Field of Expertise
Nanocellulose
Expertise
Hsiao has achieved national and international prominence and has a distinguished reputation in polymer science. He published over 548 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 58 reviews and chapters in books and encyclopedias, 232 proceedings and preprints, obtained 56 issued patents (including 34 US patents) and 25 pending patent applications, and edited 2 books. He has also given over 352 invited lectures in universities, governmental and industrial research institutes, as well as over 587 presentations in national and international scientific meetings. He was elected as Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fellow of American Chemical Society (ACS), Fellow of American Physical Society (APS), Fellow of International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), Fellow of Materials Research Society (MRS), Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI), AAAS-Lemelson Foundation Invention Ambassador, and received Distinguished Professorship from the State University of New York system, Chang-Jiang Scholar from Education Ministry of China, Co-operative Research Award from Division of Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering of ACS, NSF Special Creativity Award, DuPont Young Faculty Award, and The Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) - The Creativity Prize. Accoring to the Ranking of Top 1000 Scientists in the field of Materials by Research.com (https://research.com/scientists-rankings/materials-science), Hsiao is ranked #180 in the world and #83 in United States. Hsiao and his team have developed a highly permeable breakthrough membrane technology using nanofibrous materials for a broad spectrum of water purification applications, ranging from microfiltration to reverse osmosis. His current research interests are focused on the development of sustainable nanomaterials from underutilized biomass for water purification. In specific, they have developed a simple nitro-oxidation method to prepare nanocellulose directly from raw biomass, where the method, combining the steps of pulping and cellulose oxidation, drastically decreases the consumption of electrical energy, chemicals and water. This invention can provide affordable and sustainable drinking water solutions after catastrophic disasters and for people living in remote communities. The technology has been highlighted by Association of American Universities (AAU), as well as by the National Science Foundation in a 2015 exhibit for the U.S. Congress and in a Science Nation video. Over half of Hsiao’s patents and applications (> 75) have been licensed, resulting in the spinoff of 3 successful start-up companies. It is worthy to mention that one start-up, Liquidity Nanotech, has recently won both the "Next Generation Technology" competition in Launch: Silicon Valley 2014 - World Cup Tech Challenge and ‘TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2015 Startup Battlefield”.