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 Cutting Edge Apparel Business Guide (Coming Fall 2004) |
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C. C.
Chu
Unconventional high tech
fibers and polymers
Have you wanted to know more about biodegradable fibers and textiles for environmentally friendly business practices? Have you heard about textile-based materials for surgical implants? If this interests you, C.C. Chu, a fiber/polymer scientist on the Textiles and Apparel faculty, is someone you should know.
Professor Chu's major research interest is textile-based biomaterials, particularly biodegradable ones. Biomaterials are used for medical or surgical purposes, such as sutures or surgical implants. He and his students have most recently developed biodegradable hydrogels that contain a great deal of water, making them compatible with the human body while still chemically stable and mechanically strong. The jellylike substances can be used for controlled delivery of medications inside or outside the body, or as substrates for implants, skin grafts, wound recovery or blood vessel repair. The gels also hold potential as super absorbent coatings for personal hygiene or agricultural fabrics.
| Contact Information |
| Chih-Chang
Chu Professor, TXA 243 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall Phone: (607) 255-1938 Fax: (607) 255-1093 cc62@cornell.edu |
Additional applied research by Professor Chu encompasses development of sterilization techniques for gamma radiation-sensitive biomedical polymers, design of biodegradable composite orthopedic devices, development of biodegradable cardiovascular grafts for blood vessels, and work on surgical meshes for body wall or hernia repair. Professor Chu has also conducted research on polymer structure and degradation, developing an optical technique for measuring degradation of biodegradable biomaterials.
As an outgrowth of his research, Professor Chu holds five US patents for new product invention and technical polymer processes, including development of biologically active polymers and fibers, new sterilization techniques for gamma irradiation-sensitive biomedical polymers, and structure of a hydrogel for tissue repair and wound healing. Three of these five patents have been licensed to the medical industry for commercial development. Professor Chu and his research group have six other US patent applications pending at this stage.
Professor Chu teaches courses about textile dyes and finishes. He covers the influence of chemical structure on finishes, end-use affects, and the interactions between fabric and fibers. His course on the scientific aspects of color examines ways to produce and analyze color. He also teaches an unusual course with the nickname “Human Spare Parts” which covers fibers and textiles used in high-end surgical products such as devices for reconstructing injured, diseased or aged human tissues/organs.
You can find detailed information on many of Professor Chu's research projects on his web page, listed below.
Some questions you might ask C. C. Chu:
- What textile materials are compatible for use inside the body?
- What textile materials, through the interaction with body cells, aid
in the healing of body wounds and infection control?
| Additional Information |
| Apparel Industry Outreach Department of Textiles and Apparel 326 MVR Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-4401 |
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