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Prof. Yihui ZHANG

Prof. Yihui ZHANG

Professor

Tsinghua University

  • yihuizhang@tsinghua.edu.cn
  • Mechanically-guided 3D assembly, Unusual soft materials, Stretchable and flexible electronics

Biography

 

Yihui ZHANG is a Professor of Engineering Mechanics at Tsinghua University.  His group (http://yihuizhang.org/) is dedicated to addressing the grand challenges in the frontiers of science and technologies through creative uses of mechanics principles and cross-fertilization among diverse disciplines, which drives the development of new mechanics theories and computational models of advanced materials/structures, as well as novel designs and fabrication approaches of materials/devices/systems with unprecedented properties and functionalities.  He has published >150 peer-reviewed journal papers, including, 3 in Science, 1 in Nature, 24 in Nature/Science sister journals, 7 in PNAS and 12 in JMPS (the best solid-mechanics journal).  Dr. Zhang is the recipient of several honors and awards, including, The Xplorer Prize (2021), Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (2020), ASME Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award (2019), Society of Engineering Science’s Young Investigator Medal (2018), ASME Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award (2018), Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty (2017), ASME Melville Medal (2017), NSFC Excellent Youth Funding (2017), and MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 (2016).  He is an associate editor of Science Advances, Mechanics of Materials, Research, ASME-Journal of Applied Mechanics and International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials, and serves on the editorial board of several other academic journals.

Soft network materials and their applications in bio-integrated devices

 

Abstract

Complex 3D mesostructures in biology (e.g., cytoskeletal webs, neural circuits, and vasculature networks) form naturally to provide essential functions in even the most basic forms of life.  Compelling opportunities exist for analogous 3D architectures in human-made devices, ranging from bio-integrated electronics, MEMS, to metamaterials and micro-robotics.  However, the development of artificial 3D soft materials and electronics with customized mechanical properties that mimic or exceed those of biological tissues is extremely challenging.  In this presentation, I will discuss a set of rational design strategies and fabrication approaches of soft network materials with periodically distributed filamentary microstructures.  In the first part, I will introduce a class of bio-inspired network designs to enable the development of biomimetic materials that can reproduce accurately nonlinear mechanical properties of soft biological tissues.  In the second part, I will present mechanics-driven designs of soft mechanical metamaterials with exotic effective properties (e.g., negative swelling, thermally-induced shear, negative Thermal expansion, negative Poisson’s ratios, etc.) that do not exist in conventional materials in nature.  In the last part, I will introduce a couple of examples to demonstrate the applications of these network materials, including, for example, stretchable integrated devices in stacked multilayers for human body motion detection, and breathable, shrinkable, hemostatic patches as a means of noninvasive treatment.

 

 

 

 

 

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