Zhang Research Group

Laboratory of unusual materials/structures and advanced manufacturing

Our News

2024/07: Professor Jun Chen from UCLA wrote a Preview 'A bioinspired three-dimensionally architected electronic skin' in Device, highlight our work on bioinpsired electronic skin.
2024/07: Our paper “Curvature programming of freestanding 3D mesostructures and flexible electronics based on bilayer ribbon networks”, led by Zhangming Shen, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2024/05: Our paper on 3D architected electronic skins was featured on the ToC of Science Magazine, and the homepage of Science website.
2024/05: Qing Liu and Prof. Zhang wrote a focus on avian eye–inspired artificial vision, which was published in Science Robotics.
2024/04: Our paper on 3D architected electronic skins, led by Zhi Liu, Xiaonan Hu and Renheng Bo, was accepted for publication in Science.
2024/03: Prof. Zhang was invited to serve as a Deputy Editor of Science Advances.
2024/01: Congratulations to Wenbo Liu, who was selected to receive the 'Shuimu Tsinghua Scholar' postdoctoral fellowship.
2023/12: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the 2024 SES James R. Rice Medal, for his pioneering work on soft architected materials with unusual mechanical properties, rational 3D assembly driven by controlled buckling, and reconfigurable 3D mesostructures and electronics. The prize is awarded to a mid-career researcher in the field of engineering sciences who has had a substantial impact in his/her field.
2023/12: Congratulations to Xu Cheng, who received the award of Excellent Doctoral Thesis of Beijing!
2023/12: Congratulations to Guoquan Luo, who was selected to receive the support of national postdoctoral scholar program (国家资助博士后研究人员计划) (from Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation).
2023/11: Our focusing review “Bioinspired 3D flexible devices and functional systems”, led by Xu Cheng and Zhangming Shen, was accepted for publication in National Science Review.
2023/11: Prof. Zhang was selected as a Highly Cited Researcher - 2023, Clarivate Web of Science.
2023/11: Our group member, Tianqi Jin, was selected to receive the National Scholarship. Our group members, Shiwei Xu, Ziyao Ji and Yuchen Lai, were selected to receive the scholarships of Tsinghua University! Besides, Shiwei Xu was selected to receive the award for research exploration. Congratulations to all of them!
2023/09: Congratulations to Wenbo Pang, who was selected to receive the support of innovative postdoctoral scholar program (全国博士后创新人才支持计划) (from Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation).
2023/08: Our focusing review “Mechanically-guided 3D assembly for architected flexible electronics”, led by Renheng Bo, Shiwei Xu, and Youzhou Yang, was accepted for publication in Chemical Reviews.
2023/08: Shunze Cao and collaborators' paper “Inversely engineered biomimetic flexible network scaffolds for soft tissue regeneration” was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2023/08: Congratulations to Yuejiao Wang, who was selected to receive the 'Shuimu Tsinghua Scholar' postdoctoral fellowship.
2023/07: Congratulations to Xu Cheng, who was selected to receive the award of Dimitris N. Chorafas Foundation, a prestigous international award!
2023/07: Our paper “Deep learning aided inverse design of the buckling-guided assembly for 3D frame structures”, led by Tianqi Jin, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2023/06: Congratulations to Wenbo Pang, who received the award of Excellent Doctoral Thesis of Tsinghua University!
2023/05: Our paper “Recent advances in the design, fabrication, actuation mechanisms and applications of liquid crystal elastomers”, led by Yue Xiao and Jun Wu, was selected as a cover feature article for the June Issue of Soft Science.
2023/03: Nature published a Research Highlight 'Life’s wondrous forms recreated in graphene and more' to introduce our work on the curvature programming.
2023/03: Our paper on the curvature programming, led by Xu Cheng and Zhichao Fan, was accepted for publication in Science.
2023/03: Jun Wu and collaborators' paper “A constitutive model of liquid crystal elastomers with loading-history dependence” was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2023/01: Our paper “A wrinkling-assisted strategy for controlled interface delamination in mechanically-guided 3D assembly”, led by Yumeng Shuai and Jianzhong Zhao, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2023/01: Prof. Zhang was promoted as an Editor of Mechanics of Materials, after a four-year service as an Associate Editor.
2022/12: Congratulations to Tianqi Jin, who received the best poster award at the 4th International Conference on Flexible Electronics!
2022/12: Congratulations to Tianqi Jin and Shiwei Xu, who received the best presentation award in the Ph.D. students forum of Tsinghua University in the multidisciplinary area of flexible electronics!
2022/11: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the 2022 Gustus L. Larson Memorial Award, jointly by Pi Tau Sigma and ASME. This medal awarded for outstanding achievement in mechanical engineering to an engineer within ten to twenty years after graduation following graduation with a baccalaureate (bachelors) degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
2022/11: Prof. Zhang was selected as a Highly Cited Researcher - 2022, Clarivate Web of Science.
2022/10: Our paper “A soft microrobot with highly-deformable 3D actuators for climbing and transitioning complex surfaces”, led by Wenbo Pang and Shiwei Xu, was accepted for publication in PNAS.
2022/10: Our group member, Jun Wu, was selected to receive the National Scholarship. Our group members, Tianqi Jin, Wenbo Pang, Ziyao Ji and Shiwei Xu, were selected to receive the scholarships of Tsinghua University! Congratulations to all of them!
2022/08: Our paper “Assembly of complex 3D structures and electronics on curved surfaces”, led by Zhaoguo Xue and Tianqi Jin, was selected as a cover feature article for the 8/12 Issue of Science Advances, and also highlighted on the homepage of Science website.
2022/07: Our paper “Morphable three-dimensional electronic mesofliers capable of on-demand unfolding”, led by Ziyao Ji and Jianzhong Zhao, was selected as a cover feature article for the August Issue of Science China Materials.
2022/06: Our paper “Assembly of complex 3D structures and electronics on curved surfaces”, led by Zhaoguo Xue and Tianqi Jin, was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2022/06: Congratulations to Xu Cheng, who received the award of Excellent Doctoral Thesis of Tsinghua University!
2022/05: Xiaogang Guo and collaborators' paper “Sub-millimeter scale multi-material terrestrial robots” was accepted for publication in Science Robotics.
2022/03: Prof. Zhang was invited to join the editorial board of International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials as an Associate Editor.
2022/03: Our paper “Highly-integrated, miniaturized, stretchable electronic systems based on stacked multilayer network materials”, led by Honglie Song and Guoquan Luo, was selected as a cover feature article for the 3/18 Issue of Science Advances.
2022/01: Our paper “Highly-integrated, miniaturized, stretchable electronic systems based on stacked multilayer network materials”, led by Honglie Song and Guoquan Luo, was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2022/01: Wenbo Pang and collaborators' paper “Bioinspired elastomer composites with programmed mechanical and electrical anisotropies” was accepted for publication in Nature Communications.
2021/12: Congratulations to Wu Jun, who received the best presentation award in the Ph.D. students forum of Tsinghua University in the multidisciplinary area of flexible electronics!
2021/11: Our paper “Liquid crystal elastomer metamaterials with giant biaxial thermal shrinkage for enhancing skin regeneration”, led by Jun Wu, was highlighted as 'Editor's Choice', and selected as a frontispiece feature article for the 11/11 issue of Advanced Materials.
2021/11: Congratulations to Xu Cheng and Jun Wu, who received the best poster award at the 3rd International Conference on Flexible Electronics!
2021/11: Our focusing review “Design, fabrication and applications of soft network materials”, led by Jianxing Liu and Dongjia Yan, was selected as an inner cover article for the October issue of Materials Today.
2021/10: Our group members, Xu Cheng, Jun Wu, Wenbo Pang, Zhangming Shen, Shiwei Xu and Zhi Liu, were selected to receive the scholarships of Tsinghua University and School of Aerospace Engineering! In particular, Xu Cheng and Jun Wu were selected to receive the award for research exploration. Congratulations to all of them!
2021/09: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the THE XPLORER PRIZE, a leading independent, non-governmental, merit-based public-interest award that is designed to promote career development of young scientists (under the age of 45) based in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.
2021/09: Our collaborative work “Three-Dimensional Electronic Microfliers Inspired by Wind-Dispersed Seeds” was selected as a cover feature article for the 9/23 Issue of Nature.
2021/09: Prof. E. Farrell Helbling from Cornell University wrote a News and Views “Seed-inspired vehicles take flight” in Nature that highlights our collaborative work on 3D Electronic Microfliers Inspired by Wind-Dispersed Seeds.
2021/09: Jun Wu and collaborators' paper “Liquid crystal elastomer metamaterials with giant biaxial thermal shrinkage for enhancing skin regeneration” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2021/09: Our paper “An anti-fatigue design strategy for three-dimensional ribbon-shaped flexible electronics”, led by Xu Cheng, was selected as an back cover feature article for the 9/16 issue of Advanced Materials.
2021/07: Our collaborative work “Three-Dimensional Electronic Microfliers Inspired by Wind-Dispersed Seeds” was accepted for publication in Nature.
2021/07: Fan Zhang and collaborators' paper “Torsional deformation dominated buckling of serpentine structures to form three-dimensional architectures with ultra-low rigidity” was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2021/06: Our paper “An anti-fatigue design strategy for three-dimensional ribbon-shaped flexible electronics”, led by Xu Cheng, was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2021/05: Our focusing review “Design, Fabrication and Applications of Soft Network Materials”, led by Jianxing Liu, was accepted for publication in Materials Today.
2021/02: Fan Zhang and collaborators' paper “Rapidly deployable and morphable 3D mesostructures with applications in multi-modal biomedical devices” was accepted for publication in PNAS.
2021/01: Hang Zhang and collaborators' paper “Hierarchical mechanical metamaterials built with scalable tristable elements for ternary logic operation and amplitude modulation” was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2021/01: Xiaogang Guo and collaborators' paper “Designing mechanical metamaterials with kirigami-inspired, hierarchical constructions for giant positive and negative thermal expansion” was selected as a cover feature article for the 1/21 Issue of Advanced Materials.
2020/12: Prof. Zhang was invited to join the editorial board of Science Advances as an Associate Editor.
2020/12: Our group member, Xu Cheng, was selected to receive the National Scholarship. Our group members, Ke Bai, Wenbo Pang, Hang Zhang and Jiahui Chang, were selected to receive the scholarships of Tsinghua University and School of Aerospace Engineering! In particular, Ke Bai and Wenbo Pang were selected to receive the award for research exploration. Congratulations to all of them!
2020/12: Congratulations to Xiaonan Hu, who was selected to receive the Future Scholar Fellowship of Tsinghua University (清华大学未来学者奖学金).
2020/11: Prof. Zhang was selected as a Highly Cited Researcher - 2020, Clarivate Web of Science.
2020/10: Our paper “Mechanics of unusual soft network materials with rotatable structural nodes”, led by Jianxing Liu, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2020/09: Xiaogang Guo and collaborators' paper “Designing mechanical metamaterials with kirigami-inspired, hierarchical constructions for giant positive and negative thermal expansion” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2020/07: Congratulations to Renheng Bo, who was selected to receive the support of Postdoctoral International Exchange Program (博士后国际交流计划引进项目) (from Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation and The Office of China Postdoctoral Council) and will join our group this fall.
2020/06: Our paper “Geometrically reconfigurable 3D mesostructures and electromagnetic devices through a rational bottom-up design strategy”, led by Ke Bai, was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2020/03: Wenbo Pang and collaborators' paper “Laser-Induced Graphene for Electrothermally-Controlled, Mechanically-Guided, Three-Dimensional Assembly and Human-Soft Actuators Interaction” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2020/02: Our paper “Soft Three Dimensional Network Materials with Rational Bio-mimetic Designs”, led by Dongjia Yan and Jiahui Chang, was accepted for publication in Nature Communications.
2020/01: Zhichao Fan and collaborators' paper “Inverse design strategies for 3D surfaces formed by mechanically guided assembly” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2019/10: Our group members, Xu Cheng, Jun Wu, Hang Zhang and Jianxing Liu, were selected to receive the scholarships (Fengtian; Dongnan Dianti) of Tsinghua University and School of Aerospace Engineering! Congratulations to all of them!
2019/10: Our paper “Electro-mechanically controlled assembly of reconfigurable 3D mesostructures and electronic devices based on dielectric elastomer platforms”, led by Wenbo Pang, was accepted for publication in National Science Review.
2019/09: Xiaogang Guo and collaborators' paper “Two-Dimensional Mechanical Metamaterials with Widely-Tunable Unusual Modes of Thermal Expansion” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2019/09: Our focusing review “Micro/Nanoscale 3D Assembly by Rolling, Folding, Curving, and Buckling Approaches”, led by Xu Cheng, was selected as an inside front cover feature article for the 9/6 issue of Advanced Materials.
2019/07: Congratulations to Xu Cheng, who received the best poster award at the 2nd International Conference on Flexible Electronics!
2019/06: Our focusing review “Mechanically-guided structural designs in stretchable inorganic electronics”, led by Zhaoguo Xue and Honglie Song, was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2019/06: Yuan Liu and collaborators' paper "Harnessing the interface mechanics of hard films and soft substrates for 3D assembly by controlled buckling" was accepted for publication in PNAS.
2019/05: Our group members, Ke Bai and Xu Cheng, received the 1st-grade and excellent-grade presentation awards in the graduate students academic forum of School of Aerospace Engineering, Tsinghua University! Congratulations to both of them!
2019/05: Our paper "Mechanics of bistable cross-shaped structures through loading-path controlled 3D assembly", led by Guoquan Luo, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2019/05: Our focusing review “Micro/Nanoscale 3D Assembly by Rolling, Folding, Curving and Buckling Approaches”, led by Xu Cheng, was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2019/02: Our paper “Analyses of mechanically-assembled 3D spiral mesostructures with applications as tunable inductors”, led by Fan Zhang, was selected as a cover feature article for the February Issue of SCIENCE CHINA Technological Sciences.
2019/01: Our collaborative work entitled “Three-dimensional piezoelectric polymer microsystems for vibrational energy harvesting, robotic prosthetic interfaces, and biomedical implants” was selected as a cover feature article for the January Issue of Nature Electronics.
2019/01: Prof. Michael C. McAlpine from University of Minnesota wrote a News and Views “3D piezoelectric microsystems pop up” in Nature Electronics that highlight our collaborative work on the design and fabrication of 3D piezoelectric microsystems with various demonstrated applications.
2019/01: Prof. Zhang was appointed as an Associate Editor of Mechanics of Materials.
2019/01: Prof. Zhang was appointed as an Editorial Board member of Current Opinion in Solid State & Materials Science.
2018/12: Our collaborative work “Three-dimensional piezoelectric polymer microsystems for vibrational energy harvesting, robotic prosthetic interfaces, and biomedical implants” was accepted for publication in Nature Electronics.
2018/11: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the 2019 Thomas J.R. Hughes Young Investigator Award, Applied Mechanics Division, ASME. This award recognizes special achievements in Applied Mechanics for researchers under the age of 41. Professor Zhang received this award for his pioneering work on the mechanics of buckling-guided 3D assembly, bio-inspired soft network materials and soft mechanical metamaterials with unusual swelling behavior.
2018/11: Our group members, Fei Liu and Hang Zhang, received the best presentation award in the Ph.D. students forum of Tsinghua University in the multidisciplinary area of flexible electronics! Congratulations to both of them!
2018/10: Our group members, Hang Zhang and Jianxing Liu, were selected to receive the National Scholarship and Tsinghua scholarship (Gaotian, 2nd prize), respectively! Congratulations to both of them!
2018/10: Xiaogang Guo and collaborators' paper “Freestanding 3D Mesostructures, Functional Devices and Shape-Programmable Systems based on Mechanically Induced Assembly with Shape Memory Polymers” was accepted for publication in Advanced Materials.
2018/09: Our collaborative work “Mechanically Active Materials in Three-Dimensional Mesostructures” was highlighted on the website of Science Advances.
2018/09: Congratulations to Yumeng Shuai, who was selected to receive the Future Scholar Fellowship of Tsinghua University (清华大学未来学者奖学金).
2018/05: Prof. Zhang were selected to receive the 2018 ASME Sia Nemat-Nasser Early Career Award, a society-level achievement award of ASME. This award recognizes early career research excellence in the areas of experimental, computational, and theoretical mechanics and materials by young investigators who are within 10 years after their Ph.D. degree.
2018/05: Congratulations to Zhaoguo Xue, who was selected to receive the support of innovative postdoctoral scholar program (全国博士后创新人才支持计划) (from Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation) and will join our group this summer.
2018/04: Our paper “Soft Mechanical Metamaterials with Unusual Swelling Behavior and Tunable Stress-strain curves”, led by Hang Zhang, was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2018/02: Haoran Fu and collaborators' paper “Morphable 3D mesostructures and microelectronic devices by multistable buckling mechanics” was selected as a cover feature article for the March Issue of Nature Materials.
2018/01: Our paper “Soft network materials with isotropic negative Poisson's ratios over large strains”, led by Jianxing Liu, was selected as an inside front cover feature article for the 2/7 issue of Soft Matter.
2018/01: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the 2017 Eshelby Mechanics Award for Young Faculty. This award is given annually to rapidly emerging junior faculty who exemplify the creative use and development of mechanics. The intent of the award is to promote the field of mechanics, especially among young researchers.
2017/12: Haoran Fu and collaborators' paper “Morphable 3D Mesostructures and Microelectronic Devices by Multistable Buckling Mechanics” was accepted for publication in Nature Materials.
2017/11: Our group member, Yuan Liu, received the best presentation award in the Ph.D. students forum of Tsinghua University in the multidisciplinary area of flexible electronics! Congratulations to him!
2017/10: Prof. Zhang was elected to be a recipient of 2018 SES Young Investigator Medal, for his pioneering work on the mechanically-guided, deterministic 3D assembly, mechanics of fractal-inspired designs for stretchable electronics, and bioinspired designs of soft network materials.
2017/10: Our paper “A double perturbation method of postbuckling analysis in 2D curved beams for assembly of 3D ribbon-shaped structures”, led by Zhichao Fan, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2017/10: Our group member, Fan Zhang, was selected to receive the National Scholarship! Congratulations to him!
2017/08: Prof. Zhang was awarded the Excellent Youth Funding, National Natural Science Foundation of China (国家自然科学基金委优秀青年科学基金).
2017/06: Our collaborative work “Self-Assembled, Three Dimensional Network Designs for Soft Electronics” was published in Nature Communications. -- Reported by 新华网, 人民网, 科技日报, 搜狐, 新浪 ...
2017/05: Qiang Ma and Prof. Zhang were selected to receive the Melville Medal, the highest ASME honor for the best original paper which has been published in the ASME Transactions during the two calendar years immediately preceding the year of the award.
2017/04: Our focusing review “Printing, Folding and Assembly Methods for forming 3D Mesostructures in Advanced Materials” was selected as a cover feature article in Nature Reviews Materials.
2017/03: Our focusing review “Printing, Folding and Assembly Methods for forming 3D Mesostructures in Advanced Materials”, co-authored with Zhang group members (Fan Zhang and Qiang Ma) and our collaborators (Prof. John A. Rogers, Prof. Yonggang Huang, Prof. Xiuling Li and Dr. Zheng Yan), was accepted for publication in Nature Reviews Materials.
2017/02: Prof. Zhang was selected to receive the 2017 Journal of Applied Mechanics Award from Applied Mechanics Division, ASME, for his paper with Qiang Ma "Mechanics of Fractal-Inspired Horseshoe Microstructures for Applications in Stretchable Electronics"!
2017/01: Prof. Zhang was appointed as an Associate Editor for Journal of Applied Mechanics!
2016/10: Our group members, Qiang Ma, Yuan Liu, Fan Zhang and Fei Liu, were selected to receive Tsinghua scholarships (Qiang: Zhonghang Industry, 1st prize; Yuan, Gaotian, 2nd prize; Fan, IHI, 3rd prize; Fei, Guanghua, 2nd prize)! Congratulations to all of them!
2016/10: Prof. Zhang is selected to receive 2016 Qiu Shi Outstanding Young Scholar Award! -- Reported by 新华网, 中国新闻网, 北京大学新闻网 ...
2016/08: Prof. Zhang is selected to the list of MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators Under 35 (TR35)! -- Reported by MIT Technology Review, The American Ceramic Society, Yahoo, China Daily, 人民日报, 中国新闻网, 科技日报, 科学网, 清华大学新闻网, 澎湃网 ...
2016/08: Fan Zhang and collaborators' paper “Mechanically guided assembly of complex, 3D mesostructures from releasable multilayers of advanced materials” was accepted for publication in Science Advances.
2016/06: Prof. Zhang was invited to give three keynote presentations at Society of Engineering Science (SES) 53rd Annual Technical Meeting, College Park, MD, USA, 10/2-10/5, 2016.
2016/04: Fan Zhang and collaborators' paper “Controlled Mechanical Buckling for Origami-Inspired Construction of 3D Microstructures in Advanced Materials” was selected as an inside front cover feature article for the 4/25 issue of Advanced Functional Materials.
2016/04: Prof. Zhang was invited to deliver the plenary General Lecture at the 11th International Conference "Shell Structures: Theory and Applications", Gdańsk, Poland, 10/11-10/13, 2017.
2016/03: Prof. Zhang was invited to give a talk at IUTAM Symposium on Mechanics of Stretchable Electronics, Hangzhou, China, 3/17-3/18, 2016.
2016/02: Our paper “A nonlinear mechanics model of bio-inspired hierarchical lattice materials consisting of horseshoe microstructures”, led by Qiang Ma, was accepted for publication in JMPS.
2016/01: Our collaborative work “Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Epidermal Heat Flux Sensors for Measurements of Core Body Temperature” was selected as an inside front cover feature article for the 1/7 issue of Advanced Healthcare Materials.