control and remediation of soil mixed contamination, and disposal of municipal waste and sewage treatment in rural areas.