Yingjie Zhang

For More Information

• Zhang Research Group Website

Education

• BS in Physics (Summa Cum Laude), Nankai University (2010)
• PhD in Applied Science and Technology, University of California, Berkeley (2015)

Biography

Dr. Zhang is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He received a BS in Physics from Nankai University, China in 2010, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. After three years as a Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at UIUC, he began his faculty career at UIUC in 2019. His current research focuses on in situ characterization of solid–liquid interfaces, electrochemical energy conversion & storage, and chemical imaging of biological cells. He has received the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2019), Beckman Young Investigator Award (2021), National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2024), Sloan Research Fellowship (2025), and Dean's Award for Excellence in Research at UIUC (2025).

Academic Positions

• Part-time Faculty, Beckman Institute, UIUC, 2023 - now
• Faculty Affiliate, Materials Research Laboratory, UIUC, 2019 - now
• Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering, UIUC, 2019 - now

Research Statement

The Zhang group study complex interfaces and molecular systems, with the goal of: 1) understanding the fundamental atomic and molecular scale processes at solid-liquid interfaces, such as dynamic solvation, electrochemical energy conversion, and catalysis; 2) deciphering the structure, distribution, and function of various small molecules in liquid electrolytes and biological systems; and 3) bringing solutions to the society, in areas of renewable energy and healthcare.

Our research is highly interdisciplinary, spanning over areas of physical/materials/analytical chemistry, condensed matter physics, chemical engineering, and mechanical/electrical engineering. We are always looking for motivated graduate students, postdocs, and undergrads to join us.

Research Interests

• Atomic Force Microscopy
• Vibrational Spectroscopy
• Electrochemical Solid-Liquid Interfaces
• Batteries
• Electrocatalysis
• Cell Biology

Selected Articles in Journals

• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Diana M. Arvelo, Fujia Zhao, Jaehyeon Kim, Qian Ai, Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse, Ricardo Garcia, Yingjie Zhang, “Probing the molecular structure at graphite–water interfaces by correlating 3D-AFM and SHINERS,” Nature Communications 17, 2230 (2026). (editors’ highlight)
• Yitong Li, Qian Ai, Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Yingjie Zhang, “Coexistence of two types of liquid structures at platinum–water interfaces,” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 129, 21486–21495 (2025).
• Qian Ai, Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Kaustubh S. Panse, Jaehyeon Kim, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, “Nucleation at solid–liquid interfaces is accompanied by the reconfiguration of electrical double layers,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122, e2421635122 (2025).
• Anjaiah Sheelam, Jonathan Matsuura, Yingjie Zhang, “Coengineering of bulk composition and surface structure of metal sulfides for oxygen evolution reaction,” ACS Electrochemistry 1, 1414–1422 (2025).
• Qian Ai, Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Amir Farokh Payam, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, “Toward quantitative interpretation of 3D atomic force microscopy at solid−liquid interfaces,” The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 129, 5273–5286 (2025).
• Jaehyeon Kim, Yue Tian, Guanhua Qiao, Julinna Abulencia Villarta, Fujia Zhao, Andrew He, Ruo-Jing Ho, Haoran Liu, Rohit Bhargava, Yingjie Zhang, “Endoscopic Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy through a fiber microprobe,” Review of Scientific Instruments 96, 033702 (2025).
• Jaehyeon Kim, Fujia Zhao, Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Qian Ai, Yingjie Zhang, “Electrical double layers modulate the growth of solid−electrolyte interphases,” Chemistry of Materials 36, 9156–9166 (2024).
• Jonathan Matsuura, Anjaiah Sheelam, Yingjie Zhang, “Tandem supported, high metal-loading, non-PGM electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction,” APL Energy, 2, 026103 (2024).
• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Zirui Wang, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, �Precise surface profiling at the nanoscale enabled by deep learning,� Nano Letters 24, 2589-2595 (2024). (journal cover)
• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Haiyi Wu, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, �Real-space charge density profiling of electrode-electrolyte interfaces with angstrom depth resolution,� ACS Nano 16, 19594-19604 (2022).
• Kaustubh S. Panse, Haiyi Wu, Shan Zhou, Fujia Zhao, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, �Innermost ion association configuration is a key structural descriptor of ionic liquids at electrified interfaces,� The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 13, 9464-9472 (2022).
• Jaehyeon Kim, Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse, Yingjie Zhang, "Spectroscopic investigation of the structure of a pyrrolidinium-based ionic liquid at electrified interfaces," The Journal of Chemical Physics, 156, 114701 (2022). (journal cover)
• Joseph Sklenar, Yingjie Zhang, Matthias Benjamin Jungfleisch, Youngseok Kim, Yiran Xiao, Gregory J. MacDougall, Matthew J. Gilbert, Axel Hoffmann, Peter Schiffer, Nadya Mason, “Proximity-induced anisotropic magnetoresistance in magnetized topological insulators,” Applied Physics Letters 118, 232402 (2021).
• Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, �Ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide using Bi2Te3 electrochemical sensors,� ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 13, 4761-4767 (2021).
• Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse, Mohammad Hossein Motevaselian, Narayana R. Aluru, Yingjie Zhang, �Three-dimensional molecular mapping of ionic liquids at electrified interfaces,� ACS Nano 14, 17515-17523 (2020).
• Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Yingjie Zhang, "3D mapping of the structural transitions in wrinkled 2D membranes: implications for reconfigurable electronics, memristors, and bio-electronic interfaces," ACS Applied Nano Materials 2, 5779-5786 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Youngseok Kim, Matthew J. Gilbert, Nadya Mason, “Magnetotransport in a strain superlattice of graphene,” Applied Physics Letters 115, 143508 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Jun Kang, Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Yves J. Chabal, Lin-Wang Wang, Javier Fernandez Sanz, Miquel Salmeron, �Nanoimaging of organic charge retention effects: implications for nonvolatile memory, neuromorphic computing, and high dielectric breakdown devices,� ACS Applied Nano Materials 2, 4711-4716 (2019).
• Yingjie Zhang, Youngseok Kim, Matthew J Gilbert, Nadya Mason, “Electronic transport in a two-dimensional superlattice engineered via self-assembled nanostructures,” npj 2D Materials and Applications 2, 31 (2018).
• Yingjie Zhang, Mohammad Heiranian, Blanka Janicek, Zoe Budrikis, Stefano Zapperi, Pinshane Y. Huang, Harley T. Johnson, Narayana R. Aluru, Joseph W. Lyding, Nadya Mason, �Strain modulation of graphene by nanoscale substrate curvatures: a molecular view,� Nano Letters 18, 2098-2104 (2018).
• Nicholas J. Borys, Edward S. Barnard, Shiyuan Gao, Kaiyuan Yao, Wei Bao, Alexander Buyanin, Yingjie Zhang, Sefaattin Tongay, Changhyun Ko, Joonki Suh, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Junqiao Wu, Li Yang, P. James Schuck, �Anomalous above-gap photoexcitations and optical signatures of localized charge puddles in monolayer molybdenum disulfide,� ACS Nano 11, 2115-2123 (2017).
• Yingjie Zhang, Daniel J. Hellebusch, Noah D. Bronstein, Changhyun Ko, D. Frank Ogletree, Miquel Salmeron, A. Paul Alivisatos, “Ultrasensitive photodetectors exploiting electrostatic trapping and percolation transport,” Nature Communications 7, 11924 (2016).
• Miguel Muñoz-Rojo*, Yingjie Zhang*, Cristina V. Manzano, Raquel Alvaro, Johannes Gooth, Miquel Salmeron, Marisol S. Martin-Gonzalez, “Spatial potential ripples of azimuthal surface modes in topological insulator Bi2Te3 nanowires,” Scientific Reports 6, 19014 (2016).
• Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Anna Rynder, François Rochet, Yingjie Zhang, Miquel Salmeron and Yves J. Chabal, “Single charge electronics with gold nanoparticles and organic monolayers,” MRS Proceedings 1817, imrc2015abs032 (2016).
• Olivier Pluchery, Yingjie Zhang, Rabah Benbalagh, Louis Caillard, Jean-Jacques Gallet, Fabrice Bournel, Anne-F�licie Lamic-Humblot, Miquel Salmeron, Yves J. Chabal, Fran�ois Rochet, �Static and dynamic electronic characterization of organic monolayers grafted on a silicon surface,� Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 18, 3675-3684 (2016).
• Yingjie Zhang, Danylo Zherebetskyy, Noah D. Bronstein, Sara Barja, Leonid Lichtenstein, A. Paul Alivisatos, Lin-Wang Wang, Miquel Salmeron, �Molecular oxygen induced in-gap states in PbS quantum dots,� ACS Nano 9, 10445-10452 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Qian Chen, A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel Salmeron, �Dynamic charge carrier trapping in quantum dot field effect transistors,� Nano Letters 15, 4657-4663 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Danylo Zherebetskyy, Noah D. Bronstein, Sara Barja, Leonid Lichtenstein, David Schuppisser, Lin-Wang Wang, A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel Salmeron, �Charge percolation pathways guided by defects in quantum dot solids,� Nano Letters 15, 3249-3253 (2015).
• Yingjie Zhang, Olivier Pluchery, Louis Caillard, Suchinda Sattayaporn, Anne-F�licie Lamic-Humblot, Sandra Casale, Yves Chabal, Miquel Salmeron, �Sensing the charge state of single gold nanoparticles via work function measurements,� Nano Letters 15, 51-55 (2015).
• Wei Bao, Nicholas J. Borys, Changhyun Ko, Joonki Suh, Wen Fan, Andrew Thron, Yingjie Zhang, Alexander Buyanin, Jie Zhang, Stefano Cabrini, Paul D. Ashby, Alexander Weber-Bargioni, Sefaattin Tongay, Shaul Aloni, D. Frank Ogletree, Junqiao Wu, Miquel B. Salmeron, P. James Schuck, �Visualizing nanoscale excitonic relaxation properties of disordered edges and grain boundaries in monolayer molybdenum disulfide,� Nature Communications 6, 7993 (2015).
• Danylo Zherebetskyy, Yingjie Zhang, Miquel Salmeron, Lin-Wang Wang, �Tolerance of intrinsic defects in PbS quantum dots,� Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 6, 4711-4716 (2015).
• Danylo Zherebetskyy, Marcus Scheele, Yingjie Zhang, Christopher Thompson, Noah Bronstein, David Britt, Miquel Salmeron, A. Paul Alivisatos, Lin-Wang Wang, �Hydroxylation of the surface of PbS nanocrystals passivated with oleic acid,� Science 344, 1380-1384 (2014).
• Yingjie Zhang, Dominik Ziegler, Miquel Salmeron, �Charge trapping states at the SiO2-oligothiophene monolayer interface in field effect transistors studied by Kelvin probe force microscopy,� ACS Nano 7, 8258-8265 (2013).
• Yingjie Zhang, Ruoyang Zhang, Qingru Wang, Zhishuai Zhang, Haibo Zhu, Jiadong Liu, Feng Song, Shanxin Lin, Edwin Yue Bun Pun, �Fluorescence enhancement of quantum emitters with different energy systems near a single spherical metal nanoparticle,� Optics Express 18, 4316-4328 (2010).
• Yingjie Zhang, Ruoyang Zhang, Zhishuai Zhang, Haibo Zhu, Feng Song, �Surface polariton generation and fluorescence enhancement using a superlens,� Journal of the Optical Society of America B 26, 2337-2341 (2009).
• Ye Xu, Bin Wu, Yingjie Zhang, Zelong Liu, Haokai Sun, Danning Di, �Discrimination between neutrino events and backgrounds using pulse shape information in reactor neutrino experiments,� Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A 610, 590-596 (2009).

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) Elucidating Solvation Structures and Their Impact on SEI Formation at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2022 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2022-01 1146
• Lalith Krishna Samanth Bonagiri, Kaustubh S. Panse, Shan Zhou, Haiyi Wu, Narayana R. Aluru and Yingjie Zhang, "Unraveling Spatial Charge Density Distributions at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2384
• Fujia Zhao and Yingjie Zhang, "Potential Dependent Evolution of Electric Double Layer at Electrode/Water Interface," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2507
• Jaehyeon Kim, Fujia Zhao, Shan Zhou, Kaustubh S. Panse and Yingjie Zhang, "Probing Molecular Structures at Electrified Interfaces Using in-Situ Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-01 2495
• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) Molecular Imaging of the Local Solvation, Nucleation and Growth Processes at Electrode-Electrolyte Interfaces," 2023 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2023-02 2904
• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) In Situ Probing of Interfacial Solvation and Electrocatalytic Processes," 2024 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2024-02 4107
• Yingjie Zhang, "(Invited) Equilibrium and Dynamic Liquid Structure at Electrochemical Interfaces," 2025 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2025-01 2431
• Jonathan Matsuura, Anjaiah Sheelam and Yingjie Zhang, "Organometallic Thermal Synthesis of High Metal Loading Platinum-Group Metal Free ORR Electrocatalyst," 2025 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2025-01 2118
• Yingjie Zhang, "Quantitative Liquid Density Distribution at Solid Surfaces: Combined Experimental and Theoretical Insights," 2025 ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2025-02 3328

Patents

• A. Paul Alivisatos, Miquel B. Salmeron, Yingjie Zhang, Daniel J. Hellebusch, "Photodetectors exploiting electrostatic trapping and percolation transport," U.S. Patent, Publication numbers: US20170148938A1, US10177271B2, Filed on Nov. 23, 2016, Granted on Jan. 8, 2019.
• Yingjie Zhang, Fujia Zhao, "Coated electrode, electrochemical sensor and method for detection of hydrogen peroxide," U.S. Patent, Publication number: US20230141805A1, Filed on Nov. 8, 2022, Published on May 11, 2023.

Professional Societies

• Member-at-Large, Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division, The Electrochemical Society (2022-now)

Honors

• Anselmo Macchi Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley (2014)
• Best Poster Award, MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit (2014)
• Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarship, American Vacuum Society (2014)
• Graduate Student Award, Materials Research Society (2015)
• Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad (2015)
• Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2015-2018)
• ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award (2019)
• Beckman Young Investigator Award, Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation (2021)
• Early Career Travel Award, The Electrochemical Society (2023)
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2024)
• Sloan Research Fellowship (2025)
• Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2025)

Other Honors

• Racheff-Intel Award (2026)
• Racheff-Intel Award (2026)
• PPG-MRL Graduate Fellowship Award (2025-2026)
• Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (2025-2026)
• TechnipFMC Fellowship (2025-2026)
• Conference Presentation Award (Spring 2025)
• Conference Presentation Award (2024-2025)
• Conference Presentation Award (2023-2024)
• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (Fall 2023)
• Racheff Teaching Fellowship (Fall 2023)
• Teacher Ranked as Excellent (Fall 2023)
• TechnipFMC Fellowship (2023-2024)
• PPG-MRL Graduate Fellowship Award (2022-2023)
• Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) (2022-2023)
• Teacher Ranked as Excellent (Fall 2022)
• Teacher Ranked as Excellent (Fall 2021)
• TechnipFMC Fellowship (2020-2021)