MechE Seminar Series: Chuanhua Duan

Speaker: Chuanhua Duan

Title: Thinking Outside the Box: Engineering Micro/Nanoscale Solid–Liquid Interactions for a Sustainable Future

Abstract: Engineering micro/nanoscale solid-liquid interactions via structured surfaces and confinements has led to significant breakthroughs in phase-change heat/mass transfer and micro/nanofluidics over the past three decades, enabling transformative advances in energy conversion, thermal management, and life sciences. However, past successes have also led to certain "conventional paradigms" that constrain research and limit the exploration of alternative mechanisms and untapped opportunities. To challenge these paradigms, I will present my group’s recent efforts in rethinking engineering of micro/nanoscale solid-liquid interactions. First, I will discuss our studies on nanoparticle-blocked nanopore systems, which have traditionally been considered failures in nanopore research. We demonstrate that these systems enable novel applications, including efficient nanoparticle characterization, nanopore gating, and biosensing, offering cost-effective, high-performance solutions. Next, I will highlight our work on wet etching reactions in nanoconfinements—a longstanding challenge in 3D semiconductor manufacturing. Systematic studies of KOH-Si and HF-SiO2 etching in 2D nanochannels revealed how electrostatic interactions and water structuring govern etching rates. By employing both active and passive strategies, we mitigated these effects, achieving uniform etching and addressing critical manufacturing bottlenecks. Finally, I will discuss our innovative approach to enhance liquid-gas mass transport for hydrogen evolution reactions (HER). Departing from traditional reliance on nanostructured surfaces for buoyancy-driven bubble departure, we demonstrated that micro-strip patterning induces controlled bubble coalescence and early departure, significantly improving bubble dynamics and HER performance. Together, these studies highlight how unconventional thinking can unlock new mechanisms and advance applications in energy, manufacturing, and sustainability.

About the Speaker: Dr. Chuanhua Duan earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Engineering Thermophysics from Tsinghua University in 2002 and 2004, respectively. He completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2009 under the supervision of Prof. Arun Majumdar. Following two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Boston University in 2012 as an Assistant Professor and is now an Associate Professor. Dr. Duan currently leads the Nanoscale Energy-Fluids Transport Laboratory. His research focuses on micro- and nanofluidic transport phenomena and the development of novel fluidic devices and approaches for applications in life sciences, energy systems, and thermal management. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and has also received honors such as the Prominent Research Award at the Micro Flow and Interfacial Phenomena (µFIP) 2024 conference, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (2018), the National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Development (CAREER) Award (2017), and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award (2013) and New Direction Award (2023).