Guocan Yu was born in Zhejiang, China in 1987. He received his BS degree in polymer materials and engineering from Hefei University of Technology in 2010. Then he joined the laboratory of Professor Feihe Huang at Zhejiang University to pursue his PhD degree in chemistry. From 2013, he was selected as a subgroup leader in Professor Huang’s group. His current research interests are focused on the construction of functional supramolecular amphiphiles, controllable self-assembly based on pillararenes, and their biologically relevant applications. Research Group Website
What was your inspiration in becoming a chemist?
When I was a middle school student, I was interested in Chemistry. I wanted to figure out the reasons behind chemical phenomena. Therefore, I chose chemistry as my major when I was in University. I like chemistry, and I can get a lot of joy from my work everyday.
What was the motivation to write your Polymer Chemistry article?
In our research group, we are interested in the fabrication of supramolecular polymers with interesting functions on the basis of host–guest recognitions. In this manuscript, we found that the linear supramolecular polymer exhibited pH- and photo- responsiveness. On the other hand, we constructed a photo-responsive supramolecular network based on the same recognition motif. We thought this manuscript was suitable for Polymer Chemistry.
Why did you choose Polymer Chemistry to publish your work? (DOI: 10.1039/C4PY01042F )
Polymer Chemistry is a high-level journal in the field of polymer science, and the papers published in this journal are always high-quality. As well, the reviewing and publishing process are very fast.
In which upcoming conferences may our readers meet you?
The 4th International Conference on Molecular Sensors and Molecular Logic Gates (MSMLG), November 9-12, 2014, Shanghai, China.
How do you spend your spare time?
In my spare time, I like reading chemical or biological literature, because I want to become a knowledgeable person like my boss. Sometimes, I play basketball with my groupmates.
Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?
Maybe I would be a carpenter, because my father is a carpenter. He can make a series of nice furniture, he is my idol.
Read Guocan Yu’s latest Polymer Chemistry paper:
Jie Yang, Zhengtao Li, Yujuan Zhou and Guocan Yu
Cyrille Boyer is a guest web-writer for Polymer Chemistry. He is currently an associate professor and an ARC-Future Fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales (Australia) and deputy director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine.
