Professor Bin Xu

Dr Xu is currently leading a research group in Northumbria to develop multidisciplinary research programmes, from fundamental understanding on engineering science to innovating the enabling technologies. His researches in extreme mechanics and functional materials includes the design and understanding of morphing structures, the development of novel flexible/wearable sensing/actuating structure/devices, the realization of functional surface/interface with unique chemical-physical features, the innovation of new circular economy technology using recycled plastic wastes and the exploration of future renewable energy solutions.

He has developed a novel approach to realise the sensing/actuation function by introducing elastic instabilities into the micro-engineered structure in a controllable manner, which shed extra lights in developing future micro-devices, especially in the sectors of flexible/wearable electronics, soft robots, etc. His work on soft active matter and developing novel micro-device is supported by the Royal Society, EPSRC and industries.

Progresses from Ben’s research have been featured by media presses in EPSRC,Materials World, UK Fluids Network, phys.org 2020, NECONNECTED 2020, phys.org 2019, Guardian, Telegraph, NECONNECTED 2019, polymer.cn, Materials views china 2019, Materials views china 2016.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• 3D macroporous Ti3C2Tx MXene/cellulose nanofiber/rGO hybrid aerogel electrode with superior energy density, Bi, X., Shi, Y., Ge, S., Xu, B., Li, X., He, X., Huang, R. 1 Apr 2024, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
• A Cellulose/Chitosan Dual Cross-Linked Multifunctional and Resilient Hydrogel for Emergent Open Wound Management, Lu, S., Wu, H., Ge, S., Huang, L., Chen, L., Connor, C., Guo, Z., Jiang, Y., Xu, B., Peng, W. 17 May 2024, In: Advanced healthcare materials
• A comprehensive review of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and their derivatives in environmental pollution control, Ge, S., Wei, K., Peng, W., Huang, R., Akinlabi, E., Xia, H., Shahzad, M., Zhang, X., Xu, B., Jiang, J. 7 Dec 2024, In: Chemical Society Reviews
• A homogeneous plating/stripping mode with fine grains for highly reversible Zn anodes, Luo, Z., Xia, Y., Chen, S., Wu, X., Akinlabi, E., Xu, B., Pan, H., Yan, M., Jiang, Y. 21 Sep 2024, In: Energy and Environmental Science
• Amoxicillin-laded sodium alginate/cellulose nanocrystals/polyvinyl alcohol composite nanonetwork sponges with enhanced wound healing and antibacterial performance, Qi, H., Yang, L., Ma, R., Xiang, Y., Dai, Y., Ren, J., Xu, B., El-Bahy, Z., Thabet, H., Huang, Z., Ben, W., Yu, H., Guo, Z. 1 Nov 2024, In: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
• A novel solar-driven energy-storage- based hybrid desalination system, Jamil, M., Xu, B., Ng, K., Imtiaz, N., Chen, Q., Imran, M., Jiang, Y., Shahzad, M. 1 Aug 2024, Recent Advances in Materials for Energy Harvesting and Storage, Bristol, IOP Publishing Ltd.
• An overview of green synthesized silver nanoparticles towards bioactive antibacterial, antimicrobial and antifungal applications, Gong, X., Jadhav, N., Lonikar, V., Kulkarni, A., Zhang, H., Sankapal, B., Ren, J., Xu, B., Pathan, H., Ma, Y., Lin, Z., Witherspoon, E., Wang, Z., Guo, Z. 1 Jan 2024, In: Advances in colloid and interface science
• Anticorrosion and discharge performance of calcium and neodymium co-doped AZ61 alloy anodes for Mg-air batteries, Liu, B., Gao, A., Zhang, Z., He, M., Xu, B., Shi, X., Wu, P., Guo, S., Amin, M., Elsharkawy, E., Guo, Z. 10 Sep 2024, In: Journal of Materials Science and Technology
• Artificial Compound Eye with Tunable Properties for Enhancement in Fluorescence Imaging and Raman Detection, Kassim, K., Lu, Q., Maeda, N., Wang, X., Xu, B., Zhang, X. 25 Sep 2024, In: Advanced Functional Materials
• A wearable ionic hydrogel strain sensor with double cross-linked network for human machine interface, Wu, Z., Zhang, L., Wang, M., Zang, D., Long, H., Weng, L., Guo, N., Gao, J., Liu, Y., Xu, B. 3 Dec 2024, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Team Mid-I-15 - OptimumAirCon - Second Phase, Shahzad, M. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), University of Warwick, 06/02/23 - 21/04/23, £18,987.00
• Smart materials and surfaces enabled resilience engineering technology, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 01/02/18 - 21/11/18, £1,025.00
• EE 3D printed smart materials structure and device for advanced engineering, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), Jinbaian Steel Product Co Ltd, 01/10/16 - 30/09/19, £75,000.00
• Dynamically monitoring in plane strain transformation/localization during creasing of the gel surface, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), The Royal Society, 31/03/16 - 30/03/17, £14,586.00
• Stimuli-responsive gel based microfluidic switch, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 01/10/15 - 30/07/17, £122,266.00
• Mechanics and application of the micro-engineered smart structure, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), Reece Group Limited, 01/02/15 - 31/01/18, £41,400.00
• SMSL-REECE Joint Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), Reece Group Limited, 09/06/14 - 30/09/14, £10,900.00
• COST Training School - Particles at Liquid Interfaces: Fundamentals and Applications, Xu, B. (Principal Investigator), Xu, B. (Co Investigator), COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), 02/04/14 - 05/04/14, £508.00

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Examination: PhD examination in Manchester University 2022
• Examination: PhD examination in Newcastle University 2022
• Editorial work: Advanced Devices & Instrumentation (Journal) 2022
• Membership of board: The IOM3 Materials Characterisation & Properties Group (External organisation) 2022
• Editorial work: Editor board member for Green Energy and Environmental Technology (Event) 2022
• Editorial work: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials (Journal) 2022
• Examination: PhD examination in the University of Edinburgh 2022
• Participating in a conference, workshop, ...: The 28th CSCST-SCI Annual Conference 2021
• Editorial work: Guest Editor for Special Issue of ‘Beyond Lithium: A New Era of Sustainable Energy Engineering’ for Small (Event) 2021
• Examination: PhD examination in Northumbria University 2021

• Ansu Sun 3D Printing Assisted Development of Bio-inspired Structure and Device for Advanced Engineering Start Date: 01/03/2017 End Date: 10/09/2022
• Panagiotis Galatis Start Date: 16/05/2017
• Panagiotis Galatis Start Date: 16/05/2017
• Qiumei Jing Techno-Economic Analysis of Novel Sustainable Engineering and Energy System Start Date: 01/03/2022
• Kaixin Jiang ???????????????????? Start Date: 01/07/2024
• Zhuofan Qin Advanced Materials and Technologies in Flexible Hybrid Electronics Start Date: 18/01/2021
• Sreepathy Sridhar Nature Inspired Surface/Interface Engineering Towards Advanced Device Applications Start Date: 01/10/2017 End Date: 20/05/2021
• Yuan Wang Design and development of reliable electrode for high-performance hydrogen production under fluctuating power supply Start Date: 01/10/2022
• Ding Wang Mechanics Study and Application of Micro-Engineered Smart Surface Start Date: 01/02/2015 End Date: 06/11/2019

• Education PGCert October 01 2015
• Mechanical Engineering PhD November 01 2011
• Materials Science MSc July 01 2006
• Polymers and Textiles BSc (Hons) June 30 2003
• Fellow of The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce FRSA 2020
• Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry FRSC 2019
• Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining FIMMM 2016
• Other (please specify) Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2015
• Fellow (FHEA) Higher Education Academy (HEA) 2015
• Member American Chemical Society 2011
• Member Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2010