Wenlin Zhang
Assistant Professor
Appointments
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Area of Expertise
Polymer physics,
Statistical mechanics of soft condensed matter,
Atomistic and coarse-grained simulations,
Polymer crystal nucleation and growth,
Free energy sampling
Biography
Our group uses multi-scale simulations and statistical mechanics to study soft matter, such as polymers and liquid crystals. We are interested in how chemical structures and compositions, together with processing conditions, can affect phase behaviors, assembly, and material properties. The physical understanding of material behaviors at different length and time scales helps us navigate the vast design parameter space for high-performance materials.
Education
B.S. University of Minnesota, 2009-2012
Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University 2012-2017
Post-doc, University of Michigan, 2017-2020
Taught Courses
Publications
"Coarse-grained simulations of polyrotaxane hydrogels under quiescent and shear conditions", Smith, C.D.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, in press. #Corresponding author.
"Assessing Martini force field for modeling polyolefin nanoplastics near lipid membranes", Duraes, A.D.S.; Liu, C.; Zhang, W.#, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2026, 130, 7145--7154. #Corresponding author.
"Additive-free compatibilization of commodity polypropylene/polyethylene via partial melting and recrystallization", Dunn, C.B.; Zhang, Y.; Wei, P.; Ahn, J.B., Zhang, W.#; Qiang, Z.#, JACS Au, 2026, 6, 4176–4186. #Corresponding authors.
"Predicting bio-corona-induced adsorption and uptake of nanoplastics", Zhang, W.#; Duraes, A.D.S., Soft Matter, 2026, 22, 1141–1150. #Corresponding author.
"Effects of orientational and conformational ordering on isotactic polypropylene crystallization", Duraes, A.D.S.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2026, 59, 962–973. #Corresponding author.
"Coarse-grained simulations of crystallization in phase-separated polymer blends with block copolymer compatibilizers", Zhang, Y.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2025, 58, 12871–12881. #Corresponding author.
"Thermodynamic origin of multistep polymer crystallization", Zhang, W.#, Physical Review Letters, 2025, 135, 028101. Editors' Suggestion. #Corresponding author.
"Roles of interfaces in crystallization in free-standing and bi-layer polymer films", Zou, L.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2025, 58, 3589–3594. #Corresponding author.
"Effects of block copolymer compatibilizers and interfacial entanglements on strengthening immiscible glassy polymer blends", Zhang, Y.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2025, 58, 2484–2493. #Corresponding author.
"All-atom molecular dynamics simulations reveal the effects of nanoplastics on lipid membranes and vice versa", Duraes, D.S.; Jiao, E.L.; Zhang, W.#, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2025, 129, 3385–3395. Front Cover. #Corresponding author.
"A multi-scale framework for predicting α-cyclodextrin assembly on polyethylene glycol axles", Smith, C.D.; Ke, C.#; Zhang, W.#, Soft Matter, 2024, 20, 9068 - 9082. #Corresponding authors
"Interfaces and soft confinement promote crystallization in polymer nanodroplets", Liu, C.; Duraes, D.S.; Jiao, E.L.; Zhang, W.#, MRS Advances, 2024. #Corresponding author.
"Effects of entanglement on polymer crystal growth and inter-crystalline phase formation", Zou, L.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2024, 57, 4410–4420. #Corresponding author.
"Direct measurement of polymer chain-end-to-end distances by using RAFT chain transfer agent as the FRET acceptor", Wang, Y.; Fortenberry, A.; Zhang, W.; Simon, Y.; Qiang, Z., The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2023, 127, 3100–3108.
"Mismatch in nematic interactions leads to composition-dependent crystal nucleation in polymer blends", Zhang, W.#; Zou, L, Macromolecules, 2023, 56, 2234–2245. #Corresponding author
"Interfacial oriented precursor to secondary nucleation of alkane oligomer crystals revealed by molecular dynamic simulations", Gong, Y.; Zhang, W.; Larson, R.G., Macromolecules, 2022, 55, 6311-6320.
"Molecular dynamics simulations of the effects of entanglement on polymer crystal nucleation", Zou, L.; Zhang, W.#, Macromolecules, 2022, 55, 4899-4906. #Corresponding author.
"An ultra-dynamic anion cluster-based organic framework", Samanta, J.; Dorn, R.W.; Zhang, W.#; Jiang, X.; Zhang, M.; Staples, R.; Rossini, A.J.#; Ke, C.#, Chem, 2022, 1, 7-9. #Corresponding authors.
"Molecular dynamics simulations of crystal nucleation near interfaces in incompatible polymer blends", Zhang, W.#; Zou, L., Polymers, 2021, 13, 347. #Corresponding author.
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