Xianyang Bao

Postdoc at Suo Group, Harvard SEAS

[MWM_Tan @MWM_Tan]

Preserving long rubber chains unlocks performance that conventional processing compromises!
In our latest @PNASNews paper, we show that avoiding mastication shifts silica-reinforced rubber into a regime of toughness and stiffness seldom observed.

[DickeyGroup @DickeyGroupNCSU]

Truly an honor (!) to co-organize a special issue in Chemical Reviews (@ACSPublications) on "Tough Gels" with two of my heroes @zhigangsuo and Prof. Gong. Excellent contributions from leaders in the field.

https://t.co/PfwFKuXXLz

#MyACSCover Cred: S. Lee

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@zhigangsuo 😊 I feel very lucky to work with you and learn from you. Your way of doing research has deeply influenced me, and I hope to pass it on to my students in the future.

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@zhigangsuo Thanks so much, Zhigang.

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@zhigangsuo People frequently use the words “affine deformation”. I need to go to learn what it really means.😂

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@zhigangsuo How can we understand that the equation still works well if a network has strands of polydispersity?

[Chenghai Li @ChenghaiLi3]

Our paper in celebration of Prof. Michael Rubinstein on his 70th birthday is online. Carbon black reinforced natural rubber is everywhere in daily life. Conventional high-intensity mixing processes cut long rubber chains and reduce the mechanical performance. Here, we demonstrate that preserving long rubber chains greatly amplifies toughness while maintaining modulus. Check out the paper for details. Great thanks to all coauthors! @MWM_Tan @XianyangB @GuodongNian @ykutsovsky @zhigangsuo

https://t.co/Nl4MV09Kp1

[MWM_Tan @MWM_Tan]

The MWM Lab at Nanyang Technological University, is recruiting PhD students interested in topology-designed polymers: exploring how polymer structure and network architecture control mechanical performance, durability, and circularity (recyclable & biodegradable systems).

[Zheqi Chen @ZheqiChen]

Our review paper is online!😀
https://t.co/UhVyfZiDvp
This review focuses on the thermodynamic framework for crack growth in polymer networks, experimental measurements of crack resistance, and how molecular design enable tough, durable soft materials.
Many thanks to @zhigangsuo

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

It was great fun to have you @MWM_Tan in the group. Thank you so much for bringing so much energy to everything you do. Best wishes for the new beginning.

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

My talk at MRS last week went well. The 30-minute talk imposed discipline. The talk stimulated good conversations.

Here are slides for the talk, with links to papers.
https://t.co/XQ1ZqSEhEZ

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@zhigangsuo @YU___ZHOU @zhigangsuo reminds us that the polymer chains of elastomer should be dense and closely packed, so that the chain friction is not negligible at high load rate.

[YU ZHOU @YU___ZHOU]

Our paper is online. We study how crosslink density affects viscoelasticity and crack growth in tanglemers, polymer networks in which entanglements outnumber crosslinks. https://t.co/qzOBkEYMrL
@zhigangsuo @XianyangB

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

Yours truly humbly moderated the Materials Panel.

All-star panelists:

Peidong Yang, Berkeley
Xuanhe Zhao, MIT
Kristin Persson, Berkeley
Zhenan Bao, Stanford

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

Often the aim of writing a paper is to formulate a hypothesis and test it.

In writing the paper, we are open minded about our hypothesis. But once a hypothesis has been formulated and tested, one should finish writhing the paper.

Leave any new hypothesis to another paper.

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

A report on our recent paper
New Tires Could End Up Ten Times Tougher With Harvard's Crack-Resistant Rubber
@GuodongNian @ZheqiChen @XianyangB @MWM_Tan @ykutsovsky
https://t.co/lDf449FqY1
https://t.co/lDf449FqY1

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

Slides for a talk titled "Tanglemers--Processes and Properties," with links to papers.
https://t.co/i9yeVLTym6

[Xianyang Bao @XianyangB]

@parresianz @zhigangsuo Thanks for your question. The dough is transparent and thin with a thickness of ~0.4 mm, both of which facilitate the UV polymerization. We try to flip the sample during UV and find no difference for samples. We have no idea how deep UV can penetrate the dough.

[Zhigang Suo @zhigangsuo]

Covalent bonds along a polymer chain are much stronger than noncovalent bonds between polymer chains.

In this paper in Nature Communications, we show that noncovalent bonds of intermediate strength enable high modulus, high toughness, but low hysteresis.https://t.co/oRF1bvnwn4