Yingchao Yang
University of Missouri-Columbia, MO·Materials Science·Early-career
Atom-thin materials such as graphene tend to crack easily, which limits the durability of the electronics, optical devices and batteries built from them. This project asks whether mixing many elements into a single 2D sheet can make it much harder to break.
- Fields
Materials Science
Engineering
- Topics
two-dimensional materials
2D materials
high entropy materials
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2027
What they work on
- Synthesize single-layer and multilayer two-dimensional high entropy materials containing at least five elements, using solid-state reaction and chemical vapor deposition.
- Watch cracks start and spread around defects and competing ternary and quaternary phases through in situ tensile tests inside SEM and TEM.
- Test whether uneven crack-edge properties and edge swapping cause cracks to branch and deflect, using DFT, data-driven molecular dynamics and phase-field modeling.
- Determine how lattice distortion, defects, strain rate, crack geometry and composition control the fracture toughness of 2D high entropy materials.
More about the research
The project studies two-dimensional high entropy materials, sheets made of at least five elements. The hypothesis is that their atomic-level asymmetry, meaning uneven properties along crack edges, makes cracks split, branch and change direction as they grow. Edges may also swap during crack growth. All of these effects would raise resistance to fracture. Single-layer and multilayer sheets will be made by solid-state reaction and by chemical vapor deposition, which grows thin films from gases. In situ tensile tests, which pull samples apart inside scanning and transmission electron microscopes (SEM and TEM), will show cracks forming and spreading around defects and competing phases. A multiscale modeling framework will simulate how cracks start and spread. It combines density functional theory (quantum calculations of atoms), data-driven molecular dynamics and phase-field modeling. The project expects to clarify how lattice distortion, defects, strain rate, crack geometry and composition affect mechanical behavior. It offers research positions to undergraduate and graduate students and runs outreach for K-12 students and homeschoolers.
Why it matters
Tougher atom-thin materials could replace or be combined with existing 2D materials such as graphene. This could produce longer-lasting nanoscale electronics, photonic devices and energy storage. The work also expands the family of known 2D materials and clarifies how defects control their strength.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Carmen Lilley
University of Illinois Chicago, IL·Materials Science
Develop a machine-learning workflow that predicts elastic properties, stress-strain behavior and fracture strength of 2D lateral heterostructures with interface defects, at accuracy comparable to density functional theory (DFT).
Qi An
Iowa State University, IA·Materials Science
Build a closed-loop AI platform that compares Bayesian optimization (choosing the most informative next test) with deep reinforcement learning (trial-and-reward learning) for designing the high-entropy carbide (Ti-Zr-Hf-Nb-Ta)C, using machine-learning force-field atomistic simulations.
Jun Li
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach, FL·Engineering
Develop direct mesoscale simulations of 3D printing that couple heat, mechanical forces, chemistry and fluid-structure interactions, to show how temperature gradients and melting between filaments and reinforcing fibers lead to micro-cracks.
The school
University of Missouri-Columbia: 21 labs on PI Pages, $509M a year on research, 260 research doctorates a year.
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