Dr. Han’s research interests are functional materials and devices for sustainable environment and healthcare applications. He has (1) invented new ionic liquid-based air purification and disinfection systems for particulate matter capture, microbial inactivation, and organic pollutant sorption; (2) developed new antimicrobial coating capable of controllably releasing safe natural and chemical disinfectants for extended periods; (3) designed purification systems by introducing active components into aerogel and hydrogel materials for pollutant remediation and environmental decontamination; (4) created anti-fouling and anti-biofilm coating for enhanced energy saving and water safety; and (5) established new concept self-humidifying proton exchange membranes for fuel cells that can be stably operated at high temperature up to 160^oC without humidification to output an order of magnitude higher power densities than commercial membrane.

Research Themes under ENVR

• Air and Health
• Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE)

Research Areas

• Material Science
• Environmental Engineering
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Microbiology
• Public Health

Research Interests

• Indoor air quality
• Water sustainability technologies
• Green building materials
• Environmental catalysts
• Energy storage and conversion

Research Projects

• Smart Hydrogel for Active Disinfectant Delivery: Enhancing Construction Site Safety by Mitigating Microbial Contamination and Suppressing Toxic Gas Emissions, Innovation and Technology Fund (PRP/025/25FX), 2025.11-2028.10
• Engineering Anti-fouling Surfaces for Sustainable Water Transport and Treatment Systems, Innovation and Technology Fund (ITS/294/23FP), 2025.2-2027.2
• Development on Ionic Liquid Hybrid Functional Membranes for High Efficient Separation of H2 and NH3, Huizhou Science and Technology Cooperation Program with Hong Kong and Macau (2024EQ050022), 2025.1-2027.12
• Germicidal and Algicidal Hydrogels for Better Environment of Water Service Reservoirs, Environment and Conservation Fund (103/2023), 2024.7-2026.1
• Carbon-negative, Green, Circular Technologies for Interception and Revalorization of FOG Waste from Catering Industry, Green Tech Fund (GTF202220131), 2024.2-2026.1

Publications

Representative Publications

• Wanting LI, Tianchang WANG, Xinxin CAO, Yuze LI, Gai MIAO, Nannan SUN, Jiong LI, Wei HAN, Wei WEI and Xinqing CHEN, “Bifunctional catalysts with separated and tunable sites on zeolites for relay catalysis of the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane using CO2”, Advanced Functional Materials, 2025, 35: 2414231.
• Awais FARID, Wei HAN, Christopher KC LAI, Joseph KC KWAN and King Lun YEUNG, “Clinical evaluation of MAP-1 antimicrobial coating on patient privacy curtains: Insights from a randomized trial in a Hong Kong hospital”, Journal of Hospital Infection, 2025, 162: 223-231.
• Hongguo ZHANG, Peitong CEN, Jiashuo LI, Chenxi LI, Jiayu SONG, Qiong WU, Wei HAN, Lei HUANG, Jia YAN, Shaoqi ZHOU, Ce-Hui MO and Meng LI, “Unraveling degradation mechanism and reaction efficacy of sulfamethoxazole via reactive oxygen species dominated radical process”, Applied Catalysis B: Environment and Energy, 2024, 359: 124484.
• Zhang LIU, Javier LOPEZ NAVAS, Wei HAN, Manuel Ricardo IBARRA, Joseph Kai Cho KWAN and King Lun YEUNG, “Gel transformation as a general strategy for fabrication of highly porous multiscale MOF architectures”, Chemical Science, 2023, 14: 7114 (Cover). 
• Yuan TIAN, Wei HAN and King Lun YEUNG, “Magnetic microsphere scaffold-based soft microbots for targeted mesenchymal stem cell delivery”, Small, 2023, 19: 2300430 (Frontispiece).
• Ventura CASTILLO RAMOS, Wei HAN and King Lun YEUNG, “Functionalization of metal organic frameworks by [BMIM][CH3COO] ionic liquid for toluene capture”, Environmental Research, 2022, 215: 114341.
• Ji-Peng LUO, Jian ZHANG, Nan YIN, Ting-Peng WANG, Zhi-Cheng TAN, Wei HAN and Quan SHI, “An experimental strategy for evaluating the energy performance of metal-organic framework-based carbon dioxide adsorbents”, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 442: 136210.
• Chin Yan SUEN, Yue Tak LAI, Ka Hei LUI, Yan LI, Helen Hoi Ling KWOK, Qing CHANG, Winsor Jong Hong LEE, Wei HAN, Xu YANG, Zifeng YANG, Ziyao MO, Paul Kin Shing WONG, Anthony Chi Tat LEUNG, Joseph Kai Cho KWAN and King Lun YEUNG, “Virucidal, bactericidal, and sporicidal multilevel antimicrobial HEPA-ClO2 filter for air disinfection in a palliative care facility”, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2022, 433: 134115.
• Qingyue WANG, Zhimin LI, Miguel A. BAÑARES, Lu-Tao WENG, Qinfen GU, Jason PRICE, Wei HAN and King Lun YEUNG, “A novel approach to high-performance aliovalent-substituted catalysts—2D bimetallic MOF-derived CeCuOx microsheets”, Small, 2019, 15: 201903525 (Inside Front Cover).
• King Lun YEUNG and Wei HAN, “Zeolites and molecular sieves in fuel cell applications”, pp827-861 in Zeolites and Catalysis: Synthesis, Reactions and Application, J. CEJKA, A. CORMA, S. ZONES, Wiley-VCH, April 2010.

Full Publication List