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Welcome to Nano Energy Laboratory!

Nano Energy Laboratory’s innovative cleantech research about carbon-neutral passive cooling and solar-driven water desalination technologies, aiming to address global warming and the energy/water crisis, has received tremendous global attention (e.g., US, UK, China, India, New Zealand, and South Africa) and has been covered by more than 100 news outlets, including Northeastern University Global News, BBC, Science, India Times, Global Leaders Today, Phys.org, The Vanguard (GE News), WaterToday, ASEE Prism Magazine, New York Rural Water Association, Chemical Engineering Magazine, the live radio interview “Top of Mind with Julie Rose” and The Hill’s “Changing America.”

Nano Energy Laboratory’s Research Includes

Functional energy materials for thermophotovoltaic energy harvesting, passive cooling for infrastructures and vehicles, solar-driven water desalination and purification, waste heat recovery, opto-thermal sensing, and infrared signature suppression

Cleantech, sustainability, and carbon neutral technologies for addressing the growing global challenges in renewable energy and water scarcity

Theoretical and experimental investigations on nanoscale energy transport and advanced opto-thermal properties of novel metasurfaces and metamaterials

Advanced functionalities of metamaterials: light manipulation, tunable opto-thermal properties, spectral and angular selectivity, self-adaptivity, high-temperature resistance, anti-scratch, self-cleanness, and super-hydrophobicity

Electromagnetic fluctuation induced near-field effects and van der Waals/Casimir interactions

Physics-guided and deep-learning-aided design and nanofabrication of functional materials, for example, photonic metamaterials, phase-transition thermal devices, nanoparticle-nanofiber composites, stretchable and reconfigurable two-/three-dimensional periodic surface gratings

Quick Facts about Prof. Yi Zheng

• Published 90+ peer-reviewed journal papers (h-index of 26 and i10-index of 53)
• Gave 50+ seminars/invited talks at top-ranked domestic and international universities and served as conference topic/session chairs 30+ times
• Holding 5 PCT/US patents, 2 Chinese Invention Patents, and 4 US patents pending
• Received multiple federal, state, and industrial research grants totaling over $4.4M

Prof. Yi Zheng is a tenured Associate Professor with expertise in sustainable energy and clean technology in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the College of Engineering, the Director of Nano Energy Laboratory, and a Faculty Fellow of Center for Emerging Markets at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University (Boston, MA), an elected Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Founder and President of Planck Energies. He joined Northeastern University in July 2019, Prior to Northeastern, he was a tenure-track Assistant Professor and Associate Professor with early promotion and tenure at the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI) between 2014 and 2019. Prof. Zheng received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Columbia University (New York, NY) in 2015 and 2011, respectively, and a B.S. from Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) in 2009.

Prof. Zheng is a stellar researcher and scholar in thermal science and engineering for renewable energy harvesting and clean technology. He is very innovative and has published over 90 innovative and impactful peer-reviewed papers and filed 9 U.S. patents for energy-saving cooling technology for infrastructures/vehicles and solar-driven water desalination, aiming to address global warming and reduce carbon dioxide emission. Prof. Zheng has been well-recognized internationally and domestically. He has been selected as the NASA Faculty Fellowship recipient by NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Research Fellow at the University of Montpellier, France, and as one of the youngest NSF-sponsored invited professors at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where about 30 leading scientists from around the world joining together to discuss the advancements and future directions related to thermal science and energy applications.

Prof. Zheng contributions to professional societies have been significant. He serves on ASME K-8 Committee on Fundamentals of Heat Transfer and K-9 Committee on Nanoscale Thermal Transport, OPTICA Technical Group of Photonic Metamaterials as a Vice Chair, ASTFE Energy and Sustainability Technical Committee, and International Workshop on Nano-Micro Thermal Radiation International Scientific Committee. He was invited to give many seminars at the top-ranked domestic and foreign universities including MIT, Brown University, University of Southern California, Hong Kong University, Imperial College of London, Tsinghua University, University of Montpellier, and University of Tokyo.

Prof. Zheng has secured significant research funding totaling over $4.4M from federal agencies including NSF, NASA, ONR, DARPA, and US Air Force, and state and industry such as MassVentures, 3M, Faraday Technology, and Soleeva Energy. The research group that he directs, Nano Energy Laboratory, has continued to innovate new methods of transforming sustainable biomass-derived composites, like cellulose fibers and farm waste, into recyclable, cost-effective functional materials for renewable energy harvesting and water desalination. Professor Zheng founded a clean-tech startup company Planck Energies to develop and produce innovative passive cooling products and provide energy-saving solutions for vehicles and infrastructures including warehouses, data centers, and other commercial spaces.

Professional Experience

2024 – Present

• Faculty Fellow, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston

2023 – Present

• Faculty Fellow, NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH

2022 – Present

• Faculty Fellow, Center for Emerging Markets, D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

2022 – Present

• Affiliated Faculty, Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

2022

• NSF-sponsored Visiting Professor, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA