Dr. Mingchao ZHANG joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the National University of Singapore as an Assistant Professor. Prior to this, he received a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany. His research there focused on small-scale intelligent polymer materials and nano/microstructures. Dr. Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, where his research centered on the synthesis, characterization, and additive manufacturing of smart carbon nanomaterials. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Materials Chemistry from China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China. Dr. Zhang has authored more than 50 publications, including Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, PNAS, Advanced Materials, Matter, etc.
Research Interests
Our research group sits at the intersection of intelligent materials and advanced micro-/nanomanufacturing. We aim to develop programmable soft materials, micro/nanostructure fabrication approaches, and multiscale architected metastructures, and to advance both fundamental and translational research toward applications in soft robotics, micro/nanodevices, microfluidics, and intelligent systems.
Selected Publications:
- Lyu, X.; Lei, W.; Gardi, G.; Khan, M.; Bagheri, S.; Zhang, M.*; Sitt, M.* (2026) Optofluidic 3D microfabrication and nanofabrication. Nature, 650, 613-620.
- Zhang, M.; Pal, A.; Zheng, Z.; Gardi, G.; Yildiz, E.; Sitti, M.*, (2023) Hydrogel muscles powering reconfigurable micro-metastructures with wide-spectrum programmability. Nature Materials 22, 1243-1252.
- Zhang, M.; Pal, A.; Lyu, X.; Wu, Y.; Sitti, M.*, (2024) Artificial-goosebump-driven microactuation. Nature Materials, 23, 560-569.
- Zhang, M.*; Sitt, M.*, (2025) Shape-morphing of metastructures empowering locomotion. Nature Materials, 24, 12-13.
- Zhang, M.#; Lee, Y.#; Zheng, Z.; Khan. M.; Lyu, X.; Byun, J.; Giessen, H.; Sitti, M.*, (2023) Micro- and nanofabrication of dynamic hydrogels with multi-channel information. Nature Communications 14, 8208.
- Lyu, X.; Zheng, Z.; Shiva, A.; Han, M.; Dayan, C.; Zhang, M.*; Sitti, M.*, (2024) Capillary trapping of various nanomaterials on additively manufactured scaffolds for 3D micro-/nanofabrication. Nature Communications, 15, 6693.
- Zhang, M.; Guo, R.; Chen, K.; Wang, Y.; Niu, J.; Guo, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Yin, Z.; Xia, K.; Zhou, B.; Wang, H.; He, W.; Liu, J.; Sitti, M.; Zhang, Y.*, (2020) Microribbons composed of directionally self-assembled nanoflakes as highly stretchable ionic neural electrodes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (26), 14667-14675
- Zhang, M.#; Shahsavan, H.#; Guo, Y. #; Francesch, A.; Zhang, Y.; and Sitti, M.*, (2021) Liquid Crystal Elastomers Powering Reconfigurable Micro-Kirigami. Advanced Materials 33 (25), 2008605.
- Zhang, M.; Zhao, M.; Jian, M.; Wang, C.; Yu, A.; Yin, Z.; Liang, X.; Wang, H.; Xia, K.; Liang, X.; Zhai, J.*; Zhang, Y.* (2019) Printable smart pattern for multifunctional energy-management e-textile. Matter 1 (1), 168-179.
- Zhang, M.; Wang, Y.; Jian, M.; Wang, C.; Liang, X.; Niu, J.; Zhang, Y.*, (2020) Spontaneous Alignment of Graphene Oxide in Hydrogel during 3D Printing for Multistimuli-Responsive Actuation. Advanced Science 7 (6), 1903048.