Research Interests: Mechanics of Active Materials

Unlike traditional engineering materials, active materials like battery electrodes and biological tissues metabolize a large amount of free energy and sustain dramatic changes in composition and morphology. Our research interests lie in unfolding the non-equilibrium thermodynamics, large-deformation mechanics, and robust feedbacks between the active players and their host media in active materials.

At the intersection of mechanics and electrochemistry, we explore how mechanics and electrochemistry reciprocally influence one another in battery charge-discharge cycles, how the mechanics-electrochemistry reciprocity might be harnessed for energy storage and energy harvesting and unharnessed in battery degradation and fading.

Anisotropic swelling of silicon nanowires

At the intersection of mechanics and biochemistry, we explore how the mechanical force transduction pathway exists in parallel and interacts in concert with the biochemical signaling pathway to direct biological functions, and how the mechanics-biochemistry coupling might be regulated in development and repair and dysregulated in disease and injury.

Nanoparticle-based targeting

We develop multiscale models to elucidate the phase transformation, morphological evolution, defect nucleation, growth, and failure of active materials.