Miss Zhaoling Tan, a PhD student in Professor Xi Yao’s research group at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at City University of Hong Kong, has been awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Poster Award at the 19th Chinese Conference of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, held in Ganzhou, China from 31 October to 3 November 2025.
The RSC Poster Award recognises outstanding scientific posters, highlighting excellence in research, presentation, and overall impact. Zhaoling was recognised for her work on “Mucociliary Clearance Inspired Nanozyme-centric Hydrogel Composites for Integrated Bacterial Detection”, recently published in Advanced Science.
Her research draws inspiration from the pulmonary cilia and mucus system, developing a nanozyme-based hydrogel network integrated with nanowires to enable rapid bacterial detection and disinfection. This innovative platform not only improves sensitivity in colourimetric detection but is also adaptable to flexible substrates and can be paired with machine learning algorithms, paving the way for versatile, home-based pathogen testing in resource-limited settings.
The Department congratulates Zhaoling on this well-deserved recognition, highlighting her creativity, dedication and the global relevance of her work.