Research | leferrandresearchlab

Rationale and Global Picture

Rationale

We combine sustainable manufacturing with bioinspired design to create high performance materials. These materials stand out by their structural and multifunctional properties, while they are processed with lower environmental cost. Among our approaches, we use 3D printing, abundant building blocks, and water as a solvent. Our methods are experimental, but leverages computational modeling as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Our research is multidisciplinary, operates at multiple lengthscales, from nano to macroscale, and goes from fundamental understanding to scalable applications.

Key words: manufacturing, sustainability, composites, ceramics, biomimicry, multifunctionality, high performance, reverse engineering, microstructural design.
Applications: high performance and sustainable solutions for high power electronics, sensing systems, high temperature applications, implants, and the built environment, among others.

Selected publications depicting the overarching aims:

Controlled local orientation of 2D nanomaterials in 3D devices: methods and prospects for multifunctional designs and enhanced performance, Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2022).
Assessment of nacre-like ceramics in replacement to Ni superalloys in aircraft’s engines, Sustainable Materials and Technology (2022).
3D printing towards a sustainable future, Accounts of Materials Research (2020).

Research focus areas

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Thematics

Additive manufacturing of microstructured composites and ceramics.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

Automated magnetic 6D printer for printing materials with locally controlled microstructures, International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2026).
Bioinspired processing for the sustainable fabrication of high-performance bioinspired ceramic-reinforced polymer composites, Matter (2024).
Continuous 3D printing of microstructured multifunctional materials, Additive manufacturing (2023).
Magnetically assisted drop-on-demand 3D printing of microstructured multimaterial composites, Nature Communications (2022).
Processing of dense bio-inspired ceramics with deliberate microtexture, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. (2019).

Bio-inspired microstructured composites and ceramics.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

R.P. Behera, Z. He, C. Chia, H. Gao, H. Le Ferrand, Fracture-mechanics design of mineral-bridged interfaces enables damage-tolerant, high-temperature bioinspired ceramics, Advanced Functional Materials (2026).
Magnetically assisted slip casting with pressureless sintering to produce microstructured alumina-copper composites, Journal of the European Ceramics Society (2025).
Rational design and fabrication of hierarchical ceramics using bioinspired microstructures for tailorable strength and toughness, Cells Reports Physical Science (2024).
Izod impact resistance of 3D printed discontinuous fibrous composites with Bouligand microstructure, NPG Asia Materials (2023).
Ultrafast high-temperature sintering of textured alumina, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2022).
Energy dissipation in hybrid nacre-like helicoidal microstructures, Composites Part B (2022).

High performance multifunctional materials.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

W. Peng, J. Ding, H. Le Ferrand, Reverse design of complex ceramic shapes using deep learning and evolutionary algorithms, Additive manufacturing (2026).
Robotic Materials with Bioinspired Microstructures for High Sensitivity and Fast Actuation, Advanced Science (2025)
Modulation of the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness through micro/macrostructure design for electronic packaging, NPG Asia Materials (2024).
Thermal rectification in modularly designed bulk metamaterials, Advanced materials (2024).
Microstructured BN composites with internally designed high thermal conductivity paths for 3D electronic packaging,
Advanced materials (2022).
Programmable multistability for 3D printed reinforced multifunctional composites with reversible shape change,
Compo. Sci. Tech. (2022).
Filtered mechanosensing using snapping composites with embedded mechano-electrical transduction, ACS Nano (2019).

Biodegradable and natural composites.

Selected publications under this thematic area:

D. Sharma, J.J.R. Tan, H. Le Ferrand, Living Wood-Polymer Composites with Tunable Half-Lives and Enhanced Performance, Advanced Sustainable Systems (2026).
D. Sharma, H. Le Ferrand, 3D printed gyroid scaffolds enabling strong and thermally insulating mycelium-bound composites for greener infrastructures, Nature communications (2025).
Manipulating fungal growth in engineered living materials through precise deposition of nutrients, International Journal of Bioprinting (2024).
Woodpile structural designs to increase the stiffness of mycelium-bound composites, Materials & Design (2023).
Temporal characterization of biocycles of mycelium-bound composites made from bamboo and Pleurotus ostreatus for indoor usage, Scientific Reports (2022).