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Publications, Patents, and Conferences

Journal papers

2023

  • Dang, Saichao, Yanpei Tian, Hasan H. Almahfoudh, Haomin Song, Osman M. Bakr, Boon S. Ooi, and Qiaoqiang Gan. "Ground-facing radiative cooling for high power LED lights." Next Energy 1, no. 4 (2023): 100069.
     

  • Galib, Roisul Hasan†, Yanpei Tian†, Yue Lei, Saichao Dang, Xiaole Li, Arief Yudhanto, Gilles Lubineau, and Qiaoqiang Gan. "Atmospheric-moisture-induced polyacrylate hydrogels for hybrid passive cooling." Nature Communications 14, no. 1 (2023): 6707. † These two authors contribute equally.

  • Liu, Yang, Fangqi Chen, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, and Yi Zheng. "Cool roofing tiles derived from recycled corrugated containers." Next Energy 1, no. 4 (2023): 100063.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Xuguang Zhang, Fangqi Chen, Yanpei Tian, Ying Mu, Marilyn L. Minus, and Yi Zheng. "Accelerated Water Transportation Phenomenon through a Hydrophilic Metal Roll." ACS Applied Engineering Materials (2023).

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng. "Biomass‐Based Materials for Sustainably Sourced Solar‐Driven Interfacial Steam Generation." Advanced Engineering Materials 25, no. 19 (2023): 2300778.

  • Liu, Yang, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, Ying Mu, Shuang Cui, Marilyn L. Minus, and Y. Zheng. "Eco-friendly passive radiative cooling using recycled packaging plastics." Materials Today Sustainability 23 (2023): 100448.

  • Caratenuto, Andrew, Lijia Xie, Lin Gu, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Changyu Wang, Ming Su, and Yi Zheng. "Adobe bricks as zero-material-cost solar evaporators for water-scarce regions." Desalination 546 (2023): 116199.

  • Liu, Yang, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, and Yi Zheng. "Oil-paper-umbrella-inspired passive radiative cooling using recycled packaging foam." Journal of Materials Chemistry A 11, no. 16 (2023): 9152-9159.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Xiaojie Liu, Yang Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng. "A refractory metal-based photonic narrowband emitter for thermophotovoltaic energy conversion." Journal of Materials Chemistry C 11, no. 5 (2023): 1988-1994.

2022

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Lijia Xie, Shilin Xu, Fangqi Chen, Ying Mu, Yang Liu, Marilyn L. Minus, and Yi Zheng. "Surface Photon‐Engineered Infrared‐Black Metametal Enabled Enhancement of Heat Dissipation." Advanced Functional Materials 32, no. 46 (2022): 2205016.

  • Yong, Qingqing, Yanpei Tian, Xin Qian, and Xiaobo Li. "Retrofitting coal-fired power plants for grid energy storage by coupling with thermal energy storage." Applied Thermal Engineering 215 (2022): 119048.

  • Zhou, Lyu, Jacob Rada, Yanpei Tian, Yu Han, Zhiping Lai, Matthew F. McCabe, and Qiaoqiang Gan. "Radiative cooling for energy sustainability: Materials, systems, and applications." Physical Review Materials 6, no. 9 (2022): 090201.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Ziqi Wang, Jiansheng Li, Ying Mu, Shiyu Zhou, Fangqi Chen, Marilyn L. Minus, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng. "Subambient daytime cooling enabled by hierarchically architected all-inorganic metapaper with enhanced thermal dissipation." Nano Energy 96 (2022): 107085.

  • Liu, Yang, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, Andrew Caratenuto, and Yi Zheng. "Intelligent regulation of VO2-PDMS-driven radiative cooling." Applied Physics Letters 120, no. 17 (2022).

  • Zhu, Minyue, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng. "Dome-arrayed chitosan/PVA hydrogel-based solar evaporator for steam generation." Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (2022): 4403.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Jon Goldsby, and Yi Zheng. "Refractory All-Ceramic Thermal Emitter for High-Temperature Near-Field Thermophotovoltaics." Energies 15, no. 5 (2022): 1830.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Andrew Caratenuto, Jiansheng Li, Shiyu Zhou, Ran Ran, Fangqi Chen et al. "A new strategy towards spectral selectivity: Selective leaching alloy to achieve selective plasmonic solar absorption and infrared suppression." Nano Energy 92 (2022): 106717.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Shilin Xu, Jiansheng Li, Andrew Caratenuto, Ying Mu, Ziqi Wang et al. "Recyclable and efficient ocean biomass-derived hydrogel photothermal evaporator for thermally-localized solar desalination." Desalination 523 (2022): 115449.

  • Liu, Yang, Fangqi Chen, Andrew Caratenuto, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Yitong Zhao, and Yi Zheng. "Effective Approximation Method for Nanogratings-induced Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer." Materials 15, no. 3 (2022): 998.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Ying Mu, Andrew Caratenuto, Marilyn L. Minus, and Yi Zheng. "A waterbomb origami tower for convertible photothermal evaporation." Journal of Materials Chemistry A 10, no. 36 (2022): 18657-18670.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Ralph Ahlgren, Yiting Zheng, Ming Su, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng. "An efficient and scalable strategy for ultrablack-paint-enabled solar-driven steam generation." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 234 (2022): 111436.

2021

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Ziqi Wang, Andrew Caratenuto, Fangqi Chen, Yinsheng Wan, and Yi Zheng. "Carbonized cattle manure-based photothermal evaporator with hierarchically bimodal pores for solar desalination in high-salinity brines." Desalination 520 (2021): 115345.

  • Xie, Lijia, Xiaojie Liu, Andrew Caratenuto, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Joseph A. DeGiorgis, Yinsheng Wan, and Yi Zheng. "Environmentally friendly and efficient hornet nest envelope-based photothermal absorbers." ACS omega 6, no. 50 (2021): 34555-34562.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Yang Liu, and Yi Zheng. "Self-adaptive near-field radiative thermal modulation using a thermally sensitive bimaterial structure." Applied Physics Letters 119, no. 22 (2021).

  • Chen, Fangqi, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng. "Mechanically stretchable metamaterial with tunable mid-infrared optical properties." Optics Express 29, no. 23 (2021): 37368-37375.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Andrew Caratenuto, and Yi Zheng. "Mechanically Induced Elastomeric Optical Transmittance Modulator." ACS Applied Polymer Materials 3, no. 11 (2021): 5434-5440.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Jiansheng Li, Yichen Deng, Joseph A. DeGiorgis, Shiyu Zhou, Andrew Caratenuto et al. "Farm-waste-derived recyclable photothermal evaporator." Cell Reports Physical Science 2, no. 9 (2021).

  • Liu, Yang, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Andrew Caratenuto, Xiaojie Liu, Mauro Antezza, and Yi Zheng. "Ultrahigh-rectification near-field radiative thermal diode using infrared-transparent film backsided phase-transition metasurface." Applied Physics Letters 119, no. 12 (2021).

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng. "A facile approach to achieve subambient radiative cooling through aluminum foils and polyethylene bubble wrap." Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 230 (2021): 111286.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Lijuan Qian, Xiaojie Liu, Alok Ghanekar, Jun Liu, Thomas Thundat, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng. "High-temperature and abrasion-resistant metal-insulator-metal metamaterials." Materials Today Energy 21 (2021): 100725.

  • Caratenuto, Andrew, Fangqi Chen, Yanpei Tian, Mauro Antezza, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng. "Magnetic field-induced emissivity tuning of InSb-based metamaterials in the terahertz frequency regime." Optical Materials Express 11, no. 9 (2021): 3141-3153.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Jiansheng Li, Andrew Caratenuto, Shiyu Zhou, Yichen Deng, Gang Xiao, Marilyn L. Minus, and Yi Zheng. "Scalable, fire-retardant, and spectrally robust melamine-formaldehyde photonic bulk for efficient daytime radiative cooling." Applied Materials Today 24 (2021): 101103.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Yanzi Wu, Fangqi Chen, Ying Mu, Marilyn L. Minus, and Yi Zheng. "Fully biomass-based hybrid hydrogel for efficient solar desalination with salt self-cleaning property." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 13, no. 36 (2021): 42832-42842.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Andrew Caratenuto, Joseph A. DeGiorgis, Mohamed ELSonbaty, Yinsheng Wan, Ralph Ahlgren, and Yi Zheng. "An easy‐to‐fabricate 2.5 D evaporator for efficient solar desalination." Advanced Functional Materials 31, no. 27 (2021): 2100911.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Hong Shao, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, Yongsheng Li, Changyu Tang, and Yi Zheng. "Superhydrophobic and recyclable cellulose-fiber-based composites for high-efficiency passive radiative cooling." ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 13, no. 19 (2021): 22521-22530.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Leqing Xu, Yanpei Tian, Andrew Caratenuto, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng. "Electrospun polycaprolactone nanofiber composites with embedded carbon nanotubes/nanoparticles for photothermal absorption." ACS Applied Nano Materials 4, no. 5 (2021): 5230-5239.

  • Chen, Fangqi, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng. "Dynamic Tuning of Near‐Field Radiative Thermal Rectification." Advanced Engineering Materials 23, no. 2 (2021): 2000825.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Alok Ghanekar, and Yi Zheng. "Scalable-manufactured metal–insulator–metal based selective solar absorbers with excellent high-temperature insensitivity." Applied Energy 281 (2021): 116055.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Yanzi Wu, Andrew Caratenuto, Fangqi Chen, Shuang Cui, Joseph A. DeGiorgis, Yinsheng Wan, and Yi Zheng. "Seawater desalination derived entirely from ocean biomass." Journal of Materials Chemistry A 9, no. 39 (2021): 22313-22324.

  • Caratenuto, Andrew, Abdulrahman Aljwirah, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Yinsheng Wan, and Yi Zheng. "Forest waste to clean water: natural leaf-guar-derived solar desalinator." Nanoscale 13, no. 42 (2021): 17754-17764.

2020

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, Alok Ghanekar, Mauro Antezza, and Yi Zheng. "Continuously variable emission for mechanical deformation induced radiative cooling." Communications Materials 1, no. 1 (2020): 95.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng. "Harvesting energy from sun, outer space, and soil." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (2020): 20903.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Alok Ghanekar, Fangqi Chen, Andrew Caratenuto, and Yi Zheng. "Blackbody-cavity ideal absorbers for solar energy harvesting." Scientific Reports 10, no. 1 (2020): 20304.

  • Bonatt, Nicholas, John Carlin, Fangqi Chen, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng. "A Novel Probe-to-Probe Method for Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Individual Electrospun Nanofibers." Materials 13, no. 22 (2020): 5220.

2019

  • Tian, Yanpei, Lijuan Qian, Xiaojie Liu, Alok Ghanekar, Gang Xiao, and Yi Zheng. "Highly effective photon-to-cooling thermal device." Scientific Reports 9, no. 1 (2019): 19317.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Xiaojie Liu, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng. "Perfect grating-Mie-metamaterial based spectrally selective solar absorbers." OSA Continuum 2, no. 11 (2019): 3223-3239.

  • Liu, Xiaojie, Yanpei Tian, Alok Ghanekar, and Yi Zheng. "Spectral selectivity of multiple nanoparticles doped thin films." Optics Express 27, no. 20 (2019): A1591-A1600.

  • Ghanekar, Alok, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng. "Performance enhancement of near-field thermoradiative devices using hyperbolic metamaterials." Journal of Photonics for Energy 9, no. 3 (2019): 032706-032706.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Alok Ghanekar, Xiaojie Liu, Jie Sheng, and Yi Zheng. "Tunable wavelength selectivity of photonic metamaterials-based thermal devices." Journal of Photonics for Energy 9, no. 3 (2019): 032708-032708.

  • Tian, Yanpei, Alok Ghanekar, Lijuan Qian, Matthew Ricci, Xiaojie Liu, Gang Xiao, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng. "Near-infrared optics of nanoparticles embedded silica thin films." Optics Express 27, no. 4 (2019): A148-A157.

2018

  • Ghanekar, Alok, Matthew Ricci, Yanpei Tian, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng. "Dynamic optical response of SU-8 upon UV treatment." Optical Materials Express 8, no. 7 (2018): 2017-2025.

  • Ghanekar, Alok, Matthew Ricci, Yanpei Tian, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng. "Strain-induced modulation of near-field radiative transfer." Applied Physics Letters 112, no. 24 (2018).

  • Tian, Yanpei, Alok Ghanekar, Matt Ricci, Mikhail Hyde, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng. "A review of tunable wavelength selectivity of metamaterials in near-field and far-field radiative thermal transport." Materials 11, no. 5 (2018): 862.

  • Ghanekar, Alok, Yanpei Tian, Matthew Ricci, Sinong Zhang, Otto Gregory, and Yi Zheng. "Near-field thermal rectification devices using phase change periodic nanostructure." Optics Express 26, no. 2 (2018): A209-A218.

2017

  • Ghanekar, Alok, Yanpei Tian, Sinong Zhang, Yali Cui, and Yi Zheng. "Mie-metamaterials-based thermal emitter for near-field thermophotovoltaic systems." Materials 10, no. 8 (2017): 885.

Book chapters

Patents

  • Zheng, Yi, Ralph Ahlgren, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Mohamed Sonbaty, and Khushnood Ahmad Qazi. "Solar-driven evaporation device for desalination system." U.S. Patent Application 18/041,130, filed August 24, 2023.

  • Tian, Yanpei, and Yi Zheng. "Method for producing plasmonic-nanostructure spectrally selective solar absorber having high solar absorptance, low thermal emittance, and high thermal stability." U.S. Patent Application 18/070,742, filed June 1, 2023.

  • Yi Zheng, Yanpei Tian, “Inorganic metapaper for sub-ambient daytime cooling”, US Provisional Patent, 63/286,261, 2021.

  • Yi Zheng, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, “Agricultural Manure and Biomass-derived Photothermal Evaporator for Efficient and Robust Solar Desalination”, US Provisional Patent, 63/159,215, 2021.

  • Yi Zheng, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, YinshengWan, “Fire-retardant and Spectrally Robust Melamine Formaldehyde Photonic Bulk for Efficient Daytime Radiative Cooling”, US Provisional Patent, 63/148,319, 2021.

  • Yi Zheng, Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, Yinsheng Wan, “Recyclable, Self-cleaning Cellulose-fiber-Composites for Passive Radiative Cooling”, US Provisional Patent, 63/128,941.

  • Longbin Yang, Xiaojie Liu, Yanjun Li, Peng Zhang, Shuai Han, Yanpei Tian, and Yihan Sun, “Heat sink for concentrated photovoltaic power generation system based on chimney effect”, CN Provisional Patent, CN201610147556.2A, 2016.

Conference presentations

  • Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng, “High-efficiency Solar-driven Steam Generation Based on an Ultrablack Paint”, TFEC-2020-36269, 2021 ASTFE 5-6th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, New Orleans, LA, May 23-26, 2021.

  • Fangqi Chen, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “Tuning Near-field Thermal Rectification Using Reconfigurable and Phase-transition Metamaterials”, TFEC-2020-36252, 2021 ASTFE 5-6th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, New Orleans, LA, May 23-26, 2021.

  • Fangqi Chen, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, DuanyangWang, and Yi Zheng, “Non-contact Thermal Transistor Effects Modulated by Nanoscale Mechanical Deformation”, TFEC-2020-36253, 2021 ASTFE 5-6th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, New Orleans, LA, May 23-26, 2021.

  • Fangqi Chen, Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “Dynamic Tuning of Near-field Radiative Thermal Rectification”, 3453455, 2020 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 28, 2020.

  • Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng, “High-temperature and Abrasion Resistant Selective Solar Absorber”, 3453446, 2020 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 28, 2020.
     

  • Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng, “Aluminized Polymethylpentene Thin Film for High-effective Radiative Cooling”, 3453444, 2020 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 28, 2020.
     

  • Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, Fangqi Chen, and Yi Zheng, “Experimental Investigation on An Interfacial Structure for Solardriven Water Desalination”, 3453441, 2020 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 28, 2020.
     

  • Xiaojie Liu, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “Spectral Selectivity of Embedding Multiple-species Nanoparticles in A Medium”, 3453398, 2020 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, November 28, 2020.
     

  • Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng, “Scalable-manufactured Selective Solar Absorber with Excellent Ambient High-Temperature Stability”, TFEC-2020-31862, ASTFE 5th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 8, 2020.
     

  • Yanpei Tian, Xiaojie Liu, and Yi Zheng, “Simple Polymer Microstructure Yields Highly Effective Radiative Cooling”, TFEC-2020-31863, ASTFE 5th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 8, 2020.
     

  • Alok Ghanekar, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “High Contrast Photonic Thermal Diode”, TFEC-2018-21960, ASTFE 3rd Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, Fort Lauderdale, FL, March 2018.
     

  • Yanpei Tian, Alok Ghanekar, and Yi Zheng, “Experimental Investigation of Mie-Metamaterial-based Thermal Emitters for Thermophotovoltaics”, TFEC-2018-21882, ASTFE 3rd Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, Fort Lauderdale, FL, March 2018.
     

  • Alok Ghanekar, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “Mie-metamaterial Enhanced Wavelength Selective Thermal Emitter for Nearfield Thermophotovoltaic Systems”, ASME-IMECE2017-71499, Tampa, FL, November 2017.

  • Alok Ghanekar, Yanpei Tian, and Yi Zheng, “Radiative Thermal Diode with Enhanced Rectification”, ASME-IMECE2017-72783, Tampa, FL, November 2017.

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