Keqing Hu is a fulltime phD candidate from China and she obtained her BSc in Food Safety and Quality and MSc in Food Engineering at Northwest A&F University. 

She started her PhD project at Food Quality and Design and BioNanoTechnology from 2020. her current PhD topic in Wageningen university is 'Fabrication of microgels and microcapsules using proteins crosslinked by Au ions based on water in water emulsion', which focuses on the interaction bewteen the protein and Au ions within the droplets or interface od the droplets .

Project title:  Fabrication of microgels and microcapsules using proteins crosslinked by Au3+ templated by water in water emulsion 

Project term: 2020.10.09-2024.10.08

Sponsor:  China Scholarship Council

Project description: 

Microgels are gel-like colloidal particles with the structure of intra-molecular crosslinked macromolecules and microcapsules have shell-core structure. They are in the size range of about 0.1-1000 µm and have a range of applications, such as acting as a biomimetic model in vitro, developing advanced drug delivery systems, and the controlling release of bioactive and nutrients in the food industry. The most widely fabricated method of microgels and microcapsules is by internal gelation within the droplets and interfacial gelation at the interface of the droplets using emulsion as the template. In this research, different protein (high-density lipoprotein,  whey protein, bovine serum albumin, casein) was used as model protein which can be crosslinked within the droplets or at the interfaces of the droplets to form the microgel or microcapsules. The Au3+ ions were used as crosslinkers. The all-aqueous emulsion (polyethylene glycol (PEG)-Na2SO4 system) was used as a templated emulsion.

Aim:

We aim to fabricate different microgels and microcapsules and explore the Au-protein interaction within droplets or at interface of droplets and also study the potential application of these kind of microgel and microcapsules.

Approach:

Different protein will be used to fabricate the microgels and microcapsules, which then will be characterized them using different microscopes.