Overview of Analytical Chemistry

Analytical chemists in Tunghai University are developing or performing efficient methods to exploit emerging merit in biomedical and energy conversion applications. A majority of works center in the development of new strategies to circumvent or interrogate the societal issues in connection with high implication, by harnessing biochemical, spectroscopic, chromatographic, and electrochemical techniques. Ultimate objectives of the research address not only the accomplishment of effective solutions against challenges but also elucidation of their characteristic mechanisms in chemistry. Ongoing projects range in the fields as follows: mass spectrometric analysis, biomedical analysis, electroanalysis, and electrocatalysis.

Mass Spectrometric Analysis in Biochemistry

The subjects include a variety of mass spectrometric analyses and protein activation mechanism analysis. We study the impacts of fatty acids, oxidized fatty acids and eicosanoids to the cells. Using the Lipidomics analyzes the changes of phospholipids during cell growth and apoptosis. The power of mass spectrometry allows us to quickly analyze the lipids, especially cardiolipin, in cellular models or tissue samples. We also utilize mass spectrometry to analyze the concentration changes and further regulate the changes of these transmitters and improve neurodegeneration. In addition, we focus on the enzymes related to neurodegenerative diseases and study the activation mechanism of these enzymes. We express and purify these proteins and analyze the relationships between structures and functions by hydrogen/deuterium exchange-mass spectrometry.

Biomedical analysis

Research interests are the applications of bioanalytical methods in biomedical fields. The projects include the developments of diagnostic methods for osteoporosis and immunoassay for oral cancers. Peptidic biomarkers of diseases are used as antigens for preparing their antibodies and for developing immunoassay such as ELISA and biosensor-based methods in order to identify patients at the early stage of diseases.

Electroanalysis and Electrocatalysis

Redox reactions have been the heart to approach a variety of biosensing and electrocatalytic processes demanded in many applications of significance. Tunghai electrochemists are developing new methods to analyze nucleic acids, environmental toxins, and food additives. Understanding redox reactions is also the key fundamental to develop novel devices of energy conversion. Tunghai scientists invented novel approach to fabricate catalysts electrochemically and investigated their catalytic kinetics. Particular attention has been paid on the electrocatalysts useful to hydrogen production.

Associated Faculty

	Min-Chieh Chuang Professor
	Chien-Chung Liou Associate Professor
	Hsin-Chang Chen Assistant Professor