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About

Borui Xu is an emerging researcher whose work sits at the dynamic intersection of soft robotics, smart materials, and micro/nanoscale engineering. His research focuses on developing stimuli-responsive materials and miniaturized robotic systems capable of autonomous locomotion, actuation, and programmable shape transformation — areas with profound implications for medicine, sensing, and next-generation robotics. Xu's most celebrated contribution, "Self-powered locomotion of a hydrogel water strider" (2021, 103 citations), demonstrated that hydrogels could achieve autonomous, biologically inspired movement — a significant breakthrough in a field where such capabilities had been notably limited. Complementing this, his work on magnetically propelled soft microrobots navigating constricted microchannels (35 citations) highlights his expertise in guiding miniature devices through complex, confined environments relevant to biomedical applications. Across multiple publications, Xu has explored inorganic stimuli-responsive nanomembranes, strain-engineered 3D self-folding structures, and nanomembrane origami — contributing both foundational knowledge and practical fabrication strategies for small-scale actuators. His co-editorship of a special issue on micro- and nanomotors further underscores his growing visibility in the field. With a focused and rapidly advancing publication record, Xu represents a promising voice in the future of intelligent miniaturized systems.