Yujia Zhang
EPFL STI IEM BION
BM 3129 (Bâtiment BM)
Station 17
1015 Lausanne
+41 21 693 79 57
+41 21 693 11 80
Office:
BM 3129
EPFL
>
STI
>
IEM
>
BION
Web site: Web site: https://www.epfl.ch/labs/bion
+41 21 693 79 57
EPFL
>
STI
>
STI-SMT
>
SMT-ENS
Web site: Web site: https://go.epfl.ch/phd-edmi
Fields of expertise
- Dropletronics: microscale droplet-based modular iontronics (e.g., batteries, diodes, transistors, memristors and circuits)
- Bioiontronics and bioelectronics
- Functional synthetic, cellular and hybrid tissues
- Bioengineering and human-machine interface
- Advanced manufacturing of soft and living matter across multiple scales
Biography
Yujia Zhang is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Electrical and Microengineering at the School of Engineering at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He has led the Laboratory for Bio-Iontronics (BION) since January 2025. A major interest of his laboratory is the development of iontronic biointerfaces and hybrid intelligent systems for biomedical detection and treatment. Recently, he has pioneered the area of dropletronics, in which networks of microscale soft droplets function as versatile bioiontronic/bioelectronic devices.Prior to his appointment, he obtained his B.Sc. in electronics engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2016. Later, he completed his PhD in biomedical engineering and MEMS/NEMS technology at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by one year as a visiting PhD at Stony Brook University. In 2021, Yujia joined the Bayley group and later became an early-career research fellow hosted in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford.
Awards
2023 : Early-career Research Scientist Representative : UK Parliamentary & Scientific Committee
2022 : Excellent Doctoral Dissertation : Chinese Academy of Sciences
2021 : Outstanding Doctoral Thesis : Chinese Institute of Electronics
2020 : Special Prize for President Scholarship for Postgraduate Students : Chinese Academy of Sciences
Publications
Selected publications
| Zhang Y, Tan C, Toepfer C, et al. Science, 2024, 386,1024-1030. |
Microscale Droplet Assembly Enables Biocompatible Multifunctional Modular Iontronics |
| Zhang Y, Sun T, Yang X, et al. Nature Chemical Engineering, 2024, 1, 691–701. |
A Microscale Soft Lithium-ion Battery for Tissue Stimulation |
| Zhang Y, Riexinger J, Yang X, et al. Nature, 2023, 620, 1001–1006. |
A microscale soft ionic power source modulates neuronal network activity |
| Zhang Y and Tao TH. Advanced Materials, 2019, 31, 1905767. |
Skin-Friendly Electronics for Acquiring Human Physiological Signatures |
| Zhang Y, Zhou Z, Sun L, et al. Advanced Materials, 2018, 30, 1805722. |
“Genetically Engineered” Biofunctional Triboelectric Nanogenerators Using Recombinant Spider Silk |
Research
Bioiontronic synthetic tissues
At the Laboratory for Bio-Iontronics (BION), the mission is to make bioiontronic synthetic tissues for applications in medicine. To that end, we are interested in developing synthetic tissues with key functions of embodied energy, logic control, stimuli-responsiveness, and therapeutics delivery, enabling interactive communication with biology. The synthetic tissues will be formed from three-dimensionally (3D) printed picoliter droplet networks, which use lipid bilayer, functional nanopores, and charge-selective solutes to feature sophisticated ion control. Ultimately, the bioiontronic synthetic tissues will provide an alternative strategy, in parallel to bioelectronic medicine, to be used as bioiontronic medicine for a wide range of medical conditions.The research group is highly interdisciplinary. There are three main research directions:
- Advanced manufacturing of iontronic synthetic tissues—3D printing system to construct microscale, multimaterial hydrogel droplet networks.
- Multifunctional iontronic synthetic tissues from patterned droplet networks, including functions of embodied energy, logic control, stimuli-responsiveness, therapeutics delivery, etc.
- Modulation of living cells in culture. Examples include human iPSC-derived neurons, cardiomyocytes, and organoids.
Open positions
Master students interested in doing their semester project and/or thesis are welcome. Researchers who have their own funding and are interested in joining the group can also reach out to Prof. Zhang directly.Teaching & PhD
Teaching
Microengineering