Ruobing Bai

About

Ruobing Bai is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University. He received his BS in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at Peking University in 2012, and PhD in Engineering Sciences at Harvard University in 2018. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at California Institute of Technology from 2018 to 2020. He is the recipient of the Chun-Tsung Scholar in Peking University, the Haythornthwaite Research Initiation Award from the Applied Mechanics Division of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and the Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML) Young Investigator Award. He currently serves as a member of the Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML) Early Career Advisory Board, Editor of the iMechanica Journal Club, and Editor of the ASME “Mechanics of Soft Materials” technical committee. Research in the Bai group combines theory and experiment in solid mechanics, materials science, and other multiphysical processes in areas including but not limited to multifunctional materials, fracture, adhesion, strengthening and toughening, sustainable materials, soft robotics, human-machine interfaces, and energy storage systems.

Selected Publications

• Y. Wang, Z. Wei, T. Ji, R. Bai, H. Zhu, “Highly Ionic Conductive, Stretchable, and Tough Ionogel for Flexible Solid‐State Supercapacitor”. Small, 2023.
• D. Cao, T. Ji, Z. Wei, W. Liang, R. Bai, K. S. Burch, M. Geiwitz, H. Zhu, “Enhancing Lithium Stripping Efficiency in Anode-Free Solid-State Batteries through Self-Regulated Internal Pressure”. Nano Letters, 2023.
• Z. Wei, P. Wang, R. Bai, “Thermomechanical Coupling in Polydomain Liquid Crystal Elastomers”. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 2023.
• Y. Xiao, Q. Li, X. Yao, R. Bai, W. Hong, C. Yang, “Fatigue of Amorphous Hydrogels with Dynamic Covalent Bonds”. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2022.
• Z. Wei, R. Bai, “Temperature-Modulated Photomechanical Actuation of Photoactive Liquid Crystal Elastomers”. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2022.
• R. Bai, E. Ocegueda, K. Bhattacharya, “Photochemical-Induced Phase Transitions in Photoactive Semicrystalline Polymers”. Physical Review E, 2021.
• M. Hua, C. Kim, Y. Du, D. Wu, R. Bai, X. He, “Swaying Gel: Chemo-mechanical Self-Oscillation Based on Dynamic Buckling”. Matter, 2021.
• R. Bai, Y. S. Teh, K. Bhattacharya, “Collective Behavior in the Kinetics and Equilibrium of Solid-State Photoreaction”. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2021.
• R. Bai, K. Bhattacharya, “Photomechanical Coupling in Photoactive Nematic Elastomers”. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2020.
• J. Yang, J. Steck, R. Bai, Z. Suo, “Topological Adhesion II. Stretchable Adhesion”. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2020.
• B. Chen, J. Yang, R. Bai, Z. Suo, “Molecular Staples for Tough and Stretchable Adhesion in Integrated Soft Materials”. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2019.
• J. Yang, R. Bai, J. Li, C. Yang, X. Yao, Q. Liu, J. Vlassak, D. J. Mooney, Z. Suo, “Design Molecular Topology for Wet-Dry Adhesion”. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019.
• J. Yang, R. Bai, B. Chen, Z. Suo, “Hydrogel Adhesion: A Supramolecular Synergy of Chemistry, Topology, and Mechanics”. Advanced Functional Materials, 2019.
• R. Bai, J. Yang, X. P. Morelle, Z. Suo, “Flaw-Insensitive Hydrogels under Static and Cyclic Loads”. Macromolecular Rapid Communications, 2019.
• R. Bai, B. Chen, J. Yang, Z. Suo, “Tearing a Hydrogel of Complex Rheology”. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 2019.
• R. Bai, J. Yang, Z. Suo, “Fatigue of Hydrogels”. European Journal of Mechanics – A/Solids, 2019.
• M. Sun, R. Bai, X. Yang, J. Song, Z. Suo, X. He, “Hydrogel Interferometry for Ultrasensitive and Highly Selective Chemical Detection”. Advanced Materials, 2018.
• X. P. Morelle, W. R. Illeperuma, K. Tian, R. Bai, Z. Suo, J. Vlassak, “Highly Stretchable and Tough Hydrogels Below Water Freezing Temperature”. Advanced Materials, 2018.
• Z. Wang, J. Tang, R. Bai, W. Zhang, T. Lian, T. Lu, T. Wang, “A Phenomenological Model for Shakedown of Tough Hydrogels under Cyclic Loads”. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 2018.
• J. Yang, R. Bai, Z. Suo, “Topological Adhesion of Wet Materials”. Advanced Materials, 2018.
• E. Zhang, R. Bai, X. P. Morelle, Z. Suo, “Fatigue Fracture of Nearly Elastic Hydrogels”. Soft Matter, 2018.
• M. Qin, M. Sun, R. Bai, Y. Mao, X. Qian, D. Sikka, Y. Zhao, H. J. Qi, Z. Suo, X. He, “Bioinspired Hydrogel Interferometer for Adaptive Coloration and Chemical Sensing”. Advanced Materials, 2018.
• R. Bai, J. Yang, X. P. Morelle, C. Yang, Z. Suo, “Fatigue Fracture of Self-Recovery Hydrogels”. ACS Macro Letters, 2018.
• X. P. Morelle, R. Bai, Z. Suo, “Localized Deformation in Plastic Liquids on Elastomers”. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 2017.
• R. Bai, Q. Yang, J. Tang, X. P. Morelle, J. Vlassak, Z. Suo, “Fatigue Fracture of Tough Hydrogels”. Extreme Mechanics Letters, 2017.

Faculty

Nov 18, 2022

Bai Receives EML Young Investigator Award

MIE Assistant Professor Ruobing Bai is a recipient of the 2022 Extreme Mechanics Letters (EML) Young Investigator Award for his paper “Temperature-modulated photomechanical actuation of photoactive liquid crystal elastomers.”

Faculty

Oct 11, 2022

Bai and Zhu Awarded Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Grants

MIE Assistant Professors Ruobing Bai and Juner Zhu were awarded the 2022 Haythornthwaite Foundation Research Initiation Grant from the Applied Mechanics Division of the ASME. The intent of the grant, which supports research in the field of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, is to assist with the purchase of equipment or instrumentation, fabrication of a unique […]

Faculty

Jan 18, 2022

Understanding the Mechanics of Mesoscale Photomechanical Coupling

MIE Assistant Professor Ruobing Bai was awarded a $340K NSF grant for “Mesoscale Photomechanical Coupling in Photoactive Liquid Crystal Elastomers.”

Faculty

Jan 08, 2021

New Faculty Spotlight: Ruobing Bai

Ruobing Bai joins the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department in January 2021 as an Assistant Professor.

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