Our research asks how simple mechanical principles give rise to the rich behaviors of thin solids, soft materials, and interfaces. We study how elasticity, adhesion, capillarity, friction, and geometry work together to control deformation, instability, failure, evolution, and functionality. Through a combination of theory, computation, and experiments, we aim to uncover connections between seemingly different phenomena across scales—from atomically thin materials and nanoscale interfaces to soft films and architected structures. The themes below highlight several directions currently explored in our group.

How thin films deform and fail?

Thin-film mechanics, indentation, foundations, fracture, dielectric/mechanical failure

  1. H. Lu and Z. Dai*. Deep indentation of soft thin films beyond the 10% rule. Physical Review Letters 137, 036201 (2026)

  2. B. Wang, C. Yu, Y. Jiang, C. Tian, J. Tian, S. Li, Z. Fang, M. Li, W. Wu, Z. Dai, T. Taniguchi, K. Watanabe, Q. Chen, X. Wei*. Dielectric Strength Weakening of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanosheets under Mechanical Stress. Nature Communications 16, 8078 (2025)

  3. Q. Wu, J. Pei, E. Chen, X. Yuan, Y. Wu, R. Shi, Y. Li, T. Zhang, W. Su, J. Li, X. Sun, H. Hu, Y. Tang, Z. Dai, K. Liu*, S. Zhu*, Y. Gao*. Twist-angle dependence of the out-of-plane elasticity in bilayer MoS2. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 214, 106680 (2026)

  4. B. Wang, J. Li, Z. Fang, Y. Jiang, S. Li, F. Zhan, Z. Dai, Q. Chen*, X. Wei*. Large and pressure-dependent c-axis piezoresistivity of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite near zero pressure. Nano Letters 24, 4965–4971 (2024)

  5. C. Yu and Z. Dai*. Premature jump-to-contact with elastic surfaces. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 193, 105919 (2024)

How thin films evolve?

Solid-state dewetting, capillary instability, mass transport, thermal stability of ultrathin metals

  1. W. Wang, J. Wang, G. Wang, Z. Yan, C. Jiang, S. Zhou, C. Yu, J. Chen, K. Zheng, T. Salez, X. Wei, Z. Dai*. Van der Waals epitaxy suppresses thermal rupture in ultrathin metals. Nature Communications (2026)

  2. S. Gupta, B. Bhatt, Z. Dai*, K. Khare*. How Slippery Surfaces Retain Their Function: Lubricant Film Dynamics upon Droplet Contact. Small 22, 38, e73895 (2026)

  3. Z. Dai and D. Vella*. Droplets on Lubricant Infused Surfaces: The slow dynamics of skirt formation. Physical Review Fluids 7, 054003 (2022)

How thin solids adhere and detach?

Adhesion, peeling, pull-off, stiction, blistering, vdW interactions

  1. C. Yu, W. Zeng, Z. Kou, W. Wang, L. Wang, Q. Li, X. Liu, and Z. Dai*. Transparency of graphene to solid-solid van der Waals interactions. Physical Review Letters 135, 156202 (2025)

  2. W. Zheng and Z. Dai*. Universal pull-off force for separating a rigid sphere from a membrane. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 201, 106163 (2025)

  3. C. Yu, W. Zeng, B. Wang, X. Cui, Z. Gao, J. Yin, L. Liu, X. Wei, Y. Wei, and Z. Dai*. Stiffer is stickier: Adhesion in elastic nanofilms. Nano Letters 25, 5, 1876–1882 (2025)

  4. W. Zeng, Z. Dai*, and Y. Wei*. Adhesion of elastic membranes Part I: A generalized Tabor parameter. Proceedings of the Royal Society A 482 (2330), 20250932 (2026)

  5. J. Cao, Z. Dai*, C. Yu, W. Wang, X. Wei, and Y. Wei*. Fracture mechanics of 2D crystal blisters with irregular geometry. Advanced Functional Materials 36, 1, e09438 (2026)

How thin solids bend, stretch, and wrinkle?

Wrinkling, buckling, tents, blisters, snap-through, geometric instabilities

  1. X. Shen, Z. Dai, Y. Wei*. Peeling and snap-through instability of multilayer 2D blisters with dual interfacial slips. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 218, 106842 (2026)

  2. H. Qian†, J Wang*†, Z. Dai†, Y. Guo, K. Liu, X. Li, M. Hu, Y. Yu, J. Wang, Y. Lai, K. Ren, J. Ji*. Pressure-driven micro-injection (PMI) of porous-coated balloon for ultrafast endoluminal drug delivery across biological barriers. Science Advances 11, eadv1182 (2025)

  3. Z. Dai*, N. Lu*. Poking and bulging of suspended thin sheets: slippage, instabilities, and metrology. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 149, 104320 (2021)

  4. Z. Dai, D. Sanchez, C. J. Brennan, N. Lu*. Radial Buckle Delamination Around Two-Dimensional Material Tents. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 137, 103843 (2020)

  5. G. Wang†, Z. Dai†, J. Xiao†, S. Feng, C. Weng, L. Liu*, Z. Xu*, R. Huang*, Z. Zhang*. Bending of multilayer van der Waals materials. Physical Review Letters 123, 116101 (2019)

How 2D materials sticks to substrates?

Wetting, Adhesion, Friction, Delamination, Lubrication, Interface mechanics

  1. W. Dong, Z. Dai*, L. Liu*, Zhong Zhang. Toward clean 2D materials and devices: Recent progress in transfer and cleaning methods. Advanced Materials 36, 2303014 (2024)

  2. Z. Fang, Z. Dai*, B. Wang, Z. Tian, C. Yu, Q. Chen, X. Wei*. Pull-to-peel of two-dimensional materials for the simultaneous determination of elasticity and adhesion. Nano Letters 23, 2, 742–749 (2023)

  3. Y. Rao, E. Kim, Z. Dai, J. He, Y. Li, N. Lu. Size-dependent shape characteristics of 2D crystal blisters. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 175, 105286 (2023)

  4. Z. Dai, N. Lu, K. Liechti, R. Huang*. Mechanics at the Interfaces of 2D Materials: Challenges and Opportunities. Current Opinions in Solid State & Materials Science 24, 100837 (2020)

  5. Z. Dai, Y. Hou, D. A. Sanchez, G. Wang, C. J. Brennan, L. Liu*, N. Lu*. Interface-Governed Deformation of Nanobubbles and Nanotents Formed by Two-Dimensional Materials. Physical Review Letters 121, 266101 (2018)

  6. G. Wang†, Z. Dai†, Y. Wang, P. Tan, L. Liu*, Z. Xu*, Y. Wei, R. Huang, Z. Zhang*. Measuring Interlayer Shear Stress in Bilayer Graphene. Physical Review Letters 119, 036101 (2017)

How thin solids interact with liquids?

Elastic wetting, Liquid-structure interactions, Elastic dewetting, Elastocapillarity, Blisters

  1. Z. Gao†, W. Zheng†, X. Liu, Z. Kou, Z. Liu, X. Wang, Y. Long, C. Yu, B. Li, J. Li, X. Li, R. Qiao, X. Liu, L. Wang, Z. Dai*, J. Yin*. Visualizing Elastocapillary Expansion of Graphene through Bulge Tests. Nano Letters 26, 3, 1118–1124 (2026)

  2. S. Liu, J. He, Y. Rao, Z. Dai, H. Ye, J. C. Tanir, Y. Li, N. Lu. Conformability of flexible sheets on spherical surfaces. Science Advances 9, eadf2709 (2023)

  3. Y. Hou†, Z. Dai†, S. Zhang†, S. Feng, G. Wang, L. Liu*, Z. Xu*, Q. Li*, Z. Zhang*. Elastocapillary cleaning of twisted bilayer graphene interfaces. Nature Communications 12, 5069 (2021)

  4. Y. Rao†, S. Qiao†, Z. Dai, N. Lu*. Elastic Wetting: Substrate-Supported Droplets Confined by Ultrathin Elastic Membranes. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 151, 104399 (2021)

  5. D. Sanchez†, Z. Dai†, P. Wang, A. Cantu-Chavez, C. J. Brennan, R. Huang*, N. Lu*. Mechanics of Liquid-Filled Nanobubbles Trapped by Two-Dimensional Crystals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, 7884 (2018)

How mechanics shapes 2D materials?

Strain engineering, pseudo-fields, twist/interlayer mechanics, mechanical tuning of transport or functionality

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  1. L. Zheng†, J. Song†, X. Zhao†, J. Cao, J. Xu, Z. Wang, C. Zhang, W. Sun, B. Chen, X. Gao, H. Liu, J. Yang, Y. Xu, L. Sun, Z. Dai, X. Wei, N. Liu*, H. Peng*, H. Wang*. Control of ice thickness in cryo-EM via confinement. Nature Methods (2026)

  2. L. Yang*, S. Yue, Y. Tao, S. Qiao, H. Li, Z. Dai, B. Song, Y. Chen, J. Du*, D. Li, P. Gao. Suppressed thermal transport in silicon nanoribbons by inhomogeneous strain. Nature 629, 1021–1026 (2024)

  3. Z. Dai, L. Liu*, Z. Zhang*. Strain Engineering of Two-Dimensional Materials: Issues and Opportunities at the Interface. Advanced Materials 31, 1805417 (2019)

How structure creates functionality?

Nanomaterial assemblies, architected materials, negative Poisson’s ratio, artificial muscles, multifunctional composites.

  1. W. Wang, Z. Wei, Y. Li, J. You, X. Li, J. He, H. Mao, J. Jin*, L. Sun*, and Z. Dai*. Multifunctional complementary field-effect transistors based on MoS2/SWNTs network heterostructures. Applied Physics Letters 126, 023501 (2025)

  2. Z. Dai, C. Weng, L. Liu*, X. Zhao, J. Kuang, Y. Hou, J. Shi, Y. Wei, J. Lou*, Z. Zhang*. Multifunctional Polymer-Based Graphene Foams with Buckled Structure and Negative Poisson’s Ratio. Scientific Reports 6, 32989 (2016)

  3. Z. Dai, Y. Wang, L. Liu*, X. Liu, P. Tan, Z. Xu*, J. Kuang, Q. Liu, J. Lou, Z. Zhang*. Hierarchical Graphene Based Films with Dynamic Self-stiffening for Biomimetic Artificial Muscle. Advanced Functional Materials 26, 7003 (2016)

  4. Z. Dai, L. Liu*, J. Kuang, Y. Wei, H. Zhu*, Z. Zhang*. Three-dimensional Sponges with Super Mechanical Stability: Harnessing True Elasticity of Individual Carbon Nanotubes in Macroscopic Architectures. Scientific Reports 6, 18930 (2016)

  5. Z. Dai, G. Wang, L. Liu*, Y. Hou, Y. Wei*, Z. Zhang*. Mechanical Behavior and Properties of Hydrogen bonded Graphene/Polymer Nano-Interfaces. Composites Science and Technology 136, 1 (2016)

Grants

My research has been supported by the following grants:

Fellowships & Awards

I am grateful for the generous financial support and award from the organization and community, including: