Research Areas
Phase Change Materials, Shape Memory Alloys, Vanadium Dioxide, Smart Functional Materials,Thermal Management, Thermal Energy Harvesting & Storage, Thermochromic Smart Window
Education
- Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Technische Universit盲t Darmstadt, Germany (2012鈥�2017)
- M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science, China (2007鈥�2010)
- B.S. in Inorganic Nonmetallic Materials Engineering, Central South University, China (2003鈥�2007)
Publications
- N. Liu,* L. Saure, R. Sriramdas, K. Wang, A. Nozariasbmarz, Y. Zhang, F. Sch眉tt, R. Adelung, R. Baughman, S. Priya, W. Li,* B. Poudel,* 鈥淯nderwater Thermoacoustic Generation by a Hierarchical Tetrapodal Carbon Nanotube Networks鈥�, ACS Nano, 18, 8988鈥�8995 (2024)
- S. Singh,* N. Liu, Y. Zhang, A. Nozariasbmarz,* S. K, Karan, L. Raman, G.K. Goyal, S. Sharma, W. Li, S. Priya, B. Poudel,* 鈥淗igh-performance Thermomagnetic Gd-Si-Ge Alloys鈥�, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 15, 35140鈥�35148 (2023)
- Tom茅 Guenka, Reginald Hamilton, Christopher Greer, Sven Bil茅n, Na Liu, Bed Poudel, Alexander Rattner, Ryan Overdorff, Bilal Bomani, William Sixel, 鈥淎dditive Manufacturing and Experimental Characterization of Nickel-Titanium Shape-Memory Alloy Wick Structures and Heat Pipes for Spacecraft Thermal Control鈥�, Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop (2024)
- N. Liu, M. Acosta, S. Wang, B. Xu, R. W. Stark, C. Dietz, 鈥淩evealing the core-shell interactions of a giant strain relaxor ferroelectric 0.75Bi1/2Na1/2TiO3鈥�0.25SrTiO3鈥�, Scientific Reports, 6, 36910 (2016)
- N. Liu, R. Dittmer, R. W. Stark,* C. Dietz,* 鈥淰isualization of polar nanoregions in lead-free relaxors via piezoresponse force microscopy in torsional dual AC resonance tracking mode鈥�, Nanoscale, 7, 11789鈥�11796 (2015)
- R. Amaral, N. Liu, B. Poudel, W. Li, Z. Liu, 鈥淎b-initio CALPHAD modeling of NaNH2BH3 for solid-state H2 storage applications鈥�, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 166, 150807 (2025)
Funding
Current Grants
- 2025-2026 COSM Collaborative Grant Initiative, 鈥淢icrostructure-Engineered VO2 for Advanced Thermochromic Smart Windows鈥� PI
Previous Grants
- MRI Seed Grant-Penn State, 鈥淭owards Green Ironmaking: Unravel the Nanostructural Origins of the Rate-limiting Steps in the Hydrogen-based Reduction of Iron Ore鈥�, Co-PI
- IEE Seed Grant-Penn State, 鈥淎dditive Manufacturing of Elastocaloric Cooling Shape Memory Alloy: From Materials and Device Fabrication to System-level Analysis for High-Performance Buildings鈥�, Co-PI
Research Projects
Vanadium Dioxide for Thermal Control
Engineering vanadium dioxide鈥揵ased phase change materials via doping and microstructural design to tailor transformation temperatures and reduce hysteresis for adaptive thermal management in defense and aerospace applications.
Vanadium Dioxide for Smart Windows
Development of microstructure-engineered and doped vanadium dioxide thin films with enhanced visible transparency and solar modulation to create energy-efficient thermochromic smart windows for sustainable building applications.
High-Temperature Shape Memory Alloys
Design and development of high-temperature shape memory alloys through compositional tuning and advanced processing to achieve stable phase transformations and high recoverable strain for aerospace actuation and thermal energy conversion systems.
News
Research Group
Undergraduate Students
New group-Looking for the motivated students to join
Graduate Students
New group-Looking for the motivated students to join.
Postdocs
New group-Looking for the motivated students to join.