- 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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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. |
