Sankhya Hirani
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Peter Pauzauskie Anion battery systems have the potential of comparable performance and lower cost than other leading battery materials. The lower cost is possible with more earth-abundant material options. There is a gap in our understanding of the solid-state electronic and ionic transport in some of these battery systems. I will be investigating this behavior to better understand key mechanisms in battery performance....
Ren S Pumulo
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisors: Xiaodong Xu and Arka Majumdar Photonic crystal cavities and other periodic dielectric devices enable unique light-matter phenomena when coupled with emitters. Developments in 2D Van der Waals materials, particularly transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and magnetic semiconductors such as Chromium Bromide Sulfide (CrSBr), have shown a large potential for diverse light-matter phenomena, such as exciton-polaritons, enhanced photoluminescence, and single photon emission. The research I will conduct as a 3rd year graduate student in Professors Xiaodong Xu and Arka Majumdar’s groups, will primarily involve coupling photonic devices with 2D materials to enhance lasing and nonlinearity, to obtain more efficient energy. These devices...
Jay Dua
Department: Materials Science & Engineering Advisor: Dr. James De Yoreo My proposed research addresses these challenges by using AFM-based nanolithography to create novel versatile nanopatterned organothiol SAMs on muscovite mica—an unexplored system offering significantly improved reproducibility, reusability, reliability, and cost affordability for templating the biosensing molecular assembly. I will focus on developing a protocol for creating these SAMs and analyzing their efficacy in anchoring protein-based bio-receptors....
Hareesh Iyer
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Advisor: Eleftheria Roumeli Of the 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste generated since the 1950s, less than 10% has been recycled, while almost 80% has accumulated in landfills. These plastics often end up in the environment, causing acute trauma to animals that ingest them, and concentrating organic pollutants that can be harmful to animals and humans alike. My research in Dr. Eletheria Roumeli's lab focuses on the development of plastics that are sustainably sourced and biodegradable. I work with algae and plant biomatter, as well as bacteria and bacterially-produced biomatter, to create materials that are lower in environmental impact over their...
Xinqi Li
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Supervisor: Miqin Zhang/ Jim de Yoreo/ Shuai Zhang My research focuses on developing novel methods for recycling metal ions using bio-structure induced crystallization. We explore two mechanisms: coordination-based positioning of metal ions and indirect positioning via water molecules. Using Peptoid, a stable peptide mimic with diverse side-chain chemistry, we aim to efficiently capture metal ions like zinc, common in battery industry waste, to form functional nanocrystals. This work bridges fundamental science with practical applications in clean energy technologies like photocatalysis and solar cells, advancing sustainable environmental solutions....
Minh Duong
Department: Materials Science & Engineering Advisor: Jun Liu As a graduate student at the University of Washington Materials Science & Engineering, I am pursuing my PhD in the field of rechargeable batteries, with a focus on applying machine learning to accelerate the development and optimization of novel materials, particularly electrolytes for lithium-metal batteries. My passion for battery research stems from my belief that sustainable energy is one of the most pressing challenges and opportunities of our time, and that innovative solutions are needed to address the environmental, social, and economic impacts of fossil fuels. I am motivated by the potential of machine learning to unlock new...
Di Xiao
Di Xiao is Department Chair of Materials Science & Engineering, the Robert J. Campbell Chair in the College of Engineering, and Professor of Physics at the UW. Xiao develops novel ways to probe and control magnetism in van der Waals materials. He investigates novel phenomena, including transport and optical signatures of topological phases and heterostructure engineering of novel quantum states. Xiao is a renowned theorist in the field of quantum materials, having been named a Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Researcher every year since 2017, with his work cited over 46,000 times and holding an h-index of 71....
Rachel Woods-Robinson
Rachel Woods-Robinson (she/her) is a CEI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, with a collaborative appointment at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Dr. Woods-Robinson’s research focuses on assessing environmental and human impacts of scaling solar photovoltaic (PV) materials and other emerging technologies to address the climate crisis. Her research interests span from the nanoscale, such as sustainable materials discovery of new crystals for renewable energy, to the terawatt scale, such as strategies to scale photovoltaics to 2050 net-zero goals. She is mentored by Alberta “Birdie” Carpenter at NREL, is hosted at the UW by David Ginger, and collaborates with industrial partners. Dr. Woods-Robinson received her Ph.D. in...
Yusen Ye
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Advisor: Ting Cao, Di Xiao I'm currently in my third year pursuing a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, mentored by Prof. Ting Cao and Prof. Di Xiao. My research is centered on moiré systems that emerge when two layers of two-dimensional materials are stacked, resulting in a huge periodicity due to small lattice mismatches or twisted angles – sometimes up to 100 times the original lattice constant. The discovery of two-dimensional magnets has opened doors to an exciting subfield: moiré magnets. In this realm, magnetic behaviors can vary locally, and the combination of low...
Aaron Thomas
Department: Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Advisor: Jun Liu Aaron Thomas is a PhD student in Materials Science at the University of Washington, hailing from western New York. His research interests are in the development of clean energy storage mechanisms in the Jun Liu group, to support the growth of renewable energy. He is currently focusing on characterization of interphases formed in cycling of lithium metal-sulfur batteries, in the hopes of understanding the behavior at these interfaces through in-situ and ex-situ analysis. He began his work in energy storage as a second-year undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he later earned bachelor’s degrees in...
Anthony Romero
Department: Materials Science & Engineering Faculty Advisor: Jun Liu, Jihui Yang My name is Anthony Romero, a second year Materials Science and Engineering PhD student advised by Prof Jun Liu and Prof Jihui Yang. My research is focused around integrating Li metal into the negative electrode in Li-ion batteries. If done correctly, we can increase the theoretical gravimetric capacity ~10x versus industrially standardized carbon-based negative electrodes. However, there are many scientific/engineering challenges with using Li metal; the most prominent being uneven plating and stripping during repeated cycling – which ultimately leads to premature and/or unexpected cell failure. Various approaches currently exist to address this problem, ranging...
Meng-Yen Lin
Construction materials account for more than 10% of CO2 global emissions, highlighting the surging need for low-carbon building materials. Introducing carbon-sequestrating fillers in building materials with low-emission processes increases the possibility of decreasing the environmental impact of building materials. Deconvoluting the effects of chemical compositions of fillers and microstructure on the mechanical performance, insulation properties, and carbon sequestration ability of composites is crucial to the application. My research focuses on developing manufacturing methods using carbon-storing biobased materials to improve the mechanical properties and energy efficiency of green construction materials. Advisor: Eleftheria Roumeli — Materials Science & Engineering...