Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
SINGAPORE
Rationale and Global Picture
We develop sustainable manufacturing technologies that are combined with biomimetic, bioinspired or hierarchical design principles to create high performance materials. These materials stand out by their structural and multifunctional properties and have the potential to reduce the environmental impact in application. Among our strategies, we use 3D printing, abundant building blocks, and water as a solvent. Our research is multidisciplinary and operates at multiple lengthscales, from nano to macroscale.
Key words: manufacturing, sustainability, composites, ceramics, biomimicry, multifunctionality, high performance.
Applications: high performance and sustainable solutions for high power electronics, sensing systems, high temperature applications, implants, and the built environment, among others.
Selected publications depicting the overarching aims:
-
Controlled local orientation of 2D nanomaterials in 3D devices: methods and prospects for multifunctional designs and enhanced performance, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022).
-
Assessment of nacre-like ceramics in replacement to Ni superalloys in aircraft’s engines, Sustainable Materials and Technology (2022).
-
3D printing towards a sustainable future, Accounts of Materials Research (2020).
Research focus areas
Water-based additive manufacturing of composites and ceramics.
Selected publications under this thematic area:
-
Continuous 3D printing of microstructured multifunctional materials, Additive manufacturing (2023).
-
Magnetically assisted drop-on-demand 3D printing of microstructured multimaterial composites, Nature Communications (2022).
-
Fabrication of microstructured calcium phosphate ceramics scaffolds by material extrusion-based 3D printing approach, International journal of bioprinting (2022).
-
Processing of dense bio-inspired ceramics with deliberate microtexture, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. (2019).
-
External fields for the fabrication of highly mineralized hierarchical architectures, J. Mater. Res. (2019).
Bio-inspired microstructured composites and ceramics.
Selected publications under this thematic area:
-
Izod impact resistance of 3D printed discontinuous fibrous composites with Bouligand microstructure, NPG Asia Materials (2023).
-
Ultrafast high-temperature sintering of textured alumina, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2022).
-
Energy dissipation in hybrid nacre-like helicoidal microstructures, Composites Part B (2022).
-
Porous textured ceramics with controlled grain size and orientation, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2021).
-
Magnetic assisted slip casting for dense and textured ceramics: a review of current achievements and issues,
J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2021). -
Bioinspired approaches to toughen calcium phosphate-based ceramics for bone repair, JMBBM (2020).
High performance multifunctional materials.
Selected publications under this thematic area:
-
Thermal rectification in modularly designed bulk metamaterials, Advanced materials (2023).
-
Microstructured BN composites with internally designed high thermal conductivity paths for 3D electronic packaging,
Advanced materials (2022). -
Plant-inspired multi stimuli and multi temporal morphing composites, Bioinspiration and Biomimetics (2022).
-
Programmable multistability for 3D printed reinforced multifunctional composites with reversible shape change,
Compo. Sci. Tech. (2022). -
3D assembly of graphene nanomaterials for advanced electronics, Advanced Intelligent Systems (2020).
-
Filtered mechanosensing using snapping composites with embedded mechano-electrical transduction, ACS Nano (2019).
Biodegradable and natural composites.
Selected publications under this thematic area:
-
3D printing of mycelium engineered living materials using a waste-based ink and non-sterile conditions, Materials & Design (2023).
-
Woodpile structural designs to increase the stiffness of mycelium-bound composites, Materials & Design (2023).
-
Temporal characterization of biocycles of mycelium-bound composites made from bamboo and Pleurotus ostreatus for indoor usage, Scientific Reports (2022).
-
Bioinspired self-shaping clay composites for sustainable development, Biomimetics (2022).
-
Effects of common foods on the mycelium growth of G. lucidum and P. ostreatus on solid substrates, PLOS One (2021)
-
Development of an extrudable paste to build mycelium-bound composites, Materials & Design (2020).
Facilities
Some of the facilities and technologies we use in our lab:
We also make use of MAE shared facilities, MSE inorganic and organic shared laboratories, the electron microscopy and XRD centre of FACTS-NTU, and the 3D printers and scanners of SC3DP.
Collaborations
Prof. Dirk Hebel, Dr. Nazanin Saeidi, Faculty of Architecture, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
Prof. Benjamin Dillenburger, Prof. Philippe Bloch, Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Prof. Huajian Gao, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NTU, Singapore
Prof. Gan Chee Lip, Dr. Zehui Du, School of Materials Science and Engineering, NTU, Singapore
Asst Prof. Yifan Wang, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, NTU, Singapore
Asst. Prof. Ibrahim Yeter, National Institute of Education (NIE), NTU, Singapore
Prof. Ming Son Pham, Prof. Florian Bouville, Imperial College London, UK
Our research is funded by:
Funding
