Yi Zheng
Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Affilitated Faculty, Chemical 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. (2015), 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
- 2023 American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) Early Career Researcher Award
- 2022 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award
- 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
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
Oct 24, 2023
Using Spark Fund Award to Revolutionize Cooling Technology
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng is using the Spark Funds he received earlier this year to develop and commercialize more practical passive cooling products to combat the negative effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Oct 24, 2023
Zheng Selected as NECAA Scientist of the Year
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was honored to be selected and conferred the title of the “Scientist of the Year” by the New England Chinese American Alliance at the NECAA Annual Gala.
Sep 08, 2023
Developing Eco-Friendly Cooling Solutions
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng’s spinout from his lab at Northeastern, Planck Energies, has received a $275K NSF grant for “Climate-Eco-friendly Biocoating for Passive Cooling of Infrastructure.”
Jul 26, 2023
Eco-Friendly Passive Cooling with Recycled Packaging Plastics
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng’s research group Nano Energy Laboratory published their research on “Oil-paper-umbrella-inspired passive radiative cooling using recycled packaging foam” in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A and “Eco-friendly passive radiative cooling using recycled packaging plastics” in Materials Today Sustainability.
Jul 21, 2023
Pioneering Sustainable Solutions in Clean Energy
Planck Energies, founded by MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng, is a clean-energy startup that is developing cutting-edge renewable energy solutions for commercial and residential environments. Planck Energies: Pioneering Sustainability in the Entrepreneurial Community at Northeastern Northeastern University, renowned for its groundbreaking research and entrepreneurial spirit, has become a thriving ecosystem for innovation and startup development. […]
Jul 20, 2023
Fall 2023 Spark Fund Awardees
MIE Associate Professor Randal Erb, ChE/BioE Associate Professor Eno Ebong, ChE Professor Rebecca Carrier, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng are recipients of the Fall 2023 Spark Fund Awards.
Mar 13, 2023
Top 100 in Materials Science – 2022
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng’s research on “Dome-arrayed chitosan/PVA hydrogel-based solar evaporator for steam generation” was featured as one of the top 100 downloaded material science articles by Scientific Reports.
Feb 02, 2023
2023 Acorn Innovation Awards
ECE Assistant Professor Sarah Ostadabbas, Professor Deniz Erdogmus, and MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng received MassVentures Acorn Innovation Awards to assist them in testing the viability of their technologies and potentially bringing their research to market.
Jan 05, 2023
Zheng Receives ASTFE Early Career Researcher Award
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was awarded the inaugural American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE) Early Career Researcher Award for his significant contributions to the field of Thermal and Fluids Engineering. The award was presented at the ASTFE Conference in March 2023.
Dec 07, 2022
Zheng Receives State Recognition for Contributions to Sustainability and Clean Technology
MIE Associate Professor Yi Zheng was recognized by the Massachusetts House of Representatives for his “Outstanding Contributions to Sustainability and Clean Technology”. Zheng is devoted to clean energy education, research, and business, to provide climate-friendly energy-saving solutions and reduce carbon emissions globally.