Yayuan Liu

About

Yayuan Liu is a Russell Croft Faculty Scholar and assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Her research group operates at the interface of chemical engineering, materials science, and electrochemistry to advance energy and environmental sustainability. Her work involves designing and synthesizing materials at the molecular and microscopic levels, developing novel electrochemical processes utilizing functional materials, and employing advanced characterization tools to link microscopic phenomena with macroscopic performance. Specific themes in her research include redox-active materials for carbon capture and utilization in electrosynthesis, molecularly precise electrochemical interfaces for water remediation and chemical manufacturing, and imaging platforms for visualizing electrochemical processes with high temporal, spatial, and chemical resolution. Liu earned her bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering from Nanyang Technological University in 2014, where she received the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal for academic achievements. She completed her PhD at Stanford University in 2019 under the guidance of Professor Yi Cui, supported by the Stanford Graduate Fellowship. Following her doctoral studies, she conducted postdoctoral research at MIT with Professor T. Alan Hatton. Her contributions to the field have been…

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Materials science
• Chemical engineering
• Organic chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Inorganic chemistry
• Composite material
• Engineering
• Engineering physics
• Physical chemistry

Selected publications

• Over 12% efficiency solar-powered green hydrogen production from seawater

  Energy & Environmental Science · 2025-01-01 · 42 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  A high-efficiency and sustainable approach produces green hydrogen with natural sunlight and seawater as the sole inputs.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A high-throughput experimentation platform for data-driven discovery in electrochemistry

  Science Advances · 2025-04-04 · 36 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Automating electrochemical analyses combined with artificial intelligence is poised to accelerate discoveries in renewable energy sciences and technologies. This study presents an automated high-throughput electrochemical characterization (AHTech) platform as a cost-effective and versatile tool for rapidly assessing liquid analytes. The Python-controlled platform combines a liquid handling robot, potentiostat, and customizable microelectrode bundles for diverse, reproducible electrochemical meas…

  PublisherDOI

• Electro-activated indigos intensify ampere-level CO2 reduction to CO on silver catalysts

  Nature Communications · 2025-04-03 · 25 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO) is challenged by a selectivity decline at high current densities. Here we report a class of indigo-based molecular promoters with redox-active CO2 binding sites to enhance the high-rate conversion of CO2 to CO on silver (Ag) catalysts. Theoretical calculations and in situ spectroscopy analyses demonstrate that the synergistic effect at the interface of indigo-derived compounds and Ag nanoparticles could activate CO2 mo…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Core–Shell Amorphous Carbon‐Coated CuZn Powder for Synergistic Protection of Zinc Anodes

  Advanced Energy Materials · 2025-06-17 · 10 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract Aqueous Zn‐ion batteries are attractive for large‐scale energy storage due to their inherent safety and low cost. However, their practical application is hindered by the unstable Zn metal anode, caused by uncontrollable dendrite growth and severe hydrogen evolution reaction, which significantly shortens cycle life. In this study, amorphous carbon‐coated CuZn composite powders are synthesized using the tandem plasma‐enhanced powder synthesis method and employed as an interfacial regulato…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Electrifying amine carbon capture with robust redox-tunable acids

  Nature Communications · 2025-05-09 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Electrochemically mediated carbon capture presents an energy-efficient and cost-effective strategy to combat climate change due to its ability to utilize renewable energy and operate at ambient conditions. However, many current approaches suffer from operational instability and limited scalability potential due to a lack of reliable, low-cost redox-active absorbent materials. Here, we introduce a class of chemically robust and economical redox-tunable Brønsted acids to electrify amine carbon cap…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Electrochemically Mediated Carbon Dioxide Separation via Non-Aqueous Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer

  NSF · $516k · 2023–2028

Frequent coauthors

• Yi Cui

  Stanford University

  104 shared

• Dingchang Lin

  Johns Hopkins University

  39 shared

• Qin He

  Xiamen University

  28 shared

• Zhirong Zhang

  Sichuan University

  24 shared

• Huile Gao

  Sichuan University

  24 shared

• Yan‐Kai Tzeng

  19 shared

• Steven Chu

  Stanford University

  19 shared

• Rodney C. Ewing

  18 shared

Awards & honors

• Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal for academic achievements
• Stanford Graduate Fellowship
• NSF CAREER Award
• Packard Fellowship
• Beckman Young Investigator Award

Similar researchers at Johns Hopkins University

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• Chao Wangh-93
• Jennifer Elisseeffh-87