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About

I am Wenjie Qian, a Ph.D. in Nano Science and Technology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. My research focuses on soft materials, interfacial mechanics, finite-element simulation, and micro-nano optical measurement. I am interested in understanding how wetting, adhesion, and deformation emerge in compliant materials and in translating those mechanisms into useful measurement and engineering approaches.

Contact

Wenjie Qian
Researcher in soft materials and interfacial mechanics
Email: wjqian@connect.ust.hk

Research

[1] Wetting, Phase Separation, and Adhesion in Soft Materials

Experimental and schematic views of a droplet on a soft gel, showing wetting-induced phase separation.
Figure from Qian et al., Physical Review Research 6, 033210 (2024), CC BY 4.0.

My work investigates wetting-induced phase separation in soft porous solids, soft adhesion, and the dynamics of liquid droplets on gradient surfaces. I am particularly interested in the coupling between polymer chains, interfacial structure, and the mechanical response of compliant materials.

Related work: Emergence and Growth Dynamics of Wetting-induced Phase Separation on Soft Solids.

[2] Dynamics and Material Characterisation

Growth curves and material-property relationships for phase separation on soft solids.
Figure from Qian et al., Physical Review Research 6, 033210 (2024), CC BY 4.0.

I combine in-situ imaging with mechanics-based modelling to quantify the time evolution of interfacial phase separation and relate it to gel composition and stiffness. My broader measurement work also includes interferometry, digital image correlation, speckle methods, and finite-element simulation for deformation, fracture, and interfacial bonding at small scales.

Related work: micro-scale DIC for polymer-coating fracture toughness and microscopy-lens distortion correction.

Selected Papers

  1. Qian W, Xu Y, Xu Q. Impact of extracted polymeric chains on soft adhesion. Under review by PRX, 2025.
  2. Zhao W#, Qian W#, Xu C, Xu Q. Spontaneous Motion of Liquid Droplets on Soft Gel Surfaces with Non-uniform Crosslinking Densities. Physics of Fluids, 37(4), 2025.
  3. Qian W, Zhao W, Qian T, et al. Emergence and Growth Dynamics of Wetting-induced Phase Separation on Soft Solids. Physical Review Research, 6, 033210, 2024.
  4. Qian W, Zhang H, Zhu J, et al. Determination of fracture toughness of polymer coating using micro-scale digital image correlation technique. Polymer Testing, 93, 106896, 2021.
  5. Qian W, Li J, Zhu J, et al. Distortion correction of a microscopy lens system for deformation measurements based on speckle pattern and grating. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 124, 105804, 2020.

Background

Education

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Ph.D. in Nano Science and Technology, 2021 - 2025

Jiangsu University
M.Sc. in Mechanics, 2017 - 2020

Qingdao University of Technology
B.Eng. in Civil Engineering, 2013 - 2017

Experience & Honors

Mechanical Simulation Engineer
TAMU Information Technology (Shanghai), Nanjing Branch, 2020 - 2021

HKUST Red Bird Scholarship (Top 5%) · National Scholarship for Graduate Students (Top 1%) · Outstanding Graduate and Thesis, Jiangsu University (Top 5%)

Patents

A biaxial residual-stress introduction device based on white-light interferometric surface topography measurement (ZL201910805036.X).

An interfacial bonding-strength testing device for polymer coatings (ZL201910800502.5).