A/Professor Xia Lou

Fields of Interest

Development of polymers for applications as nano and biomaterials, controlled drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds, and for natural gas hydrate inhibition, gas storage and transportation.

Group Members

Post-doctorial fellow Dr Ailin Ding (post-doc) link to http://nanochemistry.curtin.edu.au/people/ailin.cfm

Postgraduate student

Chao Li
Yenny Rojas
Yun Yu (jointly with Prof Hongwei Wu)
Shuo Wang
Yuli Setiyorini

Research Activities

Xia Lou’s research activities span a wide range from synthesis and characterisation to the performance evaluation of polymers, and their applications in various fields. The currently funded research areas include:

1. Biomaterials and tissue engineering. The research activities are focused on two folds which include a) the development of new composite hydrogels for applications as tissue engineering scaffolds; and b) the modification of synthetic hydrogels using biomolecules for improved cell and tissue responsiveness. These activities are in collaborations with Prof YuFeng Zheng of HEU China and A/Prof Deirdre Coombe of Curtin University respectively.
2. Controlled drug delivery. This study aims at the development of nano and polymeric materials for sustained and targeted delivery of both conventional and other therapeutical reagents such as steroids, genes and anticancer reagents. The research is also extended to the optimal design of drug delivery systems and tissue scaffolds using numerical and optimisation methods. This is in collaboration with Prof Song Wang of UWA.
3. Gas hydrates. Research activities in this area include the development of polymeric materials for both gas hydrates inhibition and gas hydrates formation. Whilst the inhibitors are found useful to prevent the formation in of gas hydrates in the pipelines and production facilities, the hydrates enhancer/additives are developed for the gas storage and transportation using the gas hydrate technologies. These research activities are in collaborations with Dr Karen Kozielski and the team in CSIRO Petroleum (gas hydrate inhibition) and Prof Shuanshi Fan of SCUT China (natural gas storage and transportation). The research involves also the instrumental analysis and theoretical calculations of the hydrates properties in order to understand the formation and/or disassociation mechanism and kinetics of gas hydrates in the presence of various polymeric additives in which Dr Chi Phan of Curtin is also involved.

Selected Publications

• Xia has authored and co-authored over 50 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, 7 patents and many conference presentations. Listed are some selected publications in the last 10 years.
• Rojas Y, Phan C, Lou X. Dynamic and equilibrium adsorption of poly(N-vinyl caprolactam/N-vinylpyrrolidone/N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) at air-liquid interface. Colloids & Surfaces A: Physicochem Eng Aspects doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2009.11.038
• Wang S, Mahali Shalela M, McGuiness A and Lou X. Mathematical Models for Estimating Effective Diffusion Parameters of Spherical Drug Delivery Devices. Theor Chem Acc 2010; 125:659-669.
• Li C, Zheng YF, Lou X. Calcification capacity of porous pHEMA-TiO2 composite hydrogels. J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2009;20:2215-2222
• Li J, Zheng W, Li L, Zheng YF, Lou X. Theraml degradation kinetics of g-HA/PLA nanocomposites. Thermochimica Acta. 2009; 493:90-95.
• Yu Y, Lou X, Wu HW. Some recent advances in hydrolysis of biomass in hot-compressed water and its comparison with other hydrolysis methods. Energy & Fuels 2008; 22:46-60.
• Hicks CR, Morrison D, Lou X, Crawford GJ, Gadjatsy A, Constable IJ. Orbit Implants: Potential new directions. Expert Rev Med Devices 2006; 3:805-815.
• Lou X, Vijayasekaran S, Sugiharti R, Robertson T. Morphological and topographic effect on calcification tendency of pHEMA hydrogels. Biomaterials 2005; 26:5808-5817.
• Lou X, Munro S, Wang S. Drug release characteristics of phase separation pHEMA sponge materials. Biomaterials 2004; 25:5071-5080.
• Hicks CR, Crawford GJ, Lou X, Tan DT, Snibson GR, Sutton G, Downie N, Werner L, Chirila TV, Constable IJ. Cornea replacement using a synthetic hydrogel cornea, AlphaCor™: device, outcomes and complications. Eye 2003; 17:385-392.
• Crawford GJ, Hicks CR, Lou X, Vijayasekaran S, Tan D, Chirila TV, Constable IJ. The Chirila Keratoprosthesis: Phase I human clinical trials. Ophthalmology 2002; 109:883-889.
• Chirila TV, Rakoczy PE, Garrett KL, Lou X, ConstableIJ. The use of synthetic polymers for delivery of therapeutic antisense oligodeoxynucleotides: a critical review. Biomaterials 2002; 23:321-342.
• Lou X, van Coppenhagen C. Mechanical characteristics of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels crosslinked with various difunctional Compounds. Polym Intern 2001; 50:319-325.
• Hicks CR, Crawford G, Chirila TV, Wiffen S, Vijayasekaran S, Lou X, Fitton JH, Maley M, Clayton A, Dalton P, Platten S, Ziegelaar B, Hong Y, Russo A, Constable I. Development and clinical assessment of an artificial cornea. Prog Ret Eye Res 2000; 19:147-170.
• Lou X, Vijayasekaran S, Chirila TV, Maley MAL, Hicks C, Constable IJ. Synthesis, physical characterisation and biological performance of sequential homo-IPN sponges based on poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). J Biomed Mater Res 1999; 47:404-411.
• Chirila TV, Hicks CR, Dalton PD, Vijayasekaran S, Lou X, Hong Y, Clayton AB, Ziegelaar B, Fitton H, Platten S, Crawford GJ, Constable IJ. Artificial cornea. Prog Polym Sci 1998; 23:447-473.

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