2026
D. Ghosh, B. Chakrabarti, and X. Cheng, Density-controlled reversal of collective migration in bacterial aerotaxis, Phys. Rev. Res., (accepted) (2026).
G. Pradipta, W. Lee, V. Tran, K. Welch, S. K. Sankar, Y. Kim, S. Kumar, X. Yong, J. Hong, S. Lim, and X. Cheng, Seeing New Depths: Three-Dimensional Flow of a Free-Swimming Alga, Phys. Rev. X 16, 021019 (2026) (Featured in Physics).
A. Mobaseri, L. Gordillo, C. Burton, S. Yoon, D. Lee, S. Kumar, M. M. Driscoll, and X. Cheng, Inertia-Dilatancy Interplay Governs Shear-Thickening Drop Impact, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 148201 (2026) (Featured in Physics; Highlighted as “Editors’ Suggestion”).
2025
R. Mukherjee, Z.-Y. Chen, X. Cheng, and S. Lee, Microscopic contact line dynamics dictate the emergent behaviors of particle rafts, Phys. Rev. Fluids 10, 084003 (2025).
C. Zang, L. Omodt, M. Dasgupta, and X. Cheng, Dynamics of rotating helices in a viscous fluid, J. Fluid. Mech. 1013, R1 (2025).
A. Mobaseri, S. Kumar, and X. Cheng, Maximum spreading of impacting shear-thinning and shear-thickening drops, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 122, e2500163122 (2025).
A. Smith, D. Ghosh, A. Tan, X. Cheng, and P. Daoutidis, Multi-scale causality in active matter, Comput. Chem. Eng. 197, 109052 (2025).
2024
S. Anand, X. Ma, S. Guo, S. Martiniani, and X. Cheng, Transport and Energetics of Bacterial Rectification, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2411608121 (2024).
2023
S. Kamdar, D. Ghosh, W. Lee, M. Tătulea-Codrean, Y. Kim, S. Ghosh, Y. Kim, T. Cheepuru, E. Lauga, S. Lim, and X. Cheng, Multiflagellarity leads to the size-independent swimming speed of peritrichous bacteria, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 120, e2310952120 (2023).
Y. Qiao, Z. Liu, X. Ma, N. C. Keim, and X. Cheng, Heterogeneous Dynamics of Sheared Particle-Laden Fluid Interfaces with Janus Particle Doping, Langmuir 39, 12032 (2023).
B. C. Druecke, R. Mukherjee, X. Cheng, and S. Lee, Collapse of a granular raft: transition from single particle falling to collective creasing, Phys. Rev. Fluids 8, 024003 (2023).
2022
Y. Qiao, Z. Ma, C. Onyango, X. Cheng, and K. D. Dorfman, DNA fragmentation in a steady shear flow, Biomicrofluidics 6, 054109 (2022).
L.-H. Cai, S. Datta, and X. Cheng, Editorial: Active matter in complex environments, Front. Phys. 10, 1005146 (2022).
X. Ma, Z. Liu, W. Zeng, T. Lin, X. Tian, and X. Cheng, Crack patterns of drying dense bacterial suspensions, Soft Matter 18, 5239 (2022).
S. Kamdar and X. Cheng, Swimming faster despite obstacles: a universal mechanism behind bacterial speed enhancement in complex fluids, Microb. Cell 9, 139 (2022).
Y. Kou, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Degradation and breakdown of polymer/graphene composites under strong electric field, J. Compos. Sci. 6, 139 (2022).
D. Ghosh, and X. Cheng, To cross or not to cross: collective swimming of Escherichia coli under two-dimensional confinement, Phys. Rev. Res. 4, 023105 (2022).
T.-P. Sun, F. Alvarez-Novoa, K. Andrade, P. Gutierrez, L. Gordillo, and X. Cheng, Stress distribution and surface shock wave of drop impact, Nat. Commun. 13, 1703 (2022).
S. Kamdar, S. Shin, P. Leishangthem, L. F. Francis, X. Xu, and X. Cheng, The colloidal nature of complex fluids enhances bacterial motility, Nature 603, 819 (2022). (See News & Views)
Y. Qiao, X. Ma, Z. Liu, M. A. Manno, N. C. Keim, and X. Cheng, Tuning the rheology and microstructure of particle-laden fluid interfaces with Janus particles, J. Colloid Interf. Sci. 618, 241 (2022).
X. Cheng, T.-P. Sun, and L. Gordillo, Drop Impact Dynamics: Impact Force and Stress Distributions, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 54, 57 (2022).
2021
Z. Liu, W. Zeng, X. Ma, and X. Cheng, Density fluctuations and energy spectra of 3D bacterial suspensions, Soft Matter 17, 10806 (2021). (Featured on the front over)
E. Pirhadi, X. Cheng, and X. Yong, Dependency of active pressure and equation of state on stiffness of wall, Sci. Rep. 11, 22204 (2021).
Y. Kou, A. T. Cote, J. Liu, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Robust networks of interfacial localized graphene in cocontinuous polymer blends, J. Rheol. 65, 1139 (2021).
Y. Qiao, C. Fan, Z. Liu, D. Medina, N. C. Keim, and X. Cheng, Miniature magnetic rod interfacial stress rheometer for general-purpose microscopes, J. Rheol., 65, 1103 (2021).
S. Shin, Y. Kou, K. Dorfman, and X. Cheng, Dynamics of DNA-bridged dumbbells in concentrated, shear-banding polymer solutions, Macromolecules 54, 4186 (2021).
Y. Peng, Z. Liu, and X. Cheng, Imaging the emergence of bacterial turbulence: Phase diagram and transition kinetics, Sci. Adv. 7, eabd1240 (2021).
2020
T. Liu, B. Cao, X. Liu, T.-P. Sun, and X. Cheng, Explosion cratering in 3D granular media, Soft Matter 16, 1323 (2020).
2019
Y. Kou, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Polymer/Graphene Composites via Spinodal Decomposition of Miscible Polymer Blends, Macromolecules 52, 7625 (2019).
Z. Liu, K. Zhang, and X. Cheng, Rheology of bacterial suspensions under confinement, Rheol. Acta 58, 439 (2019).
B. Zhang and X. Cheng, Long-wavelength fluctuations and static correlations in quasi-2D colloidal suspensions, Soft Matter 15, 4087 (2019).
Y. Zhang, S. Sezen, X. Cheng, and R. Rajamani, Supercapacitive Strain Sensor with Ultra-High Sensitivity and Range, IEEE Sens. Lett. 3, 2500504 (2019).
2018
Y. Zhang, S. Sezen, M. Ahmadi, X. Cheng, and R. Rajamani, Paper-Based Supercapacitive Mechanical Sensors, Sci. Rep. 8, 16284 (2018).
S. Shin, K. D. Dorfman, and X. Cheng, Effect of edge disturbance on shear banding in polymeric solutions, J. Rheol. 62, 1339 (2018).
M. Gao, X. Liu, L. P. Vanin, T.-P. Sun, L. Gordillo, and X. Cheng, Dynamics and Scaling of Explosion Cratering in Granular Media, AIChE J. 64, 2972 (2018).
S. Guo, D. Samanta, Y. Peng, X. Xu, and X. Cheng, Symmetric shear banding and swarming vortices in bacterial superfluids, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 115, 7212 (2018).
L. Gordillo, T.-P. Sun, and X. Cheng, Dynamics of drop impact on solid surfaces: evolution of impact force and self-similar spreading, J. Fluid Mech. 840, 190 (2018).
L. Bai, R. Sharma, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Kinetic Control of Graphene Localization in Cocontinuous Polymer Blends via Melt Compounding, Langmuir 34, 1073 (2018).
2017
S. Shin, K. D. Dorman, and X. Cheng, Shear-banding and superdiffusivity in entangled polymer solutions, Phys. Rev. E 96, 062503 (2017).
T. Pham, X. Cheng, and S. Kumar, Drying of Multicomponent Thin Films on Substrates with Topography, J. Polym. Sci. Pol. Phys. 55, 1681 (2017).
L. Bai, S. He, J. W. Fruehwirth, A. Stein, C. W. Macosko, and X. Cheng, Localizing Graphene at the Interface of Cocontinuous Polymer Blends: Morphology, Rheology and Conductivity of Cocontinuous Conductive Polymer Composites, J. Rheol. 61, 575 (2017).
Y. Abe, B. Zhang, L. Gordillo, A. M. Karim, L. F. Francis, and X. Cheng, Dynamic self-assembly of charged colloidal strings and walls in simple fluid flows, Soft Matter 13, 1681 (2017).
2016
O. Yang, Y. Peng, Z. Liu, C. Tang, X. Xu, and X. Cheng, Dynamics of ellipsoidal tracers in swimming algal suspensions, Phys. Rev. E 94, 042601 (2016).
S. Huang, L. Bai, M. Trifkovic, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Controlling the Morphology of Immiscible Cocontinuous Polymer Blends via Silica Nanoparticles Jammed at the Interface, Macromolecules 49, 3911 (2016).
B. Zhang and X. Cheng, Structures and dynamics of glass-forming colloidal liquids under spherical confinement, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 098302 (2016) (Selected as "Editors' Suggestion" with Synopsis).
Y. Peng, L. Lai, Y.-S. Tai, K. Zhang, X. Xu, and X. Cheng, Diffusion of ellipsoids in bacterial suspensions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 068303 (2016) (Selected as "Editors' Suggestion").
2015
Q. Zhang, M. Gao, R. Zhao, and X. Cheng, Scaling of liquid-drop impact craters in wet granular media, Phys. Rev. E 92, 042205 (2015) (Selected as "Editors' Suggestion").
R. Zhao, Q. Zhang, H. Tjugito, and X. Cheng, Raindrop impact on a sandy surface, Phys. Fluids 27, 091111 (2015).
R. Zhao, Q. Zhang, and X. Cheng, Raindrop imprints and asteroid strikes, Phys. Today 68(3), 72 (2015).
L. Bai, J. Fruehwirth, X. Cheng, and C. W. Macosko, Dynamics and rheology of nonpolar bijels, Soft Matter 11, 5282 (2015).
R. Zhao, Q. Zhang, H. Tjugito, and X. Cheng, Granular impact cratering by liquid drops: Understanding raindrop imprints through an analogy to asteroid strikes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 112, 342 (2015).
2014
N. Y. C. Lin, J. McCoy, X. Cheng, B. Leahy, J. Israelachvili, and I. Cohen, A multi-axis confocal rheoscope for studying shear flow of structured fluids, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 85, 033905 (2014).
X. Cheng, L. Gordillo, W. W. Zhang, H. M. Jaeger, and S. R. Nagel, Impact dynamics of granular jets with non-circular cross-sections, Phys. Rev. E 89, 042201 (2014).
N. Y. C. Lin, X. Cheng, and I. Cohen, Biaxial shear of confined colloidal hard spheres: the structure and rheology of the vorticity-aligned string phase, Soft Matter 10, 1969 (2014).
N. Y. C. Lin, S. Goyal, X. Cheng, R. N. Zia, F. A. Escobedo, and I. Cohen, Far-from-equilibrium sheared colloidal liquids: Disentangling relaxation, advection, and shear-induced diffusion, Phys. Rev. E 88, 062309 (2013).
Before joining UMN (July 2013)
B. D. Leahy, X. Cheng, D. C. Ong, C. Liddell-Watson, and I. Cohen, Enhancing Rotational Diffusion Using Oscillatory Shear, Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 228301 (2013).
X. Cheng, X.-L. Xu, A. R. Dinner S. A. Rice, and I. Cohen, Assembly of vorticity-aligned hard-sphere colloidal strings in a simple shear flow, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 63 (2012).
X. Cheng, J. H. McCoy, J. N. Israelachvili, and I. Cohen, Imaging the Microscopic Structure of Shear Thinning and Thickening Colloidal Suspensions, Science 333, 1276 (2011).
X. Cheng, Packing structure of a two-dimensional granular system through the jamming transition, Soft Matter 6, 2931 (2010).
X. Cheng, Experimental study of the jamming transition at zero temperature, Phys. Rev. E 81, 031301 (2010).
L.-N. Zou, X. Cheng, M. L. Rivers, H. M. Jaeger, and S. R. Nagel, The Packing of Granular Polymer Chains, Science 326, 408 (2009).
X. Cheng, R. Smith, H. M. Jaeger, and S. R. Nagel, Formation of air bubbles during compaction of a granular pack, Phys. Fluids 20, 123305 (2008).
X. Cheng, L. Xu, A. Patterson, H. M. Jaeger, and S. R. Nagel, Towards the zero-surface-tension limit in granular fingering instability, Nat. Phys. 4, 234 (2008).
X. Cheng, G. Varas, D. Citron, H. M. Jaeger, and S. R. Nagel, Collective Behavior in a Granular Jet: Emergence of a Liquid with Zero Surface Tension, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 188001 (2007).
X. Cheng, J. B. Lechman, A. F. Barbero et al., Three-dimensional shear in granular flow, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 038001 (2006).
M. E. Möbius, X. Cheng, P. Eshuis, G. S. Karczmar, S. R. Nagel, and H. M. Jaeger, The Effect of Air on Granular Size Separation in a Vibrated Granular Bed, Phys. Rev. E 72, 011304 (2005).
M. E. Möbius, X. Cheng, G. S. Karczmar, S. R. Nagel, and H. M. Jaeger, Intruders in the Dust: Air-Driven Granular Size Separation, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 198001 (2004).
G.-J. Lin, X. Cheng, and Q. Ouyang, Breakdown of an Inhomogeneous Scale-free Network Under Intentional Attack, Chin. Phys. Lett. 20, 22 (2003).
X. Cheng, H.-L. Wang, and Q. Ouyang, Scale-free network model of node and connection diversity, Phys. Rev. E 65, 066115 (2002).
X. Cheng and Q. Ouyang, Numerical and analytical study of evolution of indirect reciprocity, Physica A 313, 683 (2002).
Y.-B. Hu, J. Xiang, and X. Cheng, Three-dimensional reconstruction of blood vessels from a 2D correlation analysis of vessel slices, Chinese J. Eng. Math. 19, 29 (2002).