Yi Zheng

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.

Selected Publications

• Yanpei Tian, Alok Ghanekar, Lijuan Qian, Matt Ricci, Otto Gregory, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng*, “Tunable Wavelength Selectivity of Photonic Metamaterials-based Thermal Devices”, Journal of Photonics for Energy, 9(3), 032708, 2019. (Invited Paper)
• Yanpei Tian, Alok Ghanekar, Lijuan Qian, Matt Ricci, Otto Gregory, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng*, “Near-infrared Optics of Nanoparticles Embedded Silica Thin Films”, Optics Express, 27(4), A148-A157, 2019.
• Alok Ghanekar, Yanpei Tian, Matt Ricci, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng*, “Performance Enhancement of Near-field Thermoradiative Devices Using Hyperbolic Metamaterials”, Journal of Photonics for Energy, 9(3), 032706, 2019.
• Alok Ghanekar, Matt Ricci, Yanpei Tian, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng*, “Strain-induced Modulation of Near-field Radiative Transfer”, Applied Physics Letters, 112, 241104, 2018. (Editor’s Pick)
• Alok Ghanekar, Yanpei Tian, Matt Ricci, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng*, “Dynamic Optical Response of SU-8 upon UV Treatment”, Optical Materials Express, 8 (7), pp. 2017-2025, 2018.
• Yanpei Tian, Alok Ghanekar, Lijuan Qian, Matt Ricci, Mikhail Hyde, Otto Gregory, Gang Xiao, Yi Zheng*, “Tunable Wavelength Selectivity of Metamaterials in Near-field and Far-field Radiative Thermal Transport”, Materials, 11(5), 862, 2018.
• Alok Ghanekar, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng*, “High Contrast Far-field Radiative Thermal Diode”, Scientific Reports, 7, 6339, 2017.
• Alok Ghanekar, Jun Ji and Yi Zheng*, “High-Rectification Thermal Diode Using Phase Change Periodic Nanostructure”, Applied Physics Letters, 109, 123106, 2016.
• Alok Ghanekar, Laura Lin and Yi Zheng*, “Novel and Efficient Mie-metamaterial Thermal Emitter for Thermophotovoltaic Systems”, Optics Express, 24 (10), A868-A877, 2016.

In the Media

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.”

Faculty

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 […]

Faculty

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.

Faculty

Jul 01, 2020

Solar-Powered Water Desalination System to Address Water, Energy Crises

MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng recently received a $355,408 Soleeva Energy Innovation Award to develop a functional interfacial structure for solar driven water desalination and purification. The system would also be integrated with solar photovoltaic systems. San Jose, California-based Soleeva Energy is sponsoring the research. Zheng said he will be working with Soleeva President and […]

Faculty

Sep 03, 2019

Zheng Awarded NSF CAREER Award

MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was awarded a $500K NSF CAREER grant for the “Investigation of Nanoscale Radiative Heat Transfer for Enhanced Thermal Infrared Energy Conversion and Cooling.”

Faculty

Aug 29, 2019

New Faculty Spotlight: Yi Zheng

Yi Zheng joins the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering department in August 2019 as an Associate Professor.

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