From 2001 to 2006, he worked as postdoctoral research fellow at University of Science and Technology of China, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University respectively. During 2006 to 2018, he was a Professor of Materials Science at Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In August 2018, Professor Chen joined The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is internationally recognized for his leading research work on nanotechnology based smart materials and devices, including artificial muscle actuators, artificial skin sensors, flexible supercapacitors, and these functional nanocomposites/devices for wearable applications. Professor Chen has published more than 100 papers in high-impact international scientific journals including Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie, ACS Nano, Nano. Lett., JACS, etc.