Dr. Nanjia Zhou joined School of Engineering at Westlake Institute for Advanced Science in September 2018. Nanjia received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Materials Science and Engineering on solution-processed optoelectronics.  He was the recipient of the highest graduate student award from the Materials Research Society (MRS) and was one of eight recipients of the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015-2018) on 3D printed electronics, optics and robotics. His current research focuses on developing novel functional materials for 3D printed soft electronics, optics, robotics and bioelectronics, as well as new 3D printing processes which will enable high resolution, high throughput, digitally programmable multimaterial assembly for a variety of applications. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles with total citations >2700, 2 book chapters and 3 patents pending or granted.

My research interests are centered on the interplay between additive manufacturing (AM) and smart materials. AM technologies possess tremendous potentials and virtually unlimited opportunities for both the fundamental and applied research on the synthesis, properties, and processing of materials at multiple length scales. During my PhD study at Northwestern, I focused on electronics and optoelectronic device fabrication via solution processing. I reported the innovative design, synthesis and characterization of electrode, interface, and active layer materials for solution-processed optoelectronics, including organic materials, sol-gel oxides, and perovskites. I continued my research at Harvard University as a Dreyfus postdoctoral fellow working on novel 3D printed electronic and optoelectronic devices via direct ink writing. Specifically, I created radiofrequency electromagnetic devices and circuits that operate at GHz regime, and developed 3D printed optical devices for sensor and display applications. Looking ahead, my research group will continue working on these areas: 1) Novel functional materials development for 3D printing; 2) AM-enabled programmable materials assembly; 3) Novel AM technologies; 4) AM of integrated electronics, optoelectronics, sensors, and soft robots.

[1] Zhang, H., Yao, Y., Hui, Y., Zhou, N.*, Ju, F.*. A 3D-printed microfluidic gradient concentration chip for rapid antibiotic-susceptibility testing. Bio-des. Manuf. 5, 210–219 (2022).

[2] Zhou, N., Ma, L.. Smart bioelectronics and biomedical devices. Bio-des. Manuf. 5, 1–5 (2022).

[3] Chen, H., Min, X., Hui, Y., Zhang, B., Yao, Y., Xing, W., Zhang, W., Zhou, N.*. Colloidal oxide nanoparticle inks for micrometer-resolution additive manufacturing of three-dimensional gas sensors. Mater. Horiz.  9, 764 - 771(2022).

[4] Wang, Z., Zhang, B., Cui, W.*, Zhou, N.*. Freeform fabrication of pneumatic soft robots via multi-material embedded 3D printing. Macromol. Mater. accepted.

[5] Zheng, Y., Wang, Y., F. Zhang, F., Zhang, S., Piatkevich, K. D., Zhou, N.*, Pokorski, J. K.*. Coagulation Bath-Assisted Direct Ink Writing of Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS Microelectrodes for Implantable Bioelectronics. Adv. Mater. Tech. accepted.

[6] Liu, D., Ren, J., Wang, J., Xing, W., Qian, Q., Chen. H., Zhou, N.*. Customizable and stretchable fibre-shaped electroluminescent devices via mulitcore-shell direct ink writing[J]. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2020.

[7] Shi, Q., Chen, H., Pang, K., Yao, Y., Su, G., Liang, F., Zhou, N.*. Permalloy/Polydimethylsiloxane Nanocomposite Inks for Multimaterial Direct Ink Writing of Gigahertz Electromagnetic Structures, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2020.

[8] Yao, Y., Yin, C., Hong, S., Chen, H., Shi, Q., Wang, J., Lu, X., Zhou, N.*. Lanthanide-Ion Coordinated Supramolecular Hydrogel Inks for 3D Printed Full-Color Luminescence and Opacity Tuning Soft Actuators. Chemistry of Materials, 2020.

[9] Zhou, N., Bekenstein, Y., Eisler, C. N., Zhang D., Schwartzberg A. M., Yang P, Alivisatos A. P., Lewis, J. A.. Science Advances 2019, eaav8141.

[10] Zhou, N., Liu, C., Lewis, J. A., Ham, D.. Gigahertz Electromagnetic Structures via Direct Ink Writing for Radio‐Frequency Oscillator and Transmitter Applications. Advanced Materials 2017, 29 (15), 160519

[11] Zhou, N.; Kim, M.-G.; Loser, S.; Smith, J.; Yoshida, H.; Guo, X.; Song, C.; Jin, H.; Chen, Z.; Yoon, S. M.; Freeman, A. J.; Chang, R. P. H.; Facchetti, A.; Marks, T. J., Amorphous oxide alloys as interfacial layers with broadly tunable electronic structures for organic photovoltaic cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2015, 112 (26), 7897.