Zian Jia

A material is a group of atoms distributed in space – material properties are thus controlled by both the type and the spatial distribution of atoms. The distribution of atoms at different length scales forms complex material architectures including atomic lattices, molecular chains, crystal textures, nano-inclusions, microstructures, macroscopic geometries, organisms, etc., which in turn govern mechanical, thermal, optical, and electrical properties. My research is to understand how the spatial distributions of material are organized at different length scales and how the resultant multiscale distributions affect the emergent material properties.

 

I approach these challenging problems by inspecting the intriguing material architectures in biological materials and applying the learned lessons to engineering materials. Specifically, I study problems in three aspects:

 

1. Biological materials and bio-inspired technology. Biological materials often exhibit extremely detailed yet organized material architecture at multiple length scales, offering nice models to study the interplay between multiscale structure and properties. My interest lies in using state-of-the-art imaging techniques and developing new methods to reveal the design and formation principles of biological material at different length scales. The learned lessons, both of the material architecture and its formation, will be transferred to developing new structural materials.

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2. Manufacturing of structural materials. Currently, producing structural materials rely mainly on 3D printing, which is often expensive and difficult to mass produce. We seek to i) improve additive manufacturing techniques by learning from the growth of biological materials; ii) integrate autonomous mechanisms and sustainable compositions for the fabrication of structural materials; iii) re-innovate traditional fabrication methods for low-cost, mass-producible ways to manufacture functional structural materials.

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3. Mechanics and multiphysics modeling. We also delve into the fundamental physics involved in the design, production, and functionalization of structural materials. Structural materials enable novel concepts such as multifunctionality, programmability, metamaterials, and self-powering, where multiple physical phenomena are involved. Precise synthesis of structural materials requires a deep understanding of the underlying physical principles.