Jiexian Ma | Postdoctoral Researcher

About me

Welcome to my personal website. I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia.

My work primarily focuses on the intersection of advanced manufacturing and material science, with a particular emphasis on developing soft composite materials and exploring their applications in soft electronics and sensors. My expertise spans design, prototyping, manufacturing, materials characterization, testing, and programming.

Email: jma80@binghamton.edu

Links: Google Scholar | LinkedIn

Education

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering
State University of New York at Binghamton (2025)

Dissertation: Multifunctional liquid metal fiber composites enabled by electric field-assisted manufacturing
M.S. in Civil Engineering
South China University of Technology (2018)

Thesis: X-ray CT-based internal structure characterization and finite element modeling of asphalt concrete
B.S. in Civil Engineering
South China University of Technology (2011)

Research

My research bridges mechanical engineering and material science.

Soft Functional Composites

Synthesizing and characterizing soft composites; utilizing liquid metal (such as EGaIn and Galinstan) embedded in polymer matrices to achieve highly stretchable and conductive materials.

Liquid Metals

Exploring the unique properties and processing of liquid metals with a melting point near room temperature, such as their electrochemical oxidation and supercooling behaviour.

Advanced Manufacturing

Developing novel fabrication techniques to realize complex composite structures. Methods include EHD 3D printing, coaxial electrospinning, microfluidic wet spinning, and micromolding .

Wearable & Soft Electronics

Designing and fabricating soft sensors, smart patches, and stretchable electronic components for advanced human-machine interaction and healthcare monitoring.

Computational Modeling & Mesh Generation

Developing custom programming tools to generate finite element mesh from 2D or 3D image data, bridging the gap between physical material and computational simulation.

X-ray CT Characterization & 3D Image Processing

Utilizing non-destructive X-ray CT and image-based analysis to characterize the microstructure of materials and investigate the failure mechanism

Publications

1. Ma, J., Chen, X., Ye, S., Zhou, G., & Zhang, P. (2026). "From soft to stiff: nanoparticle jamming governs the interfacial behavior of liquid metals under electrochemical oxidation." Langmuir. [DOI]
2. Rahman, A., Madadi, M., Ma, J., & Zhang, P. (2025). "Overcoming conductivity–stretchability trade-off in soft conductive composites through liquid metal junctions." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17(38), 53988–54001. [DOI]
3. Ma, J., Liu, Z., & Zhang, P. (2025). "Precisely patterning liquid metal microfibers through electrohydrodynamic printing for soft conductive composites and electronics." Advanced Materials, 37(38), 2507646. [DOI]
4. Liu, Z., Ma, J., & Zhang, P. (2025). "Fabrication of stretchable and conductive liquid metal microfibers through coaxial emulsion electrospinning." Advanced Engineering Materials, 2402263. [DOI]
5. Ma, J., Liu, Z., Nguyen, Q., & Zhang, P. (2024). "Lightweight soft conductive composites embedded with liquid metal fiber networks." Advanced Functional Materials, 34(31), 2308128. [DOI]
6. Nguyen, Q., Ma, J., & Zhang, P. (2023). "Liquid metal-filled phase change composites with tunable stiffness: computational modeling and experiment." Mechanics of Materials, 183, 104702. [DOI]
7. Ma, J., & Zhang, P. (2021). "Supercooling suppression of phase change liquid metal–polydimethylsiloxane soft composites." Materials Advances, 2(22), 7437-7444. [DOI]
8. Hu, C., Ma, J., & Kutay, M. E. (2017). "Three dimensional digital sieving of asphalt mixture based on X-ray computed tomography." Applied Sciences, 7(7), 734. [DOI]
9. Hu, C., Ma, J., Zhao, J., Leng, Z., & Jelagin, D. (2017). "Experimental study of dowel bar alternatives based on similarity model test." Advances in Materials Science and Engineering, 3981908. [DOI]
10. Hu, C., Ma, J., Jiang, H., Chen, Z., & Zhao, J. (2017). "Evaluation of nano-TiO2 modified waterborne epoxy resin as fog seal and exhaust degradation material in asphalt pavement." Journal of Testing and Evaluation, 45(1), 260-267. [DOI]
11. Hu, C., Ma, J., Yu, Y., & Luo, Y. (2016). "Optimal design on dowel length for cement concrete pavement." Journal of Pavement Research and Technology, 9(6), 414-423. [DOI]