Cellulose-Based Hydrogels and Aerogels

Gang Wei received his Ph.D. from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2007. Following his doctoral studies, he joined Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) as an Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Zeiss postdoctoral fellow, a position he held until December 2011. From 2012 to 2019, he served as a senior researcher and group leader at the University of Bremen (Germany). From 2020 to 2024, he was a full professor at Qingdao University (China) before moving to his current role as a full professor at Qingdao University of Science and Technology (China). His research focuses on biomass materials, 2D materials, supramolecular self-assembly, hydrogels, aerogels, and biomedicine. To date, he has published over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, with more than 14,000 citations and an H-index of 71. He has been recognized as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists in materials science from 2022 to 2024.

Jianming Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Polymer Physics and Chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2003. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research as a JSPS Fellow at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan, until 2005. From 2005 to 2007, he continued his postdoctoral work at the Toyota Technological Institute, Japan. Awarded a prestigious Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers, he served as a Visiting Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Germany from 2008 to 2009. Since 2009, he has been a full professor at Qingdao University of Science and Technology, China. His research focuses on fundamental studies and applied research in biomass nanomaterials and functional elastomers, with a strong emphasis on translating advanced materials into industrial applications. To date, he has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, garnering more than 12,000 citations and achieving an H-index of 55. He has been recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher in China (Materials Science) from 2022 to 2024.