Yingjie Zhang

For More Information

• Zhang Research Group Website

Education

• BS in Physics (Summa Cum Laude), Nankai University (2010)
• PhD in Applied Science and Technology, University of California, Berkeley (2015)

Biography

Dr. Zhang is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Science and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley (2015). He received the Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarship from the American Vacuum Society in 2014, the Graduate Student Award from the Materials Research Society in 2015, the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad in 2015, the Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship at UIUC during 2015-2018, the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award in 2019, the Beckman Young Investigator Award from the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation in 2021, and the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2024.

Academic Positions

• Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC, 2019 - now
• Faculty Affiliate, Materials Research Laboratory, UIUC, 2019 - now
• Part-time Faculty, Beckman Institute, UIUC, 2023 - now

Research Statement

The Zhang group study complex interfaces and molecular systems, with the goal of: 1) understanding the fundamental atomic and molecular scale processes at solid-liquid interfaces, such as dynamic solvation, electrochemical energy conversion, and catalysis; 2) deciphering the structure, distribution, and function of various small molecules in liquid electrolytes and biological systems; and 3) bringing solutions to the society, in areas of renewable energy and healthcare.

Our research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning over areas of physical/materials/analytical chemistry, condensed matter physics, chemical engineering, and mechanical/electrical engineering. We are always looking for motivated graduate students, postdocs, and undergrads to join us.

Research Interests

• Molecular Imaging and Spectroscopy
• Renewable Energy
• Surfaces and Interfaces
• Electrochemistry and catalysis
• Nanomaterials
• Cell Biology

Selected Articles in Journals

• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Zirui Wang, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, “Precise surface profiling at the nanoscale enabled by deep learning,” Nano Letters 24, 2589–2595 (2024). (journal cover)
• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Haiyi Wu, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, “Real-space charge density profiling of electrode–electrolyte interfaces with angstrom depth resolution,” ACS Nano 16, 19594–19604 (2022).
• Kaustubh S. Panse, Haiyi Wu, Shan Zhou, Fujia Zhao, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, “Innermost ion association configuration is a key structural descriptor of ionic liquids at electrified interfaces,” The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 13, 9464–9472 (2022).
• Jaehyeon Kim, Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse, Yingjie Zhang, "Spectroscopic investigation of the structure of a pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquid at electrified interfaces," The Journal of Chemical Physics, 156, 114701 (2022). (journal cover)
• Joseph Sklenar, Yingjie Zhang, Matthias Benjamin Jungfleisch, Youngseok Kim, Yiran Xiao, Gregory J. MacDougall, Matthew J. Gilbert, Axel Hoffmann, Peter Schiffer, Nadya Mason, “Proximity-induced anisotropic magnetoresistance in magnetized topological insulators,” Applied Physics Letters 118, 232402 (2021).
• Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, “Ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide using Bi2Te3 electrochemical sensors,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 13, 4761–4767 (2021).
• Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse, Mohammad Hossein Motevaselian, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, “Three-dimensional molecular mapping of ionic liquids at electrified interfaces,” ACS Nano 14, 17515–17523 (2020).
• Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, "3D mapping of the structural transitions in wrinkled 2D membranes: implications for reconfigurable electronics, memristors, and bio-electronic interfaces," ACS Applied Nano Materials 2, 5779-5786 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Youngseok Kim, Matthew J. Gilbert, Nadya Mason, “Magnetotransport in a strain superlattice of graphene,” Applied Physics Letters 115, 143508 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Jun Kang, Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Yves J. Chabal, Lin-Wang Wang, Javier Fernandez Sanz, Miquel Salmeron, “Nanoimaging of organic charge retention effects: implications for nonvolatile memory, neuromorphic computing, and high dielectric breakdown devices,” ACS Applied Nano Materials 2, 4711–4716 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Youngseok Kim, Matthew J Gilbert, Nadya Mason, “Electronic transport in a two-dimensional superlattice engineered via self-assembled nanostructures,” npj 2D Materials and Applications 2, 31 (2018).
• Yingjie Zhang, Mohammad Heiranian, Blanka Janicek, Zoe Budrikis, Stefano Zapperi, Pinshane Y. Huang, Harley T. Johnson, Narayana R. Aluru, Joseph W. Lyding, Nadya Mason, “Strain modulation of graphene by nanoscale substrate curvatures: a molecular view,” Nano Letters 18, 2098–2104 (2018).
• Nicholas J. Borys, Edward S. Barnard, Shiyuan Gao, Kaiyuan Yao, Wei Bao, Alexander Buyanin, Yingjie Zhang, Sefaattin Tongay, Changhyun Ko, Joonki Suh, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Junqiao Wu, Li Yang, P. James Schuck, “Anomalous above-gap photoexcitations and optical signatures of localized charge puddles in monolayer molybdenum disulfide,” ACS Nano 11, 2115–2123 (2017).
• Yingjie Zhang, Daniel J. Hellebusch, Noah D. Bronstein, Changhyun Ko, D. Frank Ogletree, Miquel Salmeron, A. Paul Alivisatos, “Ultrasensitive photodetectors exploiting electrostatic trapping and percolation transport,” Nature Communications 7, 11924 (2016).
• Miguel Muñoz-Rojo*, Yingjie Zhang*, Cristina V. Manzano, Raquel Alvaro, Johannes Gooth, Miquel Salmeron, Marisol S. Martin-Gonzalez, “Spatial potential ripples of azimuthal surface modes in topological insulator Bi2Te3 nanowires,” Scientific Reports 6, 19014 (2016).
• Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Anna Rynder, François Rochet, Yingjie Zhang, Miquel Salmeron and Yves J. Chabal, “Single charge electronics with gold nanoparticles and organic monolayers,” MRS Proceedings 1817, imrc2015abs032 (2016).
• Olivier Pluchery, Yingjie Zhang, Rabah Benbalagh, Louis Caillard, Jean-Jacques Gallet, Fabrice Bournel, Anne-Félicie Lamic-Humblot, Miquel Salmeron, Yves J. Chabal, François Rochet, “Static and dynamic electronic characterization of organic monolayers grafted on a silicon surface,” Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 18, 3675–3684 (2016).
• Yingjie Zhang, Danylo Zherebetskyy, Noah D. Bronstein, Sara Barja, Leonid Lichtenstein, A. Paul Alivisatos, Lin-Wang Wang, Miquel Salmeron, “Molecular oxygen induced in-gap states in PbS quantum dots,” ACS Nano 9, 10445–10452 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Qian Chen, A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel Salmeron, “Dynamic charge carrier trapping in quantum dot field effect transistors,” Nano Letters 15, 4657–4663 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Danylo Zherebetskyy, Noah D. Bronstein, Sara Barja, Leonid Lichtenstein, David Schuppisser, Lin-Wang Wang, A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel Salmeron, “Charge percolation pathways guided by defects in quantum dot solids,” Nano Letters 15, 3249–3253 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Suchinda Sattayaporn, Anne-Félicie Lamic-Humblot, Sandra Casale, Yves Chabal, Miquel Salmeron, “Sensing the charge state of single gold nanoparticles via work function measurements,” Nano Letters 15, 51–55 (2015).
• Wei Bao, Nicholas J. Borys, Changhyun Ko, Joonki Suh, Wen Fan, Andrew Thron, Yingjie Zhang, Alexander Buyanin, Jie Zhang, Stefano Cabrini, Paul D. Ashby, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Sefaattin Tongay, Shaul Aloni, D. Frank Ogletree, Junqiao Wu, Miquel B. Salmeron, P. James Schuck, “Visualizing nanoscale excitonic relaxation properties of disordered edges and grain boundaries in monolayer molybdenum disulfide,” Nature Communications 6, 7993 (2015).
• Danylo Zherebetskyy, Yingjie Zhang, Miquel Salmeron, Lin-Wang Wang, “Tolerance of intrinsic defects in PbS quantum dots,” Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 6, 4711–4716 (2015).
• Danylo Zherebetskyy, Marcus Scheele, Yingjie Zhang, Christopher Thompson, Noah Bronstein, David Britt, Miquel Salmeron, A. Paul Alivisatos, Lin-Wang Wang, “Hydroxylation of the surface of PbS nanocrystals passivated with oleic acid,” Science 344, 1380–1384 (2014).
• Yingjie Zhang, Dominik Ziegler, Miquel Salmeron, “Charge trapping states at the SiO2-oligothiophene monolayer interface in field effect transistors studied by Kelvin probe force microscopy,” ACS Nano 7, 8258–8265 (2013).
• Yingjie Zhang, Ruoyang Zhang, Qingru Wang, Zhishuai Zhang, Haibo Zhu, Jiadong Liu, Feng Song, Shanxin Lin, Edwin Yue Bun Pun, “Fluorescence enhancement of quantum emitters with different energy systems near a single spherical metal nanoparticle,” Optics Express 18, 4316–4328 (2010).
• Yingjie Zhang, Ruoyang Zhang, Zhishuai Zhang, Haibo Zhu, Feng Song, “Surface polariton generation and fluorescence enhancement using a superlens,” Journal of the Optical Society of America B 26, 2337–2341 (2009).
• Ye Xu, Bin Wu, Yingjie Zhang, Zelong Liu, Haokai Sun, Danning Di, “Discrimination between neutrino events and backgrounds using pulse shape information in reactor neutrino experiments,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A 610, 590–596 (2009).

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) Molecular Imaging of the Local Solvation, Nucleation and Growth Processes at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-02 2904
• Jaehyeon Kim, Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse and Yingjie Zhang, "Probing Molecular Structures at Electrified Interfaces Using in-Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2495
• Fujia Zhao and Yingjie Zhang, "Potential Dependent Evolution of Electric Double Layer at Electrode/Water Interface," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2507
• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Haiyi Wu, Narayana R. Aluru and Yingjie Zhang, "Unraveling Spatial Charge Density Distributions at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2384
• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) Elucidating Solvation Structures and Their Impact on SEI Formation at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2022 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2022-01 1146

Patents

• Yingjie Zhang, Fujia Zhao, “Coated electrode, electrochemical sensor and method for detection of hydrogen peroxide,” U.S. Patent, Publication number: US20230141805A1, Filed on Nov. 8, 2022, Published on May 11, 2023.
• A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel B. Salmeron, Yingjie Zhang, Daniel J. Hellebusch, “Photodetectors exploiting electrostatic trapping and percolation transport,” U.S. Patent, Publication numbers: US20170148938A1, US10177271B2, Filed on Nov. 23, 2016, Granted on Jan. 8, 2019.

Honors

• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2024)
• Early Career Travel Award, The Electrochemical Society (2023)
• Beckman Young Investigator Award, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (2021)
• ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2019)
• Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2015-2018)
• Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad (2015)
• Graduate Student Award, Materials Research Society (2015)
• Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarship, American Vacuum Society (2014)
• Best Poster Award, MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit (2014)
• Anselmo Macchi Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley (2014)