Biography

Weinan Xu is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He obtained his PhD degree in materials science and engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and did postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. He then started his independent career in the School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron before moving to the University of Tennessee.

His current research focuses on the development of sustainable/functional polymer composites and their advanced manufacturing, with applications in energy, electronics, and biomedicine. He has been recognized with several awards, including the DARPA Young Faculty Award, Polymer Processing Society Early Career Award, NSF LEAP award, and Best PhD Thesis Award from Sigma Xi and Georgia Tech.

Education

• PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015

Professional Service

• Member: TMRS, AICHE, ACS

Awards & Recognitions

• Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Early Investigator Award, 2025
• DARPA Young Faculty Award, 2023
• Polymer Processing Society Early Career Award, 2022
• NSF LEAP Award, 2022
• Emerging Investigator Awards (by journals including JMC A, Chem. Comm., Soft Matter, Nanoscale, MRS Commun.)
• Best PhD Thesis Award, Sigma Xi and Georgia Tech, 2016

Research Publications

Select research publications are found below. A full list of publications is available on Google Scholar.

1. Yang, M.; Deng, L.; Liu, S.; Xu, W. Sustainable Hierarchical Biocomposites with Exceptional Thermal Conductivity Based on Programmable Microbial Biosynthesis. Matter 2026, DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2026.102806.
2. Yang, M.; Bu, J.; Liu, M.; Dalal, P.; Xu, W. Concurrent Selective Laser Sintering and Graphitization of Polyimide Microparticles into Functional and Flexible 3D Structures for Energy Storage and Sensing. Mater. Horiz. 2026, 13, 5106–5117.
3. Liu, X.; Shen, N.; Bu, J.; Yang, M.; Guan, X.; Xu, W. Sustainable Thermoplastic Elastomers-Based Nanocomposites and Their 3D Printing for Flexible and Stretchable Sensors. 2025, J. Mater. Chem. A DOI: 10.1039/D5TA04676A.
4. Yang, M.; Shen, N.; Bu, J.; Shan, L.; Xu, W. Design and Additive Manufacturing of Polyethylene-Based Hybrid Functional Structures by Selective Laser Sintering. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2024, 2400890.
5. Liu, S.; Yang, M.; Barton, H.; Xu, W. Designed Microbial Biosynthesis of Hierarchical Bone-Mimetic Biocomposites in 3D Printed Soft Bioreactors. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2024, 16, 5513–5521.
6. Tsai, C.; Shen, N.; Mi, C.; Bu, J.; Dong, Y.; Xu, W. Designed polymer ligands for perovskite quantum dots and their block copolymer nanocomposites. Adv. Opt. Mater. 2023, 2302731.
7. Bu, J.; Shen, N.; Qin, Z.; Xu, W. Integration of Low Melting Point Alloys and Thermoplastic Elastomers for 3D Printing of Multifunctional Composites. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2023, 4, 101604.