Group Members

Jim De Yoreo

Battelle Fellow, Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Affiliate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and of Chemistry at the University of Washington

Mailing Address: PO Box 999, MS K2-01, Richland, WA 99352

Phone: 509-375-6494

E-mail: james.deyoreo@pnnl.gov

Education and Appointments: Jim received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1985. Following post-doctoral work at the University of Maine and at Princeton University, he became a member of the technical staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1989, where he held numerous positions. He joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2007, where he served as Deputy and then Interim Director of the Molecular Foundry before moving to PNNL in 2012.

Jim’s research has spanned a range of materials-related disciplines, focusing recently on interactions, assembly, and crystallization in inorganic, biomolecular, and biomineral systems. He has authored, co-authored, or edited over 250 publications and patents. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientists Fellow Award from the Department of Energy Office of Science, the David Turnbull Lectureship of the Materials Research Society (MRS), the Laudise Prize of the International Organization for Crystal Growth (IOCG), and the Crystal Growth Award of the American Association for Crystal Growth (AACG). He served as President of the MRS and is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the MRS, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Washington State Academy of Sciences, and the IOCG and AACG Executive Committees.

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Jingshan S. Du

Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, PNNL

Email: jingshan.du@pnnl.gov

Website: https://jingshandu.com

Education:

Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, 2021

B.Sc. (hon), Engineering: Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University Chu Kochen Honors College, 2015

Research: Jingshan is interested in a broad range of topics across materials science and chemical physics. In the De Yoreo Research Group, Jingshan’s research topics include nanoscale crystal formation and transformation, ice nanocrystals and interfaces, protein-directed materials crystallization, and the self-assembly of peptoids.

Chenyang Shi

Postdoctoral Research Associate, PNNL

Email: Chenyang.shi@pnnl.gov

Phone: (206) 326-0189

Education:

Ph.D., College of Materials, Xiamen University, 2021

Research Interests: Using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study the growth process of biomolecules and the structural transformation mechanisms of protein materials.

Mingyi Zhang

Postdoctoral Research Associate, PNNL

Email: mingyi.zhang@pnnl.gov

Education:

Ph.D., Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 2022

M.S., Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 2019

B.S., Department of Chemistry, Renmin University of China, Beijing, 2017

Research: Mingyi’s research focuses on understanding the local structure and physical properties of solid-liquid interfaces.  The current projects at the De Yoreo Group include studying electric field-driven interfacial nucleation via in situ AFM and exploring the ligand-driven interfacial structure and nucleation of minerals with 3D fast-force mapping.

Yuna Bae

Postdoctoral Research Associate, PNNL

Email: yuna.bae@pnnl.gov

Education:

Ph.D., Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, 2022
B.S., Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 2017

Research: Liquid-phase/Cryogenic TEM analysis for understanding mechanisms of nanomaterials crystallization and dynamics of soft and beam-sensitive materials in the native state. Development of devices for advanced in situ TEM.

Amy Stegmann

Graduate Student, Molecular Engineering, University of Washington

Clean Energy Institute Fellow

NSF Fellow

Education:

B.S., Materials Science Engineering, University of Washington

Research: Learning the mechanisms of nucleation and growth in hybrid materials, specifically studying protein-directed mineralization.  Working towards the rational design of self-assembling hierarchical structures for clean energy applications.

Ying Xia

Graduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington

Clean Energy Institute Fellow

Email: yingxia@uw.edu

Education: 

MS, Materials Science, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), 2019

BEng, Composite Materials and Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), 2018

Research: Using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study substrates control nucleation, growth, and self-assembly mechanism as well as corresponding physiochemical properties of the inorganic, inorganic-organic framework, and organic nanomaterials.

Emily Miura-Stempel

Graduate Student, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington

Email: emiura@uw.edu

Education:

B.A. Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY, 2021

Research: My research focuses on the synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticles and their assembly in peptoid-templated surfaces. In addition, studying the reactivity of these nanoparticle-peptoid composites for the detection and degradation of chemical nerve agents.

Jayesh Dua

Graduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington

Clean Energy Institute Fellow

Email: jayesh@uw.edu

Education:

B.Tech. Polymer Engineering & Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India

Research: Investigating the role of amyloid-like amelogenin in biomineralization of tooth enamel. Focusing on the selective nucleation of amorphous calcium phosphate on highly ordered self-assembled amyloid-like peptide sequences prepared using Dip-Pen Nanolithography. Further interested in analyzing how changing substrates and nucleation media affects the kinetics and dynamics of mineralization.

Wenhao Zhou

Graduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering, UW

Email: zhouwenh@uw.edu

Education:

B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Michigan State University (MSU), East-Lansing, MI, 2019

Research: Wenhao mainly focuses on utilizing atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the self-assembly mechanism of peptoids into 2D nanomembrane and nanomembrane composite with catalytic nanoparticles.

Xinqi Li

Graduate Student, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington

Clean Energy Institute Fellow

Email: xinqil2@uw.edu

Education: 

MS, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Washington, 2023

Research: Learning different binding, nucleation, and growth mechanisms between de novo designed proteins and metal oxide surfaces using AFM and TEM for the construction of programmable materials for controllable metal recycling and the synthesis of functional metal oxide nanoparticles. Additionally, Xinqi is using in-situ TEM to study the defect formation of metal oxide nanoparticles under high temperatures.