Yao Yang
Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Academic focus:
Our generation is facing a grand challenge to shift the global energy landscape from fossil fuels to renewable clean energy and tackle the pressing green-house gas emission issues. Electrochemistry represents one of the most promising approaches for enhancing energy efficiency, mitigating environmental impacts and carbon emissions, and enabling renewable energy technologies. My physical electrochemistry group’s work lies at the interface of chemistry and energy materials. We focus on a fundamental understanding of electrochemical mechanisms at interfaces with an emphasis on CO2 reduction, clean H2 production and rechargeable batteries. Our central objective involves the development of operating methods to investigate fundamental aspects of solid-liquid interfaces related to renewable energy technologies, using advanced electron microscopy facilities at the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) and synchrotron X-ray methods at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS).
Current research project:
The Yang group focuses on developing multimodal operando electron microscopy and synchrotron based X-ray methods to address grand challenges in probing chemical dynamics of energy materials at solid-liquid interfaces across multiple spatiotemporal scales. We are pushing and defining the frontier of operando electrochemical liquid-cell scanning transmission electron microscopy (EC-STEM), equipped with machine-learning-driven four-dimensional (4D) STEM, to interrogate dynamic structural evolution of electrocatalysts at the atomic scale.
Previous positions:
- Miller Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, 2021-2024
Academic background:
- Ph.D., Chemistry, Cornell University, 2021
- B.S., Chemistry, Wuhan University, China, 2015
Last book read:
“The Alchemy of Air” by Thomas Hager
In your own time/when not working:
Watching ice hockey (Go Big Red!), downhill skiing (learned how to ski at Cornell), long-distance biking
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:
CHEM6291: Electrochemistry of Energy Materials
What most excites you about Cornell:
I received my graduate education at Cornell and now it's my turn to contribute back to Cornell and educate the next generation of budding scientists for a clean energy future.
Website:
