Jie Feng

For More Information

• Fluids, Interfaces and Transport (FIT) Laboratory

Education

• BSc Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2009
• MSc Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2011
• PhD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, 2016 (Advisor: Howard Stone)

Academic Positions

• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Sep. 2016 - Dec. 2018
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Jul. 2018 - Jan. 2019
• Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mechanical Science and Engineering, Jan. 2019 - present
• Research Affiliate, Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Sep. 2021 - present

Research Interests

• Our group, the Fluids, Interface & Transport (FIT) Laboratory, is broadly interested in micro-scale transport phenomena corresponding to structurally complex fluids and interfaces. Our goal is to uncover new insights into the physico-chemical mechanisms and continuum-scale mechanics of multiphase soft matter systems. Ultimately, we aim to develop engineering solutions to some of the pressing challenges in energy, environmental sustainability, and healthcare engineering, such as enhanced oil recovery, mitigation of pollutant and disease transmission, the design of lab-on-a-chip and vesicle-based drug delivery systems. We actively tackle problems and explore new research directions by using microscopy, microfluidics, high-speed imaging and image analysis, materials processing and characterization. We also complement our experiments with theoretical modeling and numerical simulations, using ideas from fluid dynamics, polymer physics, colloidal science and biophysics. The interdisciplinary nature of our work thus bridges engineering, physics, chemistry, materials science, and biology, positioning us at the nexus of fundamental discovery and translational impacts. Our research program is currently structured around three major thrusts, each combining strong fundamental intellectual merit with significant broader impacts: (1) Dynamics of formation, rise, and bursting of contaminated bubbles with structurally complex interfaces, and their implications for pollutant and pathogen transmission; (2) Targeted delivery and controlled release towards a programmable vesicle-based therapeutic delivery system; (3) Thin-film flows and fluid-structure interaction with complex fluids for environmental and advanced microfluidic applications.

Selected Articles in Journals

• Malik, V.K., Liao, C.-T., Xu, C., Daddi-Moussa-Ider, A., Young, Y.-N., Pak. O.S., and Feng, J.* Magnetically driven lipid vesicles for directed motion and light-triggered cargo release, Nanoscale, accepted. (Invited Emerging Investigators Series)
• Yang. Z., Liu, Y. and Feng, J.* Jet size prediction in compound multiphase bubble bursting, Physical Review Letters, 134, 214001, 2025. (Selected as an Editors' Suggestion)
• Barbhai, S., Yang, Z. and Feng, J.* Effect of a polymeric compound layer on jetting dynamics produced by bursting bubbles, RSC Advances, 15, 7710-7720, 2025. (Invited Emerging Investigators Series)
• Yang, S., Liu, J., Hoque, M.J., Huang, A., Chen, Y., Yang, W., Feng, J. and Miljkovic, N. A Critical Perspective on Photothermal De‐Icing. Advanced Materials, 2415237, 2024.
• Li, Q., Zhao, J., Li, P., Xu, Z., Feng, J.*, Chen, B.* and Liu, R.* Co-embedding Fe single atoms coupled MoC nanoparticles in N-Doped hierarchically porous carbon cubes for highly-efficient oxygen electroreduction, ACS Nano, 18, 21975 - 21984, 2024.
• Malik, V.K., Pak, O. and Feng, J.* Curvature-assisted vesicle explosion under light-induced asymmetric oxidation, Advanced Science, 2400504, 2024.
• Yang, Z., Barbhai, S., Ji, B. and Feng, J*. Effect of surface viscoelasticity on top jet drops produce by bursting bubbles, Soft Matter, 20, 4868, 2024 (Invited Emerging Investigators Series, selected as journal cover article).
• Feng, J.* and Yang Z. Long‐lived yet bare bubbles in ultrasound, Droplet, e120, 2024 (Invited News)
• Chun, S., Boyko, E., Christov, I.C. and Feng, J*. Flow rate-pressure drop relations for shear-thinning fluids in deformable configurations: theory and experiments, Physical Review Fluids, 9, 043302, 2024.
• Chun, S., Yang, Z. and Feng, J*. Deposition of shear-thinning viscoelastic fluids by an elongated bubble in a circular channel regarding the weakly elastic regime. Droplet, e121, 2024.
• Yang, Z., Ji, B. and Feng, J*. Daughter oil droplets produced by oil-coated bubble bursting, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 977, A10, 2023.
• Son, C., Yang, Z., Kim, S., Ferreira, P., Feng, J. and Kim, S. Bi-directional droplet manipulation on a magnetically actuated superhydrophobic ratchet surfaces, ACS Nano, 23, 23702–23713. 2023.
• Ji, B., Yang, Z. and Feng, J.* Secondary bubble entrainment via primary bubble bursting at a viscoelastic surface, Physical Review Letters, 131, 104002, 2023.
• Qian, H., Yang, Z., Zhang, X., Feng, J.* and Li, C.* Dilute oil-in-water emulsion initiates multiple holes formation during bubble bursting, International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 104525, 2023.
• Yang, Z., Ji, B., Ault, J. and Feng, J.* Enhanced singular jets in oil-coated bubble bursting. Nature Physics, 19, 884–890, 2023.
• Chun, S., Ji, B., Yang, Z., Malik, V.K. and Feng, J.* Experimental observation of a confined bubble moving in shear-thinning fluids. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 953, 12, 2022.
• Yan, X., Chen F., Zhao, C., Qin, Y., Wang, X.,Rabbi, K. F., Hoque, M. J., Zhao, H., Li, J., Gebrael, T., Chen, F., Feng, J. and Miljkovic, N. Microscale Confinement and Wetting Contrast Enable Enhanced and Tunable Condensation. ACS Nano, 16, 9510-9522, 2022
• Ji, B., Singh A. and Feng, J.* Water-to-air transfer of nano/micro-sized particulates: enrichment effect in bubble bursting jet drops. Nano Letters, 13, 5626–5634, 2022 (Selected as an ACS Editor's Choice and journal cover article)
• Ji, B., Liu, H., Kim, J., Chamorro, L. P. and Feng, J.* Dynamics of an oil-coated bubble rising in a quiescent water medium. Physical Review Fluids, 7, 033603, 2022
• An, H., Smith, J.W., Ji, B., Cotty, S., Zhou, S., Yao, L., Kalutantirige, F.C., Chen, W., Ou, Z., Su, X., Feng, J. and Chen, Q. Mechanism and Performance Relevance of Nanomorphogenesis in Polyamide Films Revealed by Quantitative 3D Imaging and Machine Learning. Science Advanced, 8, eabk1888, 2022
• Malik, V.K., Pak, O.S. and Feng, J.* Pore dynamics of lipid vesicles under light-induced osmotic stress. Physical Review Applied, 17, 024032, 2022
• Ji, B., Yang, Z. and Feng, J.* Compound jetting from bubble bursting at an air-oil-water interface. Nature Communications, 12, 1-10, 2021
• Ji, B., Singh, A. and Feng, J.* Oil column pinch-off controls the oil fraction of the oil-coated bubble. Physics of Fluids, 33, 103316, 2021
• Son, C., Ji, B., Park, J., Feng, J. and Kim, S. A Magnetically Actuated Superhydrophobic Ratchet Surface for Droplet Manipulation. Micromachines, 12, 325, 2021
• Ji, B., Yang, Z. and Feng, J.* Oil-coated bubble formation from submerged co-axial orifices. Physical Review Fluids, 6, 033602, 2021 (Selected as an Editor's suggestion)
• Doan, V., Chun, S., Feng, J. and Shin, S. Confinement-dependent diffusiophoresis of nanoparticles in collagen hydrogels. Nano Letters, 21, 7625-7630, 2021
• Chun, S. and Feng, J.* Preparation of abamectin nanopesticides by Flash NanoPrecipitation for extended photostability and sustained release, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 4, 1228-1234, 2021.
• Malik, V.K., Shin, S. and Feng, J.* Light-triggered explosion of lipid vesicles, Soft Matter, 16, 8904-8911, 2020.
• Yan, X., Qin, Y., Chen, F., Zhao, G., Sett, S., Hoque, M. J., Rabbi, K. F., Zhang, X., Wang, Z., Li, L., Chen, F., Feng, J. and Miljkovic, N. Laplace pressure driven single-droplet jumping on structured surfaces, ACS Nano, 14, 12796-12809, 2020.
• Chao, Y., Tak Hung, L., Feng, J., Yuan, H., Pan, Y., Guo, W., Zhang, Y. and Shum, H. C. Flower-like droplets by self-emulsification of a phase-separating (SEPS) aqueous film, Soft Matter, 16, 6050-6055, 2020.
• Tian, C., Feng, J. and Prud'homme, R.K. Adsorption dynamics of polymeric nanoparticles at an air-water interface with addition of surfactants, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 575, 416-424, 2020.
• Shin, S., Down, V.S. and Feng, J. Osmotic delivery and release of lipid-encapsulated molecules via sequential solution exchange. Physical Review Applied, 12, 024014, 2019.
• Feng, J., Markwalter, C.E., Tian, C., Armstrong, M. and Prud'homme, R.K. Translational formulation of nanoparticle therapeutics from laboratory discovery to clinical scale. Journal of Translational Medicine, 17, 200, 2019
• Ristroph, K.D., Feng, J., McManus, S.A., Zhang, Y., Gong, K., Ramachandruni, H., White, C.E. and Prud'homme, R.K. Spray drying OZ439 nanoparticles to form stable, water-dispersible powders for oral Malaria therapy. Journal of Translational Medicine, 17, 97, 2019.
• Feng, J., Zhang, Y., McManus, S., Qian, R., Ristroph, K., Ramachandruni, H., Gong, K., White, C.E., Rawal, A. and Prud'homme, R. Amorphous nanoparticles by self-assembly: processing for controlled release of hydrophobic molecules. Soft Matter, 15, 2400-2410, 2019.
• Lu, H.D., Ristroph, K.D., Dobrijevic, E.L., Feng, J., McManus, S.A., Zhang, Y., Mulhearn, W.D., Ramachandruni, H., Patel, A. and Prud’homme, R.K. Encapsulation of OZ439 into nanoparticles for supersaturated drug release in oral Malaria therapy. ACS Infectious Diseases, 4, 970-979, 2018.
• Feng, J., Zhang, Y., McManus, S.A., Ristroph, K.D., Lu, H.D., Gong, K., White, C.E. and Prud’homme, R.K. Rapid recovery of clofazimine-loaded nanoparticles with long-term storage stability as anti-Cryptosporidium therapy. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 1, 2184-2194, 2018.  
• Tian, C.*,Feng, J.*, Cho H.J., Datta S. and Prud’homme, R.K. Adsorption and denaturation of structured polymeric nanoparticles at an interface. Nano Letters, 18, 4854-4860, 2018 (*equal contribution)
• Yan, J., Moreau, A., Khodaparast, S., Perazzo, A., Feng, J., Fei, C., Mao, S., Mukherjee, S., Kosmrlj, A., Wingreen, N.S., Bassler, B.L., and Stone, H.A. Bacterial biofilm material properties enable removal and transfer by capillary peeling. Advanced Materials, 1804153, 2018
• Zhang, Y., Feng, J., McManus, S.A., Lu, H.D., Ristroph, K.D., Cho, E.J., Dobrijevic, E.L., Chan, H.K. and Prud’homme, R.K., 2017. Design and solidification of fast-releasing clofazimine nanoparticles for treatment of Cryptosporidiosis. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 14, 3480-3488, 2017.
• Shin, S., Ault, J.T., Feng, J., Warren, P.B. and Stone, H.A. Low‐cost zeta potentiometry using solute gradients. Advanced Materials, 29, 1701516, 2017
• Feng, J., Nunes, J.K., Shin, S., Yan, J., Kong, Y.L., Prud'homme, R.K., Arnaudov, L.N., Stoyanov, S.D. and Stone, H.A. A scalable platform for functional nanomaterials via bubble‐bursting. Advanced Materials, 28(21), 4047-4052, 2016
• Feng, J., Muradoglu, M., Kim, H., Ault, J.T. and Stone, H.A. Dynamics of a bubble bouncing at a liquid/liquid/gas interface. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 807, 324-352, 2016
• Feng, J., Jacobi, I. and Stone, H.A. Experimental investigation of the Faraday instability on a patterned Surface. Experiments in Fluids, 57, 86, 2016
• Kong, Y.L., Boulogne, F., Kim, H., Nunes, J., Feng, J. and Stone, H.A. Deposition of quantum dots in a capillary tube. Langmuir, 31, 12560-12566, 2015.
• Stewart, P.S., Feng, J., Kimpton, L.S., Griffiths, I.M. and Stone, H.A. Stability of a Bi-layer Free Film: simultaneous or individual rupture events? Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 777, 27-49, 2015.
• Pak, O.S.*, Feng, J.* and Stone, H.A. Viscous Marangoni migration of a drop in a Poiseuille flow at low surface Péclet numbers. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 753, 535-552, 2014 (*equal contribution)
• Feng, J., Roché, M., Vigolo, D., Arnaudov, L.N., Stoyanov, S.D., Gurkov, T.D., Tsutsumanova, G.G. and Stone, H.A. Nanoemulsions obtained via bubble-bursting at a compound interface. Nature Physics, 10(8), 606-612, 2014.
• Quinn, D.B., Feng, J. and Stone, H.A. Analytical model for the deformation of a fluid–fluid interface beneath an AFM probe. Langmuir, 29(5), 1427-1434, 2013

Patents

• R. K. Prud'homme, B. Powell, V. Pansare, N. Caggiano, J. Feng, Dihydromyricetin Spray-dried Dispersion Formulations and Methods for Forming them. U.S. Provisional Patent Ser. NO. 62/767,197 filed November 14, 2018.
• S. Shin, J. T. Ault, J. Feng, H. A. Stone. Zeta Potentiometer Using Diffusiophoresis and Diffusioosmosis. U.S. Provisional Patent Ser. NO. 62/594,871, filed on Dec 5, 2017.
• J. T. Ault,  S. Shin, H. A. Stone, J. Feng, P. Warren. Methods of Particle Manipulation and Analysis. U.S. Provisional Patent Ser. NO. 16/210,760, filed on Dec 5, 2017.
• R. K. Prud'homme, J. Feng, K. D. Ristroph, H. Lu, Y. Zhang, S. A. McManus, Cellulosic Polymer Nanoparticles and Methods for Forming them. U.S. Provisional Patent Ser. NO. 62/557,744, filed on Sep 12, 2017.

Professional Societies

• Member, American Physical Society (APS), 2012-present
• Member, American Chemical Society (ACS), 2018-present
• Member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), 2018-present
• Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 2015-present
• Member, Controlled Release Society (CRS), 2017-present

Teaching Honors

• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - ME 310 Spring 2025
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - TAM 435 Fall 2024
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - ME 310 Spring 2024
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - TAM 435 Fall 2023
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - ME 310 Spring 2023
• List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent - TAM 435 Fall 2021

Research Honors

• Princeton's nominee for Blavatnik Regional Postdoctoral Award (2018)
• Research Support Award, Illinois Campus Research Board (2019)
• ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2019 )
• Soft Matter Emerging Investigators, Soft Matter Journal (2023)
• Research Support Award, Illinois Campus Research Board (2024)
• RSC Advances Emerging Investigators, RSC Advances Journal (2024 )
• Nanoscale Emerging Investigators, Nanoscale Journal (2025)

Other Honors

• Engineering Council Outstanding Advisor Award, The Grainger College of Engineering (2022)