Prof Bin Xu

Professor

Department: Mechanical and Construction Engineering

Dr Ben B. Xu FRSC, FIMMM, FRSA, FSCI, is a full professor in materials and mechanics with a multi-disciplinary research interest covering functional materials, applied mechanics, micro-engineering and sustainable and energy 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 (2011-2013). Ben holds the title of visiting professorship in 10+ universities globally, including UCLA (US), Texas A&M University (US), University of Alberta (CA), The University of Sydney (AU), Manipal University (India), etc.

Ben is a vice chair for division of 'composites' in AICHE (US) and chairing the Materials Characterisation&Properties Group in the Institute of Materials, Mining and Minerals (IoM³). He has published 6 patents, 7 book(incl. chapters) and over 190 peer-reviewed articles in the leading journals, including Sci. Adv., Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., Adv. Energy. Mater., Adv. Fun. Mater., Energy. Environ. Sci., Nano Energy, Small, Phys. Rev. Lett., etc (h-index 38). Ben has been invited to give 100+ invited/plenary talks in international conferences/leading institutions, chaired 20+ international events and reviewed paper publications for 90+ journals. He serves as an associate editor for Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials (Springer Nature), Advanced Devices & Instrumentation (AAAS) and ES Engineered Science, and an editorial board member for Polymers (MDPI). He received awards as the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2018 IEEE International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference, Outstanding Reviewer for Journal of Molecular Liquids (2018), 2016 Young Investigator Award from the International Polymer Networks Group, 3^rd prize in the 2016 EPSRC photo competition, 2016 RSC-CSCST Emerging Talent Grant from Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), etc.

He was elected to the Advisory Council in IoM³ from 2019, and the RSC Materials Chemistry Division Council and Newcastle upon Tyne and North East Coast Committee from 2020, the executive committee for The Chinese Society of Chemical Science and Technology (CSCST-UK) from 2016.

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
Advances in triboelectric nanogenerator technology—applications in self-powered sensors, Internet of things, biomedicine, and blue energy, Jiang, D., Lian, M., Xu, M., Sun, Q., Xu, B., Thabet, H., El-Bahy, S., Ibrahim, M., Huang, M., Guo, Z. 1 Apr 2023, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
Advancing pressure sensors performance through a flexible MXene embedded interlocking structure in a microlens array, Li, T., Xu, Z., Xu, B., Guo, Z., Jiang, Y., Zhang, X., Bayati, M., Liu, T., Liu, Y. 20 May 2023, In: Nano Research
Ammonium perchlorate@graphene oxide/Cu-MOF composites for efficiently catalyzing the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate, Liang, T., Yang, X., Liu, B., Song, R., Xiao, F., Yang, Y., Wang, D., Dong, M., Ren, J., Xu, B., Algadi, H., Yang, Y. 1 Apr 2023, In: Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
An Active Bacterial Anti-adhesion Strategy Based on Directional Transportation of Bacterial Droplets Driven by Triboelectric Nanogenerators, Lin, J., Li, J., Feng, S., Gu, C., Li, H., Lu, H., Hu, F., Pan, D., Xu, B., Guo, Z. 1 Jan 2023, In: Nano Research
An overview of metal-organic frameworks and their magnetic composites for the removal of pollutants, Wang, C., Liu, X., Yang, T., Sridhar, D., Algadi, H., Xu, B., El-Bahy, Z., Li, H., Ma, Y., Li, T., Guo, Z. 24 May 2023, In: Separation and Purification Technology
A Roadmap Review of Thermally Conductive Polymer Composites: Critical Factors, Progress and Prospects, Wang, Z., Wu, Z., Wang, L., Ge, S., Jiang, D., Huang, M., Mulvihill, D., Chen, Q., Guo, Z., Jazzar, A., He, X., Zhang, X., Xu, B. 30 Apr 2023, In: Advanced Functional Materials
A Universal Interfacial Strategy Enabling Ultra-robust Gel Hybrids for Extreme Epidermal Bio-monitoring, Wang, Z., Wang, D., Liu, D., Han, X., Liu, X., Torun, H., Guo, Z., Duan, S., He, X., Zhang, X., Xu, B., Chen, F. 2 Apr 2023, In: Advanced Functional Materials
Boosted lithium storage performance by local build-in electric field derived by oxygen vacancies in 3D holey N-doped carbon structure decorated with molybdenum dioxide, Hou, C., Yang, W., Kimura, H., Xie, X., Zhang, X., Sun, X., Yu, Z., Yang, X., Zhang, Y., Wang, B., Xu, B., Sridhar, D., Algadi, H., Guo, Z., Du, W. 10 Apr 2023, In: Journal of Materials Science and Technology
Boosting the sodium storage performance of Prussian blue analogs by single-crystal and high-entropy approach, Huang, Y., Zhang, X., Ji, L., Wang, L., Xu, B., Shahzad, M., Tang, Y., Zhu, Y., Yan, M., Sun, G., Jiang, Y. 1 Apr 2023, In: Energy Storage Materials
Boron and Fluorine Co-doped Laser-Induced Graphene towards High-Performance Micro-Supercapacitors, Yuan, G., Wan, T., BaQais, A., Mu, Y., Cui, D., Amin, M., Li, X., Xu, B., Zhu, X., Algadi, H., Li, H., Wasnik, P., Lu, N., Guo, Z., Wei, H., Cheng, B. 11 May 2023, In: Carbon

Current and Recent Projects

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
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

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
Honghao Zhou Advanced Materials and Mechanics enabled Robotic Device Technology Start Date: 01/11/2019
Panagiotis Galatis Start Date: 16/05/2017
Panagiotis Galatis Start Date: 16/05/2017
Qiumei Jing Market analysis of novel sustainable energy system for Net Zero in England and China Start Date: 01/03/2022
Zhuofan Qin Paper based hybrid micro-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

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

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