Bio

Ph.D. ​Mechanics and Materials, Columbia University, 2012

Dr. Xu joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The University of Virginia in the fall of 2014. He received his PhD in Mechanics and Materials from Columbia University in 2012 and was a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2012 to 2014. 

Dr. Xu’s group research interests are focused on multiscale-multiphysics mechanics-driven extreme design and nanomanufacturing of functional materials, structures and devices for applications in wearable electronics and healthcare, in particular, transfer printing in liquid, solution shearing, soft-hard material integration, solid-liquid functionalized materials, and bioinspired devices and structures. 

Dr. Xu’s group has also been working on nanomechanics at extreme conditions, including mechanics of liquids in nanoconfinements, nanofluidics in response to environments, and thermal transport of mechanically deformed nanomaterials.

Awards

  • Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2020
  • Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award, Office of Naval Research 2020
  • Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2012

Research Interests

  • Engineering mechanics; Nanomanufacturing for wearable electronics; Engineering design for biomedical devices; Soft-hard integration mechanics; Thermal transport of mechanically deformed materials

In the News

Selected Publications

  • Capillary Transfer of Soft Films. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 117(2020)5210-5216 Y Zhang, M Yin, Y Baek, K Kim, G Zangari, L Cai, B Xu
  • Rotation Mechanics of Optical Scatters in Stretchable Metasurfaces. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 191-192(2020)566-576 H Zhang, W Yang, B Xu
  • Spontaneous Outflow Efficiency of Confined Liquid in Hydrophobic Nanopores. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 117(2020)25246-25253 Y Gao, M Li, Y Zhang, W Lu, B Xu
  • Evaporation-Driven Crumpling and Assembling of Two-Dimensional (2D) Materials: A Rotational Spring–Mechanical Slider Model. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids.133(2019)103722 Q Liu, J Huang, B Xu
  • 3D Printed Microheater Sensor‐Integrated, Drug‐Encapsulated Microneedle Patch System for Pain Management. Advanced Healthcare Materials. 8(2019)1901170 M Yin, L Xiao, Q Liu, S Kwon, Y Zhang, P Sharma, L Jin, X Li, B Xu
  • Multilayer Polypyrrole Nanosheets with Self‐Organized Surface Structures for Flexible and Efficient Solar–Thermal Energy Conversion. Advanced Materials. 31(2019)1807716 X Wang, Q Liu, S Wu, B Xu, H Xu
  • Theoretical Search for Heterogeneously Architected 2D Structures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).115(2018)7245-7254. W Yang, Q Liu, Z Gao, Z Yue, B Xu
  • Wafer-recyclable, environment-friendly transfer printing for large-scale thin film nanoelectronics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). 115(2018)7236-7244 D Wie, Y Zhang, M Kim, B Kim, S Park, Y Kim, P Irazoqui, X Zheng, B Xu, C Lee
  • Rotation of hard particles in a soft matrix. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids,101(2017)285-310 W Yang, Q Liu, Z Yue, X Li, B Xu
  • Liquid-assisted, etching-free, mechanical peeling of 2D materials. Extreme Mechanics Letters.16(2017)33-40 Y Zhang, Q Liu, B Xu
  • A hybrid elastomeric foam-core/solid-shell spherical structure for enhanced energy absorption performance. International Journal of Solids and Structures. 92-93(2016)17-28. W Yang, Z Yue, B Xu
  • Lattice mismatch dominant yet mechanically tunable thermal conductivity in bilayer heterostructures. ACS Nano. 10(2016)5431-5439. Y Gao, Q Liu, B Xu

Courses Taught

  • MAE2300 Engineering Mechanics-Statics
  • MAE6070 The Theory of Elasticity