Professor Bin Xu

Professor

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

Dr Ben B. Xu FRSC, FIMMM, FRSA, FICS, is a professor(full) in materials and energy with a multi-disciplinary research interest covering functional materials, energy conversion&storage, applied mechanics, micro-engineering, and sustainable and enrironmental technology. Ben obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Heriot-watt University in 2011. He subsequently worked as a postdoc researcher in Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst (US, 2011-2013). Ben is a visiting professor in UCLA (US), University of Alberta (CA), The University of Sydney (AU), Manipal University (India), etc.

Ben is a chair for the Materials Characterisation&Properties Group in the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals (IoM³). He has published 10 patents, 9 book(incl. chapter) and over 290 peer-reviewed articles in the leading journals, including Sci. Adv., Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., Angewandte Chemie, Adv. Energy. Mater., Adv. Fun. Mater., Energy. Environ. Sci., Chem. Soc. Rev., ACS Nano, Nano Letters, Chem. Sci., Phys. Rev. Lett., etc (h-index 71). Ben has been invited to give 120+ invited/plenary talks in international conferences/leading institutions, chaired 40+ international events and reviewed paper publications for 100+ journals. He serves as an associate editor for EcoMat (Wiley) and Advanced Devices & Instrumentation (AAAS), and an editorial board member for Nano Materials Science (Elesevier). He received awards as Product/innovation of the Year 2025 award at CIBSE Building Performance Awards(2025), Stanford/Elsevier World Top 2% Scientists (2024&2025), Nano-Micro Letters ESI TOP ARTICLE AWARDS (2024&2023), Excellence in Research- mid-career award from AICHE (2023), 2023 Technology for Social Impact Award in The IET Excellence and Innovation Award Event, the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2018 IEEE International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference, 2016 Young Investigator Award from the International Polymer Networks Group, etc.

Ben is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals (FIMMM), Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), Fellow of India Chemical Society (FICS). He has been holding leadingship roles in different councils, such as:
1. An elected member in the Advisory Council in IoM³from 2019;
2. An elected member in the RSC Materials Chemistry Division Council (2020-2023);
3. RSC North East Coast Committee member from 2020;
4. The executive committee member for The Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology (CSCST-UK) from 2016;
5. The area Chair(2024)/vice Chair(2023) of 'composites' (08F) in AICHE (US).

Progresses from Ben’s research have been featured by media presses in

2020:

EPSRC: https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/news/researchers-discover-novel-optical-sensing-technology/

Materials World: https://www.iom3.org/materials-world-magazine/news/2020/jun/03/elastic-folding-soft-matter-surfaces-aids-highcontrast

Materials views china: https://www.materialsviewschina.com/2020/09/48634/

phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2020-04-optical-technology.html

NECONNECTED: https://neconnected.co.uk/fold-to-glitter-researchers-discover-novel-optical-sensing-technology/

polymer.cn: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/6VDqUepzulrDgX_yWjnv2g

2019:

UK Fluids Network: https://fluids.mzs.arpa.cam.ac.uk

phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-red-wine-key-next-gen-wearable.html

Materials views china: https://www.materialsviewschina.com/2019/08/39476/?from=timeline&isappinstalled=0

Before 2019:

NECONNECTED: https://neconnected.co.uk/northumbria-scientists-win-national-photography-prize/

Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/science/gallery/2017/apr/03/from-eureka-to-equipment-images-that-show-another-side-of-science-in-pictures-epsrc-photo-competition-2017

Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/02/epsrc-photography-competition-2017/dr-ben-xu-mr-ding-wang3rd-placeeureka-discovery-categorythis/

Materials views china: https://www.materialsviewschina.com/2016/04/21008/

Campus Address

Ellison Building

004401912273608

Email Bin

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

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.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Advanced Cellulose-Based Gels for Wearable Physiological Monitoring: From Fiber Modification to Application Optimization, Wang, Z., Jiang, J., Wei, K., Zhou, X., Shahzad, M., Li, Y., Zhang, X., Xu, B., Ge, S. 28 Jul 2025, In: Advanced Functional Materials
Advances in layer manganese dioxide for energy conversion and storage: mechanisms, strategies and prospects, Zhang, Y., Xu, H., Ebaid, M., Zhang, X., Jiang, K., Zhang, X., Guo, Z., Xu, B. 7 Jun 2025, In: Chemical Science
Advancing green sustainability: A comprehensive review of biomass briquette integration for coal-based energy frameworks, Wu, M., Wei, K., Jiang, J., Xu, B., Ge, S. 1 Dec 2025, In: International Journal of Coal Science and Technology
A Hierarchical Multimetal Oxides@Graphene Fabric Electrode with High Energy Density and Robust Cycling Performance for Flexible Supercapacitors, Liu, Y., Zhang, Y., Yang, C., Shahzad, M., Yan, Y., Dai, L., Lu, W., Chen, W., He, X., Xu, B., Wu, G. 19 Mar 2025, In: Nano Letters
A Natural Lignification Inspired Super-Hard Wood-based Composites with Extreme Resilience, Huang, Y., Jiang, K., He, Y., Hu, J., Dyer, K., Chen, S., Akinlabi, E., Zhang, D., Zhang, X., Yu, Y., Yu, W., Xu, B. 12 May 2025, In: Advanced Materials
Artificial Compound Eye for Clear Vision in Harsh Environment, Kassim, K., Lu, Q., Xuan, H., Maeda, N., Li, X., Xu, B., Zhang, X. 25 Sep 2025, In: Advanced Functional Materials
A Semi-transparent Strong Biomimetic Wound Healing Material: Zinc Oxide and Sodium Alginate Based Bi-layer Nanofiber Membrane, Kuddushi, M., Kumar, T., Wu, H., Chen, S., Xu, B., Malek, N., Unsworth, L., Xu, J., Zhang, J., Wang, X., Zhang, X. 20 Feb 2025, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
A Strong and Water-Retaining Biomass Adhesive Inspired by Tofu, Shao, J., Jing, Q., Li, X., Shahzad, M., Jiang, S., Zhang, X., Ge, S., Xu, B., Li, J. 26 Jun 2025, 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. Feb 2025, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
Correction: Initiating Binary Metal Oxides Microcubes Electromagnetic Wave Absorber Toward Ultrabroad Absorption Bandwidth Through Interfacial and Defects Modulation, Li, F., Wu, N., Kimura, H., Wang, Y., Bin Xu, B., Wang, D., Li, Y., Algadi, H., Guo, Z., Du, W., Hou, C. 1 Dec 2025, In: Nano-Micro Letters

Current and Recent Projects

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

Professional Activity

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

PGR Supervision

Connor Smith Next-Generation Smart Satellites: Metasurface-Based Radio Frequency Identification with Acoustic Emission for Real-Time Structural Health Monitoring Start Date: 21/02/2025 End Date: 17/10/2025
Qiumei Jing Techno-Economic Analysis of Novel Sustainable Engineering and Energy System Start Date: 01/03/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025
Kaixin Jiang Advanced Leading Edge Protection System based on Machine Learning and AI Start Date: 01/07/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025
Kaixin Jiang Advanced Leading Edge Protection System based on Machine Learning and AI Start Date: 01/07/2024
Zhuofan Qin Advanced Materials and Technologies in Flexible Hybrid Electronics Start Date: 18/01/2021 End Date: 23/05/2025
Qiumei Jing Techno-Economic Analysis of Novel Sustainable Engineering and Energy System Start Date: 01/03/2022
Yuan Wang The evaluation of catalytic performance at electrode for sustainable electrolysis Start Date: 01/10/2022
Connor Smith Next-Generation Smart Satellites: Metasurface-Based Radio Frequency Identification with Acoustic Emission for Real-Time Structural Health Monitoring Start Date: 21/02/2025
Yuan Wang The evaluation of catalytic performance at electrode for sustainable electrolysis Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025

Qualifications

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