Faculty

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering

Division of Nuclear Chemical Engineering

yegang@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn

(+86 10) 8979-6063

Education background

Ph.D., Tsinghua University, Material Science and Engineering, 2010
B.S., Tsinghua University, Polymer Science and Engineering, 2005

Experience

10/2013-present,  Associate Professor, Division of Nuclear Chemical Engineering, INET
07/2010-10/2013,  Assistant Professor, Division of Nuclear Chemical Engineering, INET

Social service

Teaching

Adsorption  Science and Technology (in preparation)

Journal Reviewer

Journal of American Chemical Society
Advanced Materials
Advanced Functional Materials
Environmental Science & Technology
Macromolecules
ACS Macro Letters
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Applied Catalysis B
Carbon
Small

Service to Professional Associations

Environmental Radiochemistry Committee, Nuclear chemistry and Radiochemistry Branch, CNS, academic board
Nuclear Chemical Engineering Committee, CNS, academic board
American Chemical Society, member

Areas of Research Interests/ Research Projects

Dr. Yes research focuses on the task-specific development of sorbent materials for environmental applications such as radionuclides separation, heavy metal remediation, etc. His major interest lies in exploiting the state-of-the-art strategies, based on polymer chemistry and biomimetic materials science, for developing advanced sorbents while tuning their hierarchical structures. Bearing the goal to contribute adaptable methodologies and valuable insights to the research area of sorbent materials, over the past ten years, he has established a series of methods for controlled architecture and surface engineering of varieties of sorbents, as well as systematical protocols to study their adsorption behaviors and complexation mechanisms.

Sorbents Synthesis: Surface Engineering and Structure Tuning

A critical challenge to develop high-performance sorbents for radionuclides separation lies in the effective creation of functional moieties on the surfaces while optimizing their binding ability. Dr. Ye has been working on surface engineering and structural tuning of sorbents for years. Novel strategies such as mussel-inspired polydopamine chemistry, metal-polyphenol interaction, and photo-regulated living radical polymerization have been exploited for the synthesis of a series of potential sorbents, showing effective adsorption toward corresponding radioactive metal ions.

Uranium Extraction from Seawater

Developing facile and robust technologies for effective separation of uranium from seawater is of great significance for resource sustainability. Currently, Dr. Ye is dedicated to the development of uranium sorbent, including amidoxime-functionalized polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), etc., for uranium enrichment.  Except for addressing fundamental issues, Dr. Ye is also making efforts to merge the gap between scientific principles and practical applications.

Research Status

2020-2022, National  Natural Science Foundation of China
Adsorption  materials of radionuclides
The project aims to develop new synthetic strategies by taking advantage of photo-regulated living radical polymerization techniques and the bio-inspired metal-polyphenol interaction to prepare new functional polymer sorbents. Meanwhile, based on the fundamental theory of polymer solutions, an in-depth study will be carried out to clarify the influences of factors like conformation of chain segments and coordination environment on the adsorption ability of polymer sorbents.

2020-2022, China National Nuclear Corporation
New diblock copolymer sorbents for uranium extraction from seawater: simulation-assisted design and precisesynthesis
The project focuses on the development of high-performance polymer sorbents for uranium extraction from seawater, highlighting the rational design of polymer structure with the aid of computer simulation and the precise architecture of the target polymer structure using controlled/living radical polymerization methods.

2018-2021,State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense
Partitioning of high-level liquid waste (HLLW) in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing (Sub-project III: Separation of strontium-90 and cesium-137 from HLLW)
The sub-project aims to synthesize effective and selective extractants of strontium-90 and cesium-137 while developing a solvent extraction process to achieve efficient separation of the two fission products from HLLW.

Honors And Awards

National Natural Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholar, National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Young Scholar of Distinction, Tsinghua University
Metallurgical Deans Award, Metallurgical Society of National University
Excellent Doctoral Dissertation, Tsinghua University
Excellent Graduate, Tsinghua University
National Scholarship (1st Prize), Ministry of Education of the Peoples Republic of China

Academic Achievement

Publications

Zhang, L.; Pu, N.; Yu, B.; Ye, G.*; Chen, J.; Xu, S.; Ma, S*. Skeleton Engineering of Homocoupled Conjugated Microporous Polymers for Highly Efficient Uranium Capture via Synergistic Coordination. ACS Appl. Mater. Inter. 2020, 12, 3688-3696.
Jiang, J.; Ye, G.*; Lorandi, F.; Liu, Z.; Liu, Y.; Hu, T.; Chen, J.*; Lu, Y.; Matyjaszewski, K.* Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Meets Controlled/Living Radical Polymerization: An Adaptable Strategy for Broadband Light-Regulated Macromolecular Synthesis. Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2019, 58, 12096-12101.
Jiang, J.; Ye, G.*; Wang, Z.; Lu, Y.; Chen, J.*; Matyjaszewski, K.* Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Dots (CDs) as a Class of Metal-Free Photocatalysts for PET-RAFT Polymerization under Visible Light and Sunlight. Angew. Chem. Int.  Edit. 2018, 57, 12037-12042.
Zeng, Z.; Wen, M.; Yu, B.; Ye, G.*; Huo, X.; Lu, Y.; Chen, J.* Polydopamine Induced in-Situ Formation of Metallic Nanoparticles in Confined Microchannels of Porous Membrane as Flexible Catalytic Reactor. ACS Appl. Mater. Inter. 2018, 10, 14735-14743.
Yu, B.; Ye, G.*; Zeng, Z.; Zhang, L.; Chen, J.*; Ma, S.* Mussel-inspired polydopamine chemistry to modulate template synthesis of 1D metal
organic framework superstructures. J. Mater. Chem. A 2018, 6, 21567-21576.
Yang,  Y.; Liu, X.; Ye,  G.*; Zhu, S.; Wang, Z.; Huo, X.; Matyjaszewski, K.*; Lu, Y.;  Chen, J. Metal-Free Photoinduced Electron Transfer-Atom Transfer Radical  Polymerization Integrated with Bioinspired Polydopamine Chemistry as a Green  Strategy for Surface Engineering of Magnetic Nanoparticles. ACS Appl. Mater.  Inter. 2017, 9, 13637-13646.
Wu, F.; Pu, N.; Ye, G.*; Sun, T.; Wang, Z.; Song, Y.; Wang, W.; Huo, X.; Lu, Y.; Chen, J. * Performance and Mechanism of Uranium Adsorption from Seawater to Poly(dopamine)-Inspired Sorbents. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, 51, 4606-4614.
Zeng, Z.; Wen, M.; Ye, G.*; Huo, X.; Wu, F.; Wang, Z.; Yan, J.; Matyjaszewski, K. *; Lu, Y.; Chen, J. Controlled Architecture of Hybrid Polymer Nanocapsules with Tunable Morphologies by Manipulating Surface-Initiated ARGET ATRP from Hydrothermally Modified Polydopamine. Chem. Mater. 2017, 29, 10212-10219.
Song, Y.; Ye, G.*; Lu, Y.; Chen, J.; Wang, J. *; Matyjaszewski, K. * Surface-Initiated ARGET ATRP of Poly(Glycidyl Methacrylate) from Carbon  Nanotubes via Bioinspired Catechol Chemistry for Efficient Adsorption of Uranium  Ions. ACS Macro Lett. 2016, 5,382-386.
Yang, Y.; Wang, J.; Wu, F.; Ye, G.*; Yi, R.; Lu, Y.; Chen, J. * Surface-initiated SET-LRP mediated by mussel-inspired polydopamine chemistry for controlled building of novel core-shell magnetic nanoparticles for highly-efficient uranium enrichment.  Polym. Chem. 2016, 7, 2427-2435.
Song,  Y.; Ye,  G.*; Wu, F.; Wang, Z.; Liu, S.; Kopec, M.; Wang, Z.; Chen, J.;  Wang, J. *; Matyjaszewski, K. * Bioinspired Polydopamine (PDA) Chemistry Meets  Ordered Mesoporous Carbons (OMCs): A Benign Surface Modification Strategy for  Versatile Functionalization. Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 5013-5021.
Song,  Y.; Ye,  G.*; Wang, Z.; Kopec, M.; Xie, G.; Yuan, R.; Chen, J.;  Kowalewski, T.; Wang, J.; Matyjaszewski, K. * Controlled Preparation of  Well-Defined Mesoporous Carbon/Polymer Hybrids via Surface-Initiated ICAR ATRP  with a High Dilution Strategy Assisted by Facile Polydopamine Chemistry.  Macromolecules 2016, 49, 8943-8950.
Ye,  G.*; Lee,  J.; Perreault, F.; Elimelech, M. * Controlled Architecture of Dual-Functional  Block Copolymer Brushes on Thin-Film Composite Membranes for Integrated  "Defending" and "Attacking" Strategies against Biofouling. ACS Appl. Mater.  Inter. 2015, 7, 23069-23079.
Yi, R.; Ye, G.*; Pan, D.; Wu, F.; Wen, M.; Chen, J. * Novel core-shell  structured superparamagnetic microspheres decorated with macrocyclic host  molecules for specific recognition and magnetic removal of Pb(II). J. Mater.  Chem. A 2014, 2, 6840-6846.
Zhang,  W.; He, X.; Ye,  G.*; Yi, R.; Chen, J. * Americium(III) Capture Using Phosphonic  Acid-Functionalized Silicas with Different Mesoporous Morphologies: Adsorption  Behavior Study and Mechanism Investigation by EXAFS/XPS. Environ. Sci.  Technol. 2014, 48, 6874-6881.
Zhang,  W.; Ye,  G.*; Chen, J. * Novel mesoporous silicas bearing phosphine oxide  ligands with different alkyl chains for the binding of uranium in strong  HNO3 media.  J. Mater. Chem. A 2013, 1,  12706-12709

Patents

Zeng  Z., Yu B., Ye G., et al. Fabrication of catalytic  membrane reactor using track-etched membrane. CN108144559A
Yu B.,  Zeng Z., Ye G., et al. A method for modification of  membrane with cylindrical pore channels. CN108211800A
Wang  W., Paziliya J., Ye G., et al. Preparation of crown  ether decorated glass fiber. CN107115846A
Liu Y.,  Ye G., Chen J. et al. Preparation of crown ether  functionalized SBA-15 ordered mesoporous silicas. CN106311153A
Liu Y.,  Ye G., Chen J. et al. Application of crown ether  decorated SBA-15 ordered mesoporous silicas. CN106268653A
Ye  G., Liu F., Liu Y., et al. Synthesis of a class of  sorbent for lithium separation. CN106179273A
Chen  J., Wu F., Ye G. Preparation of a magnetic sorbent for  palladium recovery from nitric acid media. CN105771904A
Chen  J., Wu F., Ye G. Preparation and application of a class of  modified silica-based sorbent. CN105617979A
Wu F.,  Ye G., Chen J., et al. A class of magnetic biomimetic  sorbent for treatment of uranium-containing wastewater. CN105413659A
Zhang  W., Ye G., Chen J., et al. Synthesis of a kind of  hydroxyl-containing phosphine oxide silane coupling agent.  CN103275124A
Ye  G., Leng Y., Bai F., et al. Preparation of a new kind of  calixcrown decorated silica-based sorbent, CN103055816A
Ye  G., Bai F., Wei, J., et al. Crown ether grafted silica  resin synthesized by co-condensation polymerization,  CN102875812A
Ye  G., Bai F., Wei, J., et al. Lead removal by using  single-armed cycloaliphatic crown ether modified silica resin.  CN102874889A
Ye  G., Bai F., Wei, J., et al. Palladium separation by  using double-armed cycloaliphatic crown ether modified silica resin.  CN102849823A
Ye  G., Wei J., Wang J., et al. Catalytic hydrogenation  synthesis of crown ether derivatives using the Pichler Ru catalyst, CN 102336737  A.
Ye  G., Wei J., Wang J., et al. Method for separation and  purification of crown ether stereoisomer, CN 102344435 A.
Ye  G., Bai F., Wei, J., et al. Preparation of a  cycloaliphatic crown ether modified silica resin.  CN102585231A.
Ye  G., Gao J., Wang J., et al. Process for preparation of  alkyl-substituted benzocrown ethers, CN 102167692 A.
Ye  G., He Y., Qu Z., et al. Fabrication of optical  waveguide using azobenzene-containing polymer. CN101762847A.

Last updated2020-10-06