Xiao Huang

Xiao Huang

Graduate Student

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Xiao joined MIT and the Kulik Group in 2021 as a PhD student in Physical Chemistry. He graduated from UCB in 2021 majoring Chemistry and Applied Math. At Cal, he worked in Prof Paul Alivisatos` lab on elucidating the synthesis and transformation of perovskite nanocrystals–through manual experiments and ML modeling. In the Kulik group, Xiao will be working on designing catalysts for polymer upcycling.

Interests
  • mechanochemistry
  • catalysis
  • materials design
Education
  • BS in Chemistry, BA Applied math, 2021

    UC Berkeley

Publications

  1. Computational Design of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Mechanocatalysts (2026)
  2. High-Throughput Discovery of Conformation-Switching Mechanophores with Novel Response and Enhanced Reactivity (2026)
  3. Reimagining Polymer Networks from Molecule to Material (2025)
  4. High-Throughput Discovery of Ferrocene Mechanophores with Enhanced Reactivity and Network Toughening (2025)
  5. Enabling Selective Mechanochemical Scission of Network Crosslinks by Exchanging Single Carbon Atoms for Silicon (2025)
  6. Force-Activated Spin-Crossover in Fe²⁺ and Co²⁺ Transition Metal Mechanophores (2025)
  7. Caged AIEgens: Multicolor and White Emission Triggered by Mechanical Activation (2024)
  8. A Thermally Stable SO₂ Releasing Mechanophore: Facile Activation, Single-Event Spectroscopy, and Molecular Dynamic Simulations (2024)
  9. Metal Identity Effects in the Fracture Behavior of Coordinatively Crosslinked Elastomers (2023)