News

Oct. 30, 2024: Benga's book chapter "Mechanics of Two-Dimensional Materials" for the book of "Mechanics of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics" authored by Dr. Lu and Zhu has been published and is available online with Wiley. 

Oct. 16, 2024: Welcome Dr. Jiajun He to join our group as a Postdoctoral Fellow!

Oct. 11, 2024: Dr. Yang gave an invited talk entitled "Toughening two-dimensional materials" in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport & Energy at Arizona State University.  Appreciate Prof. Yan for the invitation.

Oct. 8-11, 2024: The service Engineering from Anton Paar was on campus to install BET system in Dr. Yang's group.

Sept. 25, 2024: Dr. Yang gave an invited talk entitled "Toughening two-dimensional materials" in the Department of Physics at the University of Missouri.  Appreciate Prof. Bian for the invitation.

Aug. 09, 2024: The project “Prototyping and Manufacturing Full Size Biochar-based Panels for Fire-resistant and Environmental Remediation Applications” has been funded by the USDA! Many thanks for the collaborators!

Aug. 09, 2024: Welcome Yuhao Tan to pursue his Ph.D. degree in our group!

Jun. 16, 2024: Welcome Michelle Wei, a high school student from the Green Hope High School to join our group remotely in Summer 2024!

Apr. 10, 2024: Welcome Dr. Xiahua Zhong to join our group as a Postdoctoral Fellow!

Mar. 29, 2024: Dr. Yang will give an invited talk entitled "Toughening two-dimensional materials" in George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.  Appreciate Prof. Dong for the invitation.

Mar. 25, 2024: Nuzhat and Benga's paper “Synthesis and Growth Mechanism of Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Close-Packed Silica” has been accepted by J. Crystal Growth. Congratulations to you all!

Mar. 15, 2024: Dr. Yang will give an invited talk entitled "Biomass enabled hybrid materials for advanced applications" in Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.  Many thanks to Prof. Liu for the invitation.

Mar. 15, 2024: Dr. Yang will give an invited talk entitled "Toughening two-dimensional materials" in Villanova University, Villanova, PA.  Appreciate Prof. Li for the invitation.

Mar. 14, 2024: Manish, Benga and Dr. Yang will participate "Engineering Week" in the University of Missouri to outreach to K-12 with topic of "Biomass enabled hybrid materials for advanced applications" demonstrated through "Flexible wood for air filtration" and "Biomass carbon for batteries" 

Feb. 20, 2024: Welcome Chen Zhang to pursue his Ph.D. degree in our group!

Feb. 05 and 09, 2024: Dr. Yang served as a volunteer for Technology Museum offered to 2nd and 4th graders in Beulah Ralph Elementary School.

Feb. 05, 2024: Welcome undergraduate student Ryan Egan to start the design and prototype of portable glovebox in our group!

Jan. 29, 2024: Welcome undergraduate student Natalie Noonan to start her research on MOFs for energy storage in our group!

Jan. 26, 2024: Manish and Dr. Yang outreached to 2nd graders in Beulah Ralph Elementary School by sharing the topic of "Hydrogen Bonding", which was experimented through making dough, demonstration of flour sticking to a pan, and throwing squishy animal walkers to walls. 

Jan. 25, 2024: Welcome undergraduate student Miguel Najera to start his research on advanced materials for CO2 capture in our group!

Jan. 15, 2024: Akhter, Manish, Aidan (Undergraduate)'s paper “Coupling Metal-Organic Frameworks and Biomass-based Carbon for Water Remediation” has been accepted by Nano Research. Congratulations to you all!

Jan. 08, 2024: Dr. Yang virtually gave an invited ASME NanoTG Lightning Talk “Coupling Biomass Carbon and Nanostructures for Energy Storage and Carbon Reduction”.

Dec. 01, 2023: Dr. Yang was recommended and will serve as Vice Chair for the Advanced Materials for Energy (AME) Technical Committee (TC) under ASME Materials Division. 

Nov. 17, 2023: Manish’s  coauthored paper “Carbon Capture: Theoretical Guidelines for Activated Carbon-Based CO2 Adsorption Material Evaluation” has been accepted by The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters . Congratulations, Manish!

Nov. 01, 2023: Manish Neupane presented a poster “Self-Promoting Energy Storage in Balsa Wood-Converted Porous Carbon Coupled with Carbon Nanotubes" and received Best Poster Award - Third Place in the ASME Society-Wide Micro and Nano Technology Forum, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, October 29-November 2, 2023

Oct. 17, 2023: The project “Engineering Spatial Wood Carbon Scaffolds with Nanocellulose Fillers for Water Desalination” has been funded by the DOI BOR! Many thanks for the program manager and collaborators!

Sept. 27, 2023: Dr. Yang received tenure at Mizzou.

Aug. 01, 2023: Dr. Yang continues his academic career as an associate professor at Mizzou.

Jul. 28, 2023: Manish’s  paper “Sodium-Dictated Free-Standing Lignin-Carbon Electrode towards Ultrahigh Capacitance” has been highlighted as Cover Feature by Batteries & Supercaps.

Jul. 25, 2023: Zoe Benedict passed the M.S. thesis defense. Congratulations Zoe!!! Please also give my best wishes to your Ph.D. study at University of Colorado Boulder!

Jul. 21, 2023: Nuzhat Maisha passed the M.S. thesis defense. Congratulations Nuzhat!!! Please also give my best wishes to your Ph.D. study at University of Virginia!

Jul. 19, 2023: Min Wang passed the Ph.D. thesis defense. Congratulations Dr. Wang!!! Please also give my best wishes to your postdoc position at Oak Ridge National Laboratory!

Jul. 13, 2023: Min’s  paper “Improved Solid-State Reaction Method for Scaled-Up Synthesis of Ceramic Proton-Conducting Electrolyte Materials” has been accepted by ACS Applied Energy Materials. Congratulations, Min!

Jun. 27, 2023: Dr. Yang’s ORNL CNMS user proposal has been approved.  Appreciate the support from stall scientists and group leaders in CNMS!

Jun. 23, 2023: Manish’s  paper “Sodium-Dictated Free-Standing Lignin-Carbon Electrode towards Ultrahigh Capacitance” has been accepted by Batteries & Supercaps. Congratulations, Manish!

Jun. 07, 2023: Zoe’s contributed equally paper “Carbon-assisted, continuous syngas production in a chemical looping scheme” has been accepted by Topics in Catalysis. Congratulations, Zoe!

Apr. 27, 2023: Zoe was awarded the 1st prize for student poster presentations at the Rocky Mountain Catalysis Society meeting in Salt lake City. Congratulations Zoe!

Apr. 14, 2023: Min is the recipient of “The 2023 Graduate Assistant Research Award” in the College of Engineering at UMaine. Congratulations Min!

Apr. 10, 2023: Zoe is the recipient of “The 2023 Outstnading Graduate Student Award” in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UMaine. Congratulations Zoe!

Apr. 10, 2023: Dr. Yang has been selected as a 2023 Faculty Mentor Impact Award winner!

Mar. 28, 2023: Dr. Yang has received tenure and promotion to an associate professor among thirty-one faculty members.

Mar. 27, 2023: The seed project “Wood and Lignin Carbon Coupled with Nanostructures for High-Performance Energy Storage Devices” has been funded by the USDA FPL! Many thanks for collaborators!

Mar. 26, 2023: Dr. Yang presented NSF Career Project poster “Synthesis and Asymmetrical Fracture of Two-dimensional High-Entropy Materials” to UMaine Board of Trustees and President.

Mar. 03, 2023: Min is a recipient of “NAM28 Kokes Award” for the 28th North American Catalysis Society (NACS) meeting. Congratulations Min!

Oct. 12, 2022: Qing’s leading-author paper “Self-Promoting Energy Storage in Balsa Wood-Converted Porous Carbon Coupled with Carbon Nanotubes” has been accepted by Small. Congratulations, Qing!

Sept. 01, 2022: Manish and Akhter’s coauthored paper “Binder-free Wood Converted Carbon for Enhanced Water Desalination Performance” has been accepted by Advanced Functional Materials. Congratulations, Rui in George Mason University, Manish and Akhter!

Aug. 29, 2022: Welcome Ogunbiyi Olugbenga to pursue his Ph.D. degree in our group!

Aug. 11, 2022: Min’s leading-author paper “Nanostructured Carbon as Highly Efficient and Stable Anodes for Ethylene Production and Power Generation in Protonic Ceramic Electrochemical Cells” has been accepted by Carbon. Congratulations, Min!

Jul. 12 and July 19, 2022: Dr. Yang supported the Maine Summer Transportation Institute (MSTI) summer camp with two projects: “Atomic Structure Bridge” and “Fracture Toughness”, to middle schoolers.

June 07, 2022: Dr. Yang received the Scholarly Materials and Equipment Award at UMaine.

Mar. 31, 2022: Dr. Yang received NSF Early Career Award focusing on Asymmetrical Fracture of Two-dimensional High Entropy Nanomaterials! Appreciate the support from program of MOMS.

Dr. Yang and his master student, Nuzhat Maisha, performed visiting research between Mar. 13 – Mar. 19, 2022 in Ork Ridge National Laboratory. Appreciate the group leads and staff scientists who gave us strong support during the visit!

Mar. 16, 2022: Dr. Yang has been selected as an awardee for RRD Rural Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge Program-Track 1 with focus on Advanced Hybrid Nanocatalysts – AY 21-22.

Mar. 11, 2022: Mr. Simon Brooks is awarded CUGR Summer Fellowship. Congratulations Simon!

Feb. 09, 2022: Welcome undergraduate student Simon Brooks to start his research in our group!

Nov. 29, 2021: Dr. Yang is nominated for 2022 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists.

Nov. 15, 2021: Ms. Meghan Boos is awarded CUGR Fellowship. Congratulations Meghan!

Nov. 15, 2021: Mr. Miao Hu is awarded CUGR Fellowship. Congratulations Miao!

Sept. 06, 2021: Dr. Yang is awarded with two-year contract as a seed grant from USDA FPL focusing on application of lignin, biomass, etc.

Sept. 06, 2021: Dr. Yang is awarded with two-year contract from DOE INL focusing on dehydrogenation of ethane.

Sept. 04, 2021: Welcome Manish Neupane to pursue his Ph.D. degree in our group!

June 21, 2021: Welcome Zoe Benedict to pursue her Master degree  in our group!

May 17, 2021: Welcome Meghan Boos to carry out Summer research in our group!

Mar. 24, 2021: Dr. Yang’s leading-author paper “Intrinsic Toughening and Stable Crack Propagation in Hexagonal Boron Nitride” has been accepted by Nature.

Feb. 25, 2021: Dr. Yang received the 2020-2021College of Engineering Early Career Research Award.

Feb. 04, 2021: Dr. Yang will team up with Dr. Ling Li in the Department of Forestry, Dr. Yongjiang Zhang in the Department of Biology, Dr. Larry Feinstein in the Department of Biology at UMaine Presque Isle, and Dr. Jinwu Wang in the Forest Service to foster biochar-oriented multiple applications and workforce in Maine. The project will be funded by the RRD Rural Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge Grant Programs – AY 20-21.

Feb. 04, 2021: Dr. Yang’s coauthored paper “Role of Biochar in Improving Sandy Soil Water Retention and Resilience to Drought” has been accepted by Water. Dr. Yang would like to acknowledge the financial support from the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation under Grant R19AC00116.

Jan. 21, 2021: Min passed the Ph.D. Qualification Exam! Min: Congratulations!

Jan. 21, 2021: Welcome Lara Chern, a sophomore student of Mechanical Engineering, to join our group!

Jan. 18, 2021: Welcome Nuzhat Maisha to study for her Master degree and Akhter Zia to pursue his Ph.D. degree in our group!

Dec. 17, 2020: Dr. Yang will collaborate with Dr. Ling Li in the Department of Forestry and Dr. Larry Feinstein in the Department of Biology at UMaine Presque Isle to print microfibers for bacteria and fugus filtration. The project will be supported by the UMS Research Reinvestment Fund (RRF).

Nov. 15, 2020: Dr. Yang’s paper titled “Size and Crystal Orientation-dependent Thermal Behaviors of ZnO Nanobelts” has been accepted by the Journal of Physical Chemistry Part C.

Nov. 04, 2020: Mr. Aidan McGlone is awarded CUGR Fellowship. Congratulations Aidan!

Nov. 04, 2020: Mr. Miao Hu is awarded CUGR Fellowship. Congratulations Miao!

July 9, 2020: Dr. Yang will team up with Dr. Liping Yu in the Department of Physics to design novel energy storage materials. The project will be supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) through the federal Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Read More.

July 7, 2020: Karrar’s paper titled “Mechanical testing of two-dimensional materials: a brief review” has been accepted by the International Journal of Smart and Nano Materials.

June 17, 2020: Dr. Yang will collaborate with Dr. Ling Li in the Department of Forestry and Dr. Yongjiang Zhang in the Department of Biology to develop nutrients-loaded biochar pellets using Maine’s biomass waste to improve wild blueberry production. The project will be supported by the Department of  Agriculture, State of Maine.

May 15, 2020: Karrar’s paper titled “Strengthening the interface between individual aramid fibers and polymer at room and elevated temperatures” has been accepted by Materials Today Communications.

Apr. 17, 2020: Zhenxing’s paper titled “hydrogen bonding sewing interface” has been accepted by RSC Advances.

Jan. 14, 2020: Welcome Dr. Qing He to join the group!

Nov. 14, 2019: Dr. Yang gave an invited talk titled “Interface Mechanics of Carbon-based Structures and Biomass-enabled Carbon Electrode for Supercapacitors”, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Oct. 23, 2019: Dr. Yang will work with Dr. Pei Dong in George Mason University to focus on “Biomass-enabled carbon materials for water desalination”. The project will be supported by the Department of Interior (DOI) through the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR).

Dec. 2018: The proposal of “Hybrid Materials Enabled by Cross-disciplinary Sciences: Fabrication, Characterization, and Applications” for 2019 IMECE in Salt Lake City, UT has been approved. The symposium will be co-organized by Dr. Yingchao Yang and Dr. Yeqing Wang (Mississippi state University).

Nov. 13, 2018: Mr. Ethan Poland is awarded CUGR Fellowship. Congratulations Ethan!

Sep. 13, 2018: Dr. Yang becomes one of Editorial Board Members of Journal of Nanomaterials.

Sep. 07, 2018: Welcome Dr. Zhenxing Cao to join the group!

Aug. 06, 2018: “Toughening Graphene by Integrating Carbon Nanotubes” ACS Nano, 2018; UMaine News and Others.

July 23, 2018: Welcome Ms. Min Wang to join the group!

May, 2018: Ms. Min Wang has been awarded George and Caterina Sakellaris Graduate Fellowship. Congratulations!

Jan. 25, 2018: Welcome Dr. Fansheng Meng to join the group!

Dec. 13, 2017: Welcome Dr. Jing Wang to join the group!

Aug. 28, 2017: Dr. Yingchao Yang officially joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UMaine.