https://youtu.be/lQ3c82xVfQg (Research dissertation)I am studying the emerging catalog of water-responsive materials for high-energy actuators and energy-related applications. My research aims to address the challenge of identifying the fundamental mechanisms behind biomaterials’ powerful water-responsive behaviors across the molecular to macroscopic length scales. If successful, such an investigation could lay the foundation for understanding and developing new hybrid and synthetic water-responsive materials for broad applications and support the long-term goal of opening a path to harvesting the untapped energy source of natural evaporation and thus provide an additional option for clean and low-cost energy generation and storage. In addition to the direct impact on functional materials, my research could also enrich our knowledge of low-dimension water molecules under negative pressures, which is of great interest to fields of nanoscience and biology, as well as condensed matter physics.