Huixuan grew up in Changchun, a city in Northeast China, then she moved to Beijing where she was awarded her Bachelor’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Beijing University of Chemical Technology and worked with graphene oxide/chitosan aerogels. Later she went to Spain and obtained her Master’s degree in Materials Engineering at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

In the last year of her Master study, she worked in both Porto University and IMDEA Nanociencia and investigated magnetic nanoparticles and lipid nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery as cancer treatment. In October 2021, Huixuan joined the BEEP (Bio-inspired and bionic materials for enhanced photosynthesis) network which is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 program, to work in the group of Prof. Luisa De Cola at the University of Milan. She is working on the development of breathing and self-sustaining hydrogels for bacterial and micro-algal growth.