Yi Zheng
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Office
- 273 SN
- 617.373.5558
Lab
- 440A RI
Related Links
Research Focus
Nanoscale thermal transport; Nanoengineered materials; Multifunctional composites; Microfluidics; Chemical and biological nanosensors; Renewable energy harvesting; Thermophotovoltaics; Photon-based radiative cooling
About
Prof. Yi Zheng is an Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and the Director of Nano Energy Laboratory at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, United States. Prior to joining Northeastern, Prof. Zheng was an assistant professor from 2014 to 2019 and promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2019 at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, RI, United States. His research interests include theoretical, computational and experimental investigations on enhanced energy transport phenomena, thermal/optical/electromagnetic sensing, physical properties of nanoengineered metamaterials, and their applications in energy conversion, storage, and harvesting systems, thermophotovoltaics, wavelength selective thermal emitters/absorbers, near-field thermal diodes and transistors, and photon-based radiative cooling technique.
Prof. Zheng serves as editorial board member for Scientific Reports and associate editor for Journal of Photonics for Energy, and reviewer for peer-reviewed journals, such as Nature Communications, Nano Energy, Physical Review Letters, Applied Physics Letters, Scientific Reports, Nano Letters, and serves as topic/session chair at international conferences, such as ASME IMECE Conference and ASME Summer Heat Transfer Conference.
Education
- Ph.D. (2014), Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY
- M.S. (2011), Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY
- B.S. (2009), Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Honors & Awards
- 2021 NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow
- 2019 NSF Faculty Early Career (CAREER) Award
- 2019 ONR-NIUVT Undersea Energy Systems Grant
- 2018 NASA EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Development Award
- 2017 NIH RI-INBRE Early Career Development Award
- 2017 RI Foundation Research Award
- 2016 NIH RI-INBRE Pilot Research Development Award
- 2015 RI Science & Technology Advisory Council Award
Teaching Interests
- Classical and Small-Scale Heat Transfer
- Thermodynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Solar Thermal Engineering
- Micro and Nanotechnology
Research Overview
Nanoscale thermal transport; Nanoengineered materials; Multifunctional composites; Microfluidics; Chemical and biological nanosensors; Renewable energy harvesting; Thermophotovoltaics; Photon-based radiative cooling
Nano Energy Laboratory
The Nano Energy Laboratory features Nano Energy from multiple disciplines in materials science, physics, and engineering at Northeastern University. It emphasizes the basic and applied study of small-scale thermal transport through multifunctional materials with advanced thermal, optical, electromagnetic properties, super-hydrophobicity, self-adaptivity, high-temperature resistance, and self-cleaning and fire-retardant features. These materials can be applied in the areas of renewable energy harvesting, thermophotovoltaics, passive radiative cooling, solar desalination and purification, thermo rectification devices, and nanoscale opto-thermal sensing. Recently, Prof. Zheng’s research focus is on transforming sustainable biomass-derived composites such as cellulose fibers and farm waste to recyclable, cost-effective functional materials.
Selected Research Projects
- CAREER: Investigation of Nanoscale Radiative Heat Transfer for Enhanced Thermal Infrared Energy Conversion and Cooling
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Functional Composites for Solar Energy Exploration
- – Principal Investigator, Soleeva Energy Inc
- Novel Metamaterials for Infrared Radiative Cooling
- – Principal Investigator, NASA EPSCoR RID
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- Liu, X., Tian, Y., Chen, F., Caratenuto, A., DeGiorgis, J., ELSonbaty, M., Wan, Y., Ahlgren, R., Zheng, Y. (2021). An Easy-to-fabricate 2.5D Evaporator for Efficient Solar Desalination. Advanced Functional Materials, 2100911. 10.1002/adfm.202100911
- Tian, Y., Shao, H., Liu, X., Chen, F., Li, Y., Tang, C., Zheng, Y. (2021) Superhydrophobic and Recyclable Cellulose-fiber-based Composites for High-Efficiency Passive Radiative Cooling. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 13, 19, 22521. 10.1021/acsami.1c04046
- Chen, F., Xu, L., Tian, Y., Caratenuto, A., Lium, X., Zheng, Y. (2021). Electrospun Polycaprolactone Nanofiber Composites with Embedded Carbon Nanotubes/Nanoparticles for Photothermal Absorption. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 4, 5, 5230. 10.1021/acsanm.1c00623
Mar 25, 2022
High-Efficiency Radiant Energy Transfer
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng, in collaboration with industrial partner Faraday Technology, Inc. in Ohio, was awarded a $250K DARPA SBIR grant for “Near-field thermophotovoltaic system with nanostructured absorber/emitter for high-efficiency radiant energy transfer.”
Mar 07, 2022
Designing a Solar-Driven Water Desalination System
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was awarded a $250K NSF grant to develop a “Solar Evaporator-Based High-Efficiency Water Desalination System.”
Jan 27, 2022
2022 Spark Fund Awardees
BioE Professor Jeff Ruberti, ECE Assistant Professor Aatmesh Shrivastava, ChE Assistant Professor Benjamin Woolston, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng are recipients of Spark Fund Awards, which help Northeastern researchers bridge the gap between promising lab results and demonstrating a commercially viable prototype.
Dec 02, 2021
Cow Manure Turned Into Filter to Make Drinking Water from Seawater
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was featured in the Science Times article “Cow Manure Turned Into Filter to Make Drinking Water from Seawater.”
Nov 18, 2021
Zheng’s Research Featured on Covers of Royal Society of Chemistry Journals
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng’s research has been featured on covers of two Royal Society of Chemistry journals – Nanoscale and Journal of Chemistry Materials A.
Oct 21, 2021
Using Natural Materials to Produce Drinkable Water
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng is using natural materials like cow manure and hornet nests to create filters that can be used in desalination systems.
Oct 12, 2021
Cooling Paper
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was interviewed by the host of the “Top of Mind with Julie Rose”, Julie Rose, the Gracie Award recipient, and her team for his cooling paper technology.
Jun 16, 2021
Inventor Creates New Material that Can Keep Buildings Cool Without Air Conditioning
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng’s research was featured in The Hill, titled, “Inventor Creates New Material that Can Keep Buildings Cool Without Air Conditioning.” Other sampling media coverage: Good News Network, Home Improvement News, Spring Wise, Community of Flights,
Jun 09, 2021
Using Recycled Paper to Cool the Air
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng developed a “cooling paper” that could help cool the air in homes and businesses without the use of electricity. How to keep cool without turning on the A/C Main photo: What if buildings could stay cool all on their own—no electricity required? That’s the premise of a new invention by […]
Mar 17, 2021
Zheng Selected as NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was selected to be a NASA Glenn Faculty Fellow in the area of “Harsh Environment Sensor Development” during summer 2021.