A young academic at the University of Science and Technology of China was granted a top award and $150,000 for his research in multiple fields.

Ma Mingming, 35, a chemistry professor at USTC, was awarded the Outstanding Young Scholar Award by the Hong Kong-based Qiu Shi Science and Technology Foundation on Sept 19.

Ma's research covers more than one field, but his most interesting work involves a new polymer film capable of generating electricity by drawing on water vapor.

Ma's research into the polymer generator started five years ago when he was working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said the discovery was completely unexpected.

In April 2011, Ma and some MIT colleagues were working on a material that could be used to stimulate muscles in people whose nerves had been damaged or destroyed. One day, Ma picked up a thin black film that he had just synthesized to take a closer look - and to his surprise, it started writhing around.

Ma had accidentally designed a polymer that changed shape when exposed to trace amounts of moisture, such as a sweaty palm.

He reported the discovery to Robert Langer, the director of the laboratory, who believed that"this was something very different".

The team published a paper two years later in the journal Science, with Ma as the lead author, that explained the details of the water-responsive film, which curves, buckles and performs back flips as it absorbs water, which then evaporates.

"But we don't exactly know how such a material could ultimately be useful", said Ma, expressing all kinds of possibilities, including the creation of tiny amounts of energy that could power miniature devices.

"Harnessing this continuous motion could drive robotic limbs or generate enough electricity to power micro- and nano-electronic devices, such as environmental sensors.

Ma believes the advantages of the material are obvious. "With a sensor powered by a battery, you have to replace the battery periodically. If you have this device, you can harvest energy from the environment so you don't have to replace it very often," he said.

He also envisioned using the material as a sensor to detect water, or to perform other work, such as building artificial muscle, which could have medical uses.

Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute professor at MIT and senior author of the paper, in a report provided by MIT said, "We are very excited about this new material and we expect that, as we achieve higher efficiency in converting mechanical energy into electricity, it will find even wider applications."

Ma, who joined the Department of Chemistry at USTC in March last year, said his research into the polymer and generator will continue, but he will also keep going on in other fields, such as biocompatible conducting polymers for tissue regeneration.

"The $150,000 money granted by the Qiu Shi foundation over the next three years will help me a lot in my future research," he said.

(China Daily 09/28/2015 page13)