Assistant Professor Guihua Yu
The Mechanical Engineering Department welcomes new Assistant Professor Guihua Yu to the department. Yu graduated with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry with the highest honors from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and subsequently went to Harvard University for Ph.D. in Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Charles M. Lieber. In 2009, Dr. Yu moved from the east coast to the west coast to Stanford University working with Professors Zhenan Bao, Yi Cui and Eric S.G. Shaqfeh for three years of postdoctoral research.
Awards and Honors
He has been awarded the '2010 IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists' by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry for best doctoral research in chemical science, the '2007 MRS Graduate Student Award' by the Materials Research Society, the '2005 Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award' by Harvard University, and the '2003 Presidential Guo-Moruo Scholarship' by USTC as the top undergraduate in Chemistry.
Dr. Yu has given over 15 invited seminars or lectures in major scientific conferences and top universities in different countries, including the most recent ones at Peking University in China on the Workshop of "Materials Science and Materials Chemistry for Energy," and in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UC Berkeley.
Research Objectives
3D scheme of interconnected porous conductive polymer hydrogel network and bottle of polyaniline conductive hydrogel. See right column for more information.
Dr. Yu's research has been focused on rational design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials, fundamental understanding of their chemical and physical properties, and development of large-scale assembly and integration strategies to enable their technologically important applications ranging from energy science, electronics, and nanobiotechnology. His research program aims to explore the basic principles in chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering to enable both fundamental understanding of novel materials with designed nanoscale architectures, and development of their technological applications. Dr. Yu has published over 25 papers in the leading scientific journals including Science, Nature Nanotechnology, PNAS, Nano Letters, etc, and many of his works have been featured and highlighted in top scientific media, such as Nature News, Science News, ABC, Forbes, Discover, R&D Magazine, MIT Technology Review, Popular Science, etc.
For instance, his most recent work on conductive gels entitled "Printable, Electrically Conductive Gel for Energy Storage" was published in PNAS, and has been featured in Science Daily, Popular Science, Gizmag, R&D Magazine and Ars Technica, among others.
Currently, his main research interests include:
- Nanostructures-enabled energy storage and conversion devices: next-generation lithium batteries, electrochemical supercapacitors, thermoelectric devices, microbial fuel cells
- Self-assembled Nanosystems for flexible electronics and optoelectronics
- Hybrid inorganic-organic nanomaterial systems for functional interface with biological systems
Personal Story
Mountains in the countryside of Putian city where Yu grew up
Yu was born to a middle-class family in Putian (Fujian, China), a mountainous city which is the closest to Taiwan. His interest in science and technology is rooted from his family since his father was a chemical engineer.
Temple built into the side of a mountain. Yu's childhood home was 50 meters beneath it.
After finishing high school, Yu decided to attend USTC, often regarded as the 'Caltech of China,' to pursue his scientific dream since USTC is one of the best universities in China has the long tradition of sending high quality undergraduate students to the top universities in the United States and in Europe.
In his spare time, Yu likes to play ping pong, tennis, basketball, enjoys watching sports games (Go Longhorns!), hiking, and traveling with his family. He is married and has one two-and-half-year-old, very cute daughter.
