About

Zhenhua Tian is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, where he has been serving since 2022. His research interests include acoustics, biomaterials, imaging, nanomaterials, robotics, smart materials, vibration research, and structural health monitoring. His work involves the development and application of acoustic tweezers for manipulating cells and particles, assembling nanomaterials, and bioprinting, as well as acoustofluidics for analyzing bioparticle properties, enriching bioparticles, and delivering DNA and nanomaterials into cells. He also focuses on the design and utilization of acoustic, mechanical, and piezoelectric metamaterials, ultrasonic phased arrays, laser ultrasonics, and focused ultrasound technologies. Prior to his current position, Tian was an Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University in the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2019 to 2022, and he completed postdoctoral research at Duke University and the University of South Carolina. His educational background includes a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor's degree from North China Electric and Power University. Tian has received several awards, including the 2025 Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the 2025 Achenbach Medal, and the 2024 NSF CAREER Award. His research contributions are documented on Google Scholar, and he is actively involved in advancing the fields related to acoustics and functional materials.

Research topics

• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Physics
• Acoustics
• Computer Science
• Optics
• Engineering
• Biological system
• Biology
• Mechanics
• Biomedical engineering
• Optoelectronics

Selected publications

• Noncontact pulsed laser-scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (PL-SLDV) phased array imaging for damage detection in composites

  Ultrasonics · 2025-08-06

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Topological valley phononic crystals in surface acoustic wave microfluidics

  The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2025-04-01

  article

  Recent years have witnessed the surge of topological wave phenomena as a versatile platform to engineer exotic wave energy transport which is robust to defects and disorders. Most demonstrations in acoustics remain in a single phase of matter such as solid or air. Here, we introduce the realization of valley phononic crystals for surface acoustic waves and their interaction with fluids in an acoustofluidic setup. It is shown that the interplay between megahertz elastic waves and hydrodynamics where two phases of materials are involved offers rich physics and new engineering potentials of topological matter. By electroplating hexagonal copper pillars on a lithium niobate substrate and adding a liquid layer on top of it, the excited elastic valley spin is transferred at the interface of solid-fluid domains. The interactions lead to valley streaming vortices in the fluid domain that support backward-immune particle transport. In addition, it is found that pressure wells are formed around the small pillars, which enable the concentration of DNA molecules in the nm size range. The studies may open new avenues for applying topological acoustic waves in particle manipulation and life sciences.

  PublisherDOI

• Topological acoustofluidics

  Nature Materials · 2025-03-21 · 35 citations

  articleOpen access

  The complex interaction of spin, valley and lattice degrees of freedom allows natural materials to create exotic topological phenomena. The interplay between topological wave materials and hydrodynamics could offer promising opportunities for visualizing topological physics and manipulating bioparticle unconventionally. Here we present topological acoustofluidic chips to illustrate the complex interaction between elastic valley spin and nonlinear fluid dynamics. We created valley streaming vortices and chiral swirling patterns for backward-immune particle transport. Using tracer particles, we observed arrays of clockwise and anticlockwise valley vortices due to an increase in elastic spin density. Moreover, we discovered exotic topological pressure wells in fluids, creating nanoscale trapping fields for manipulating DNA molecules. We also found a 93.2% modulation in the bandwidth of edge states, dependent on the orientation of the substrate's crystallographic structure. Our study sets the stage for uncovering topological acoustofluidic phenomena and visualizing elastic valley spin, revealing the potential for topological-material applications in life sciences.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Robots With Acoustic Vortex End Effectors for Contactless Manipulation of Objects Within Phantom Channels With Real-Time Ultrasound Imaging Guidance

  2025-08-17

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Leveraging robot-assisted technology to manipulate tiny objects has shown significant potential in the fields of engineering, chemistry, and biology. However, achieving high-resolution, non-invasive manipulation of objects shielded by biological barriers remains a major challenge. In this work, we present a robot-assisted acoustic vortex end effector system capable of generating acoustic vortex beams for contactless manipulation of small objects. First, instead of generating a fixed acoustic vortex beam, our acoustic end effector can tune the chirality of the vortex beam by adjusting the topological charge number encoded in the holographic lens, allowing for customization of the size of the corresponding potential well to accommodate various sizes of trapped particle. Second, by leveraging acoustic vortex beams as a non-invasive manipulator, we successfully achieved acoustic manipulation through biomimetic barriers. In a proof-of-concept experiment, we demonstrated the high-resolution contactless acoustic manipulation of a plastic ball (3 mm diameter) within a straight phantom mimic-vessel. Third, by combining the acoustic vortex end effector with a real time ultrasound imaging system, our approach enables continuous, real-time monitoring of the entire acoustic manipulation process. This integration paves the way for acoustic trapping and manipulation in non-transparent environments. Overall, our research demonstrates the advantages of acoustic manipulation technologies in biomedical and clinical applications, offering a biocompatible solution for medical interventions in the future.

  PublisherDOI

• Two Birds with One Stone Strategy: Simultaneous Removal of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) Efficiently by Porous ZnIn₂S₄/SBA-15 Nanorods

  ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · 2025-02-17 · 8 citations

  article

  Carcinogen Cr(VI) is reduced efficiently into Cr(III) by a photocatalyst, but the produced Cr(III) is difficult to transfer from the photocatalytic active site. The “two birds with one stone” strategy is proposed to realize the in situ growth of ZnIn2S4 nanoplates on SBA-15 and the creation of separated active sites, in which ZnO loading on the porous SBA-15 nanorod was used as a zinc source. Obtained samples ZnIn2S4/SBA-15 (ZIS/SBA) showed the redshift of the absorption band and better separation of photoinduced carriers than pristine ZnIn2S4, due to its smaller size and S defect. All of the Cr(VI) was reduced to Cr(III) by the ZIS/SBA sample during the photocatalytic process, which was 2 times higher than pristine ZnIn2S4. Moreover, 92.8% of Cr(III) was adsorbed simultaneously during photocatalysis due to the electrostatic interaction from SBA-15. In addition, the ZIS/SBA sample showed good recycling stability after 5 times cycles, providing a new strategy for the in situ growth of ZnIn2S4 on the surface of porous materials and a novel way for the simultaneous removal of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) during photocatalysis.

  PublisherDOI

• In-Petri-dish traveling and standing acoustic wave-assisted fabrication of anisotropic collagen hydrogels

  Materials Advances · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Anisotropic biomaterials containing oriented collagen fibers have shown great potential for various biomedical research areas, such as wound dressing, corneal grafting, and the study of cancer cell invasion in biomimetic microenvironments. To fabricate such anisotropic biomaterials, previous studies have used electric, microfluidic, magnetic, and mechanical methods to align collagen fibers during the fabrication process. In this study, we put forward traveling and standing acoustic wave-based approaches that enable the rapid in-Petri-dish fabrication of anisotropic biomaterials containing acoustically arranged collagen fibers. To develop these approaches, we investigated the effects of traveling and standing acoustic waves on collagen self-assembly and the micro/nanoscale architectures of the fabricated collagen-based biomaterials. Our results reveal that traveling acoustic wave-induced fluid streaming can transport collagen molecules, thereby influencing the collagen self-assembly process, while standing acoustic waves can accumulate self-assembled collagen fibers, increasing their concentrations in acoustic potential valleys periodically distributed. Using our acoustics-assisted approach, we successfully manufactured anisotropic collagen hydrogels containing aligned collagen fibers, which provide anisotropic microenvironments for cell growth and development. Notably, we demonstrated the functionality of these fabricated anisotropic collagen hydrogels in facilitating cell elongation along the acoustically aligned collagen fibers. Compared to previous methods, our acoustics-based approaches are easy to operate without requiring customized chambers for loading collagen and are capable of rapidly fabricating anisotropic collagen hydrogels directly in commercial Petri dishes, thus allowing our approaches to be readily integrated into existing laboratory workflows and combined with other test protocols. In the long run, we expect this work to inspire the development of useful tools that will benefit biomedical researchers working in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, and bioprinting.

  PublisherDOI

• Recent advances of techniques for mycotoxins analysis based on nanomaterials in food and herbal medicine: From design to applications

  Food Control · 2025-07-30 · 3 citations

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Transnational Higher Education in the Shifting International Context: A Scoping Review of Confucius Institutes Worldwide

  Journal of Educational Research and Review · 2025-09-11

  reviewOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Since the inception of the inaugural Confucius Institute (CI) in Seoul in 2004, China has swiftly broadened this project as a means of transnational higher education to advance the global dissemination of Chinese language and culture. This swift growth has drawn increasing scrutiny To systematically examine how Cis function across different international contexts, this study conducted a scoping review of 104 peer-reviewed articles published between 2004 and 2021. The findings reveal three clear trends: (1) research clusters in North America, Europe, and East Asia mirror both the rapid growth of Confucius Institutes and the intensity of the debates surrounding them; (2) scholarly attention has shifted: early studies emphasized educational partnerships and cultural exchange, whereas recent work zeroes in on academic freedom, national security, and international rivalry; (3) soft power has emerged as the dominant theoretical lens, framing Chinese educational outreach as a strategic endeavour and situating host-country responses within the broader dynamics of international relations. This study contributes valuable insights for scholars, educators, and policymakers navigating the increasingly contentious landscape of cross-border academic collaboration.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Oscillating microbubble array–based metamaterials (OMAMs) for rapid isolation of high-purity exosomes

  Science Advances · 2025-04-16 · 13 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Exosomes secreted by cells hold substantial potential for disease diagnosis and treatment. However, the rapid isolation of high-purity exosomes and their subpopulations from biofluids (e.g., undiluted whole blood) remains challenging. This study presents oscillating microbubble array-based metamaterials (OMAMs) for enabling the rapid isolation of high-purity exosomes and their subpopulations from biofluids without labeling or preprocessing. Particularly, leveraging acoustically excited microbubble oscillation, OMAMs can generate numerous acoustofluidic traps for filtering in-fluid micro/nanoparticles, thus allowing for removing bioparticles larger than exosomes to obtain high-purity (93%) exosomes from undiluted whole blood in ~3 minutes. Moreover, exosome subpopulations in different size ranges can be isolated by tuning the microbubble oscillation amplitude. Additionally, as each oscillating microbubble functions as an ultradeep subwavelength (~λ/186) acoustic amplifier and a nonlinear source, OMAMs can generate high-resolution complex acoustic energy patterns and tune the patterns by activating different-sized microbubbles at their distinct resonance frequencies.

  PublisherDOI

• Design and Characteristic Research of Hydraulic Power Generation Module for Compact Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion System

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Collaborative Research: Acoustic Holography Enabled Additive Manufacturing of High-resolution Multifunctional Composites

  NSF · $260k · 2021–2022

• Development of a multifunctional, acoustofluidic 3D bioprinter with single-cell resolution

  NIH · $1.8M · 2022–2026

• Collaborative Research: Acoustic Holography Enabled Additive Manufacturing of High-resolution Multifunctional Composites

  NSF · $217k · 2022–2026

• CAREER: Acoustic Vortex Robots for Contactless 6-Degrees-of-Freedom Object Manipulation

  NSF · $650k · 2024–2029

Frequent coauthors

• Tony Jun Huang

  Duke University

  72 shared

• Shujie Yang

  Duke University

  48 shared

• Lingyu Yu

  University of South Carolina

  47 shared

• Hunter Bachman

  43 shared

• Po‐Hsun Huang

  Taipei Veterans General Hospital

  38 shared

• Luna Liu

  36 shared

• Qingbo Guan

  Shandong University

  36 shared

• Chunxiao Yu

  Shandong Provincial Hospital

  36 shared

Education

• PhD, Department of Mechanical Engineering

  University of South Carolina

  2015

Awards & honors

• 2025 Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering, American Society…
• 2025 Achenbach Medal
• 2024: National Science Foundation CAREER Award
• 2024: Dean's Awards for Excellence: Outstanding New Assistan…