- Associate Professor, Nanoscience Initiative
- Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, The City College of New York
Xi Chen, Ph.D.
Xi Chen is an Associate Professor in the Nanoscience initiative at the CUNY ASRC and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the City College of New York since August 25th, 2016. Prior to his appointment, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Biological Sciences at Columbia University working with Prof. Ozgur Sahin. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology after receiving his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tsinghua University. His research of smart materials, nanotechnology, and energy harvesting has led to over 20 publications in leading scientific journals and conferences. In addition to its academic standing, his work has been featured in popular media as well, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the BBC and many others. He is also the recipient of numerous awards from the National Science Foundation, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and others.
Research Interests
Professor Chen develops the next generation of sensors, actuators, energy conversion and storage devices by using novel nanostructured and bio-inspired functional materials. His recent work on water-responsive materials and evaporation-driven engines opens up a new field in energy harvesting and provides opportunities towards solving current challenges in sustainable energy, energy storage, clean water, robotics, and medical technologies.
Job History
- 2016 – Current: Assistant Professor, Nanoscience Initiative, Advanced Science Research Center at The Graduate Center, CUNY
- 2016 – Current: Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, City College of New York
- 2012 – 2016: Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Columbia University, NY
- 2007 – 2012: Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ
- 2005 – 2007: M.S. Precision Instruments in Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 2005: B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Publications
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Taeryn Kim, Chengyu Sun, Xi Chen, Yaewon Park*. Water-Assisted Adhesion and Reconfigurability of Mushroom-Derived Papers for Sustainable Materials Engineering. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 14, 1899–1910 (2026). |
Jonathan W. Sun, Chengyu Sun, Seungri Kim, Nada Haq-Siddiqi, Zara Hedaya, Xi Chen*, Jin Kim Montclare*. Modulation of peptidoglycan crosslink network in Escherichia coli enhances water-responsive actuation. Acta Biomaterialia, 213, 269-278 (2026). |
Vignesh Athiyarath, Elma Naranjo, Dhwanit Dave, Osman Goni Ridwan, Danilo A. Arturo Rodriguez, Qiang Zhu, Marta Monti, Gonzalo Díaz Mirón, Debarshi Banerjee, Ali Hassanali, Michelle C. Neary, Eric G. Keeler, Sheng Zhang, Rein V. Ulijn*, Xi Chen*. Water-mediated reconfigurable topology and mechanics in porous peptide materials. Matter, 9, 102669 (2026). |
Jonathan W. Sun, Chengyu Sun, Seungri Kim, Andrew L. Wang, Isabella Huang, Nada Haq-Siddiqi, Zara Hedaya, Raymond S. Tu, Xi Chen*, Jin Kim Montclare*. Single-Residue Mutation Switch Reconfigures the Hierarchical Structure and Assembly of Amphiphilic Protein Block Copolymers for Hydration Layer-Dominated Water-Responsive Actuation. Biochemistry, 65, 2165-2179 (2026). |
Manuel A. Lema; Chengyu Sun; Milan A. Shlain; Farhana M. Khan; Keidy L. Matos; Seungri Kim; Vick Tan; Monil S. Patel; Xi Chen; Adam B. Braunschweig*. Reversible, Chemically Triggered Water Retention in Disulfide Cross-Linked Synthetic Conserved Anterior Mucus Proteins (SCAMPs). Macromolecules, 59, 8607-8619 (2026). |
Yuchen Zhang, Chengyu Sun, Erica Wong, Maheen K. Khan, Darjan Podbevšek, Walker MacSwain, Raymond S. Tu*, Xi Chen*. Interfacial Water Confinement Couples Hygroactuation and Mechanical Robustness in Free-Standing Biocomposites. Advanced Functional Materials, e77708 (2026). |
Shuo Fang, Yuchen Zhang, Maheen K. Khan, Xi Chen*, Ioana Voiculescu*. Water-property-dependent impedance modulation for silk-based humidity sensor. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 409, 118148 (2026). |
Kuntrapakam Hema, Hamish W. A. Swanson, Elma Naranjo, Avishek Dey, Crisol L. Aguirre Ortiz, Michelle C. Neary, Denize F. Favaro, Tong Wang, Xi Chen, Rein V. Ulijn*. Backbone-Constrained Tripeptides Enable Sequence Control of Solid-State Dynamics. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 65, e5983894 (2026). |
Kübra Kaygisiz, Deborah Sementa, Vignesh Athiyarath, Xi Chen and Rein V. Ulijn*. Context dependence in assembly code for supramolecular peptide materials and systems. Nature Reviews Materials 10, 449-472 (2025). |
Maheen K. Khan, Vignesh Athiyarath, Darjan Podbevšek, Yeojin Jung, Seungri Kim, Yuchen Zhang, Gonca Kilavuz-Ecker, Raymond S. Tu, and Xi Chen*. Modulating water-responsive actuation energy of regenerated silk fibroin via tyrosine modification. Soft Matter 21, 4150-4155 (2025). |
Seungri Kim, Haozhen Wang, Darjan Podbevšek, Tong Wang, and Xi Chen*. Hydrogen-Bonding-Dependent Water-Responsive Actuation of Bacillus subtilis Cell Walls. Langmuir 41, 15819-15827 (2025). |
Dhwanit R. Dave, Salma Kassem, Maeva Coste, Lele Xu, Mona Tayarani-Najjaran, Darjan Podbevšek, Paola Colon-De Leon, Sheng Zhang, Luis Ortuno Macias, Deborah Sementa, María Pérez-Ferreiro, Nooshin Sadat Ayati, Muniyat A. Choudhury, Kelly Veerasammy, Selma Doganata, Tiffany Zhong, Cory Weng, Jorge Morales, Denize C. Favaro, Mateusz Marianski, So Yeon Ahn, Allie C. Obermeyer, Tong Wang, Tai-De Li, Xi Chen, Raymond Tu, Ye He, and Rein V. Ulijn*. Adaptive peptide dispersions enable drying-induced biomolecule encapsulation. Nature Materials 24, 1465–1475 (2025). |
Hui Yuan, Yiming Tang, Elma Naranjo, Pierre-Andre Cazade, Yifei Yao, Vijayakanth Thangavel, Rusen Yang, Sigal Rencus-Lazar, Damien Thompson, Linda J. W. Shimon, Guanghong Wei*, Xi Chen*, Ehud Gazit*. Discrete Actuation of Water-Responsive Crystalline Metal–Peptide Frameworks. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 43, e202513629 (2025). |
V. Athiyarath, E. Naranjo, D.Dave, O. G. Ridwan, D. A. A. Rodriguez, Q. Zhu, M.Monti, G. D. Miron, D. Banerjee, A. Hassanali, M. C. Neary, S. Zhang, R.V. Ulijn and Xi Chen, Context-Adaptive Nanotopology in Peptide Crystals, ChemRxiv, 2025. |
Jacob Kronenberg, Yeojin Jung, Jason Chen, Maria Jinu Kulapurathazhe, Dustin Britton, Seungri Kim, Xi Chen*, Raymond S. Tu*, and Jin Kim Montclare*. Structure-Dependent Water Responsiveness of Protein Block Copolymers. ACS Applied Bio Materials 7, 3714–3720 (2024). |
Avishek Dey*, Elma Naranjo, Ranajit Saha, Sheng Zhang, Maya Narayanan Nair, Tai-De Li, Xi Chen*, and Rein V. Ulijn*. Water-Vapor Responsive Metallo-Peptide Nanofibers. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 63, e202409391 (2024). |
Darjan Podbevšek, Yeojin Jung, Maheen K. Khan, Honghui Yu, Raymond S. Tu* and Xi Chen*. The role of water mobility on water-responsive actuation of silk. Nature Communications 15, 8287 (2024). |
Y. Jung, M. K. Khan, D. Podbevšek, T. Sudhakar, R. S. Tu, and X. Chen. Enhanced water-responsive actuation of porous Bombyx mori silk. Soft Matter, 2023, 19, 2047-2052. |
A.R. Cerullo, M. B. McDermott, L. E. Pepi, Z.L. Liu, D. Barry, S. Zhang, X. Yang, X. Chen, P. Azadi, M. Holford, and A. B. Braunschweig. Comparative mucomic analysis of three functionally distinct Cornu aspersum Secretions. Nature Communications, 2023, 14, 5361. |
S.G. Harrellson, M.S. DeLay, X. Chen, A. Cavusoglu, J. Dworkin, H. A. Stone, O. Sahin, Hydration solids, Nature, 2023. |
F.K. Sheehan, H. Wang, D. Podbevšek, E. Naranjo, J. Rivera‐Cancel, C. Moran, R.V. Ulijn, X. Chen, Aromatic Zipper Topology Dictates Water‐Responsive Actuation in Phenylalanine‐Based Crystals, Small, 2023, 2207773.
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Z.L. Liu and X. Chen. Water-content-dependent morphologies and mechanical properties of Bacillus subtilis spores’ cortex peptidoglycan. ASC Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2022, 8, 5094–5100. |
Q. Cheng, T. Jin, Y. Miao, Z. Liu, J. Borovilas, H. Zhang, S. Liu, S.Y. Kim, R. Zhang, H. Wang, X. Chen, L.Q. Chen, J. Li, W. Min, and Y. Yang. Stabilizing lithium plating in polymer electrolytes by concentration-polarization-induced phase transformation. Joule, 2022, 10, 2372-2389. |
N.A. Alcantar, S. Banta, A.D. Cak, X. Chen, C. DelRe, L.F. Deravi, J.S. Dordick, B.M. Giebel, D. Greenfield, P.M. Groffman, M. Holford, G. John, N.S. Joshi, N.A. Kotov, J. K. Montclare, B.S. Moore, J.H. Ortony, A.B. Reinmann, J. Son, R.E. Stark, R.V. Ulijn, C.J. Vörösmarty, C.J. Wilson, Bioinspired Green Science and Technology Symposium in NYC, Matter, 2022, 5, 7, 1980-1984. |
H. Wang, Z.-L. Liu, J. Lao, S. Zhang, R. Abzalimov, T. Wang, and X. Chen, High Energy and Power Density Peptidoglycan Muscles through Super-Viscous Nanoconfined Water, Advanced Science, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202104697. |
G. Zhang, X. Chen, W. Xu, W.D. Yao, and Y. Shi. Piezoelectric property of PZT nanofibers characterized by resonant piezo-force microscopy. AIP Advances, 2022, 12, 035203. |
R. Piotrowska, T. Hesketh, H. Wang, A. Martin, D. Bowering, C. Zhang, C. Hu, S.A. McPhee, T. Wang, Y. Park, P. Singla, T. McGlone, A. Florence, T. Tuttle, R.V. Ulijn, and X. Chen, Mechanistic insights of evaporation-induced actuation in supramolecular crystals, Nat. Mater., 2021, 20, 403-409. |
Y. Jung, S.S. Golru, T.-D. Li, E.J. Biddinger, R.S. Tu, and X. Chen, Tuning water-responsiveness with Bombyx mori silk-silica nanoparticle composites, Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 7817-7821. |
Y. Park and X. Chen, Water-responsive materials for sustainable energy applications, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2020, 8, 15227-15244. |
Y. Park, Y. Jung, T.-D. Li, J. Lao, R. Tu, X. Chen, β-Sheet Nanocrystals Dictate Water Responsiveness of Bombyx Mori Silk, Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2020, 1900612. |
O. Cakmak, H. O. El Tinay, X. Chen, and O. Sahin. Spore based water resistant water responsive actuators with high power density. Advanced Materials Technologies, 2019, 4, 1800596. |
A.H. Cavusoglu, X. Chen, P. Gentine and O. Sahin, Potential for natural evaporation as a reliable renewable energy resource, Nature Communications, 2017, 8, 617. |
X. Chen, D. Goodnight, Z. Gao, A.H. Cavusoglu, N. Sabharwal, M. DeLay, A. Driks and O. Sahin, Scaling up nanoscale water-driven energy conversion into evaporation-driven engines and generators, Nature Communications, 2015, 6, 7346. |
X. Chen, L. Mahadevan, A. Driks and O. Sahin, Bacillus spores as building blocks for stimuli-responsive materials and nanogenerators, Nature Nanotechnology, 2014, 9, 2014. |
X. Chen, S. Guo, J. Li, G. Zhang, M. Lu, and Y. Shi. Flexible piezoelectric nanofiber composite membranes as high performance acoustic emission sensors. Sensors and Actuators A, 2013, 199, 372-378. |
J. Li, X. Chen, W. Xu, C.Y. Nam, and Y. Shi, TiO2 nanofiber solid state dye sensitized solar cell with thin TiO2 hole blocking layer prepared by atomic layer deposition Thin Solid Films, 2013, 536, 275-276. |
W. Xu, J. Li, G. Zhang, X. Chen, R. Galos, H. Hadim, M. Lu, Y. Shi, A low-cost MEMS tester for measuring single nanostructure’s thermal conductivity Sensors and Actuators A, 2013, 191, 89–98. |
X. Chen, S. Xu, N. Yao, and Y. Shi, Young’s modulus determination of unpolled electrospun PZT nanofibers Science of Advanced Materials 2012, 4, 847-850. (Invited) |
J. Li, X. Chen, N. Ai, J. Hao, Q. Chen, S. Strauf, and Y. Shi. Silver nanoparticle doped TiO2 nanofiber dye sensitized solar cells. Chemical Physics Letters, 2011, 514, 141-145. |
X. Chen, J. Li, G. Zhang, and Y. Shi. PZT nano active fiber composites for acoustic emission detection. Advanced Materials, 2011, 23, 3965–3969. |
X. Chen, S. Xu, N. Yao, and Y. Shi. 1.6 Volt nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting using PZT nanofibers. Nano Letters, 2010, 10, 2133-2137. |
X. Chen, S. Xu, N. Yao, W. Xu, and Y. Shi. Potential measurement from a single lead ziroconate titanate nanofiber using a nanomanipulator. Applied Physics Letters, 2009, 94, 253113. |
