Boyu Zhang, PhD
Postdoc Researcher
Northwestern Univeristy, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Boyu Zhang is a Postdoc researcher at Mechanical Engineering Department of Northwestern University.
He obtained his B.S. degree in Composites Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D degree from the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University.
Research Interests
Dr. Zhang is interested in materials manufacture and mechanical properties at nanoscale. The focus of his research is two-fold:
1) Additive manufacturing inorganic materials and nano-composites with nanoscale resolution. He developed a two-photon-polymerization 3D printing technique to create high 3D quality silica and h-BN/silica composites structures with sub-wavelength resolution.
2) In-situ nano-mechanical characterization of low-dimensional materials, meta-materials and energy-related materials. Utilizing indentation system and related testing technique, he study the mechanical properties of Lithium cobalt oxide, cathode materials of solid-state batteries, Li, etc. He designed and micro-fabricated MEMS devices for in-situ SEM/TEM mechanical study of low-dimensional materials, such as graphene, h-BN, 2D covalent organic frameworks, etc.
Publications
Intrinsic toughening and stable crack propagation in hexagonal boron nitride. Nature 594, 57–61 (2021).
3D-printed silica with nanoscale resolution.Nature Materials 20, 1506–1511 (2021).
Quantitative in-situ study of strength-governed interfacial failure between h-BN and polymer-derived ceramic. Acta Materialia 210 (2021): 116832.