Yushan Yan

Henry Belin Du Pont Chair of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Prof. Yan is an expert in electrochemical engineering for sustainability.

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Preparing the clean hydrogen workforce

The University of Delaware will play a leading role in workforce development efforts associated with the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub (MACH2), which has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to receive up to $750 million in funding through the historic Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs program. MACH2 was chosen as one of seven hydrogen hubs, totaling up to $7 billion in grants, announced by the Energy Department on Oct. 13. In stiff national competition, MACH2 ranked among the most pro-labor and greenest hubs in the nation, according to the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA), which brokered the proposal, involving industries, academic institutions, local governments and community partners from across Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania and South Jersey. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and the Energy Department is working to accelerate its use as a clean energy source and as a means to decarbonize heavy industry, transportation and energy storage to meet President Biden’s goal of a 100% clean electrical grid by 2035 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, with the regional hydrogen hubs leading the way. MACH2 will encompass a network of hydrogen producers, consumers, local connective infrastructure for hydrogen deployment, and the education and training needed to develop the region’s clean energy workforce. UD will lead the higher education component of MACH2’s workforce development with Cheyney University, Rowan University and the University of Pennsylvania. MACH2 is projected to create 20,000 well-paying jobs in the production, delivery and use of zero-emission hydrogen to repower the region’s industrial facilities, transportation systems and agriculture sectors. What kinds of jobs will MACH2 help prepare people for? There will be a need for technicians for hydrogen-powered vehicles, construction workers for installing hydrogen pipelines, fuel cell power system operators, hydrogen production plant managers, and directors of research and development (R&D) programs, to name a few. Some of these roles may require a high school diploma and an apprenticeship or specific credential; others may require a college degree, from bachelor’s to master’s to Ph.D. Yushan Yan, the Henry Belin du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UD, will direct the hub’s higher education workforce development efforts. This work will complement high school, vo-tech and community college training programs in energy and construction that will be expanded through the hub, along with pre-apprenticeship programs, particularly those that recruit from underserved communities, offered by building trade unions. “The University of Delaware and our collaborators at Cheyney, Rowan and Penn are well-poised to prepare students for rewarding careers in the new hydrogen economy,” Yan said. “Several engineering, energy and hydrogen programs are already in place at our institutions and will be expanded through the hub, offering students exciting opportunities.” UD will enhance hydrogen technology training at the master’s level through a new “4+1” master’s degree in electrochemical engineering, which would allow highly qualified undergraduate students to earn a bachelor’s degree in an area such as chemical and biomolecular engineering or mechanical engineering and then continue on to earn a master’s degree in electrochemical engineering in the fifth year.

Yushan Yan

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Biography

Yushan Yan is the Henry Belin du Pont Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. He served as the founding Associate Dean for Research and Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware, Department Chair at the University of California Riverside and Senior Staff Engineer/Project Leader at AlliedSignal.

His recognitions include University Scholar Professor from the University of California Riverside, Presidential Chair from the University of California, Distinguished Engineering Professor from the University of Delaware, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Donald Breck Award from the International Zeolite Association, the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Energy Technology Division Research Award from the Electrochemical Society, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the Braskem Award for Materials Science and Engineering from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Fellow of the Electrochemical Society. He was one of 37 awardees of the US Department of Energy’s ARPA-E OPEN 2009, one of 66 awardees of the ARPA-E OPEN 2012, and one of 40 ARPA-E OPEN 2018. He has been an inventor on a number of issued or pending patents, some of which were licensed to form startup companies (e.g., NanoH2O).

He is currently the founder and CEO of a University of Delaware spinout W7energy His research has led to 250+ publications that are widely cited (19,000+ citations; h-index = 75, Web of Science; h-index = 82, Google Scholar), and extensively covered by the media including New Scientist, Business Week, C&EN News, Materials Today, MRS360, Chemical Engineering Progress, China Press, Chinese Daily News, CNBC, CNN.com, KABC, Radio Australia, and VOA. He studied Chemical Physics (BS) at the University of Science and Technology of China, Heterogeneous Catalysis at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chemical Engineering (PhD) at the California Institute of Technology.

Industry Expertise

Electrical Engineering
Energy
Chemicals

Areas of Expertise

Electrochemical Energy Engineering
Energy Conversion and Storage
Fuel Cells
Electrolyzers
Flow Batteries
Electrochemistry
Electrocatalysis
Polymer Electrolytes
Electrochemical Interfaces
Zeolites and Covalent Organic Frameworks

Media Appearances

Plan for the planet: Yushan Yan | UDaily

University of Delaware  online

2023-04-17

Today, Yushan Yan answers a question posed by Bradie Crandall, doctoral candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering and a Delaware Environmental Institute Fellow, about the critical role hydrogen — the most abundant element on the planet — can play in the future of energy.

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Yushan Yan elected to National Academy of Engineering

EurekAlert!  online

2022-02-17

“This is an incredible honor,” Yan said. “First and foremost, I want to thank my students and postdocs of the past 20-plus years who trusted me enough to join my group and taught me everything I know about electrochemical engineering, catalysis and materials. I am also grateful to my wife of 30 years for her unconditional support, my collaborators for sharing their knowledge and the various organizations for the funding they provided. I am humbled by this NAE election and I am indebted to many friends who have had more confidence in me than myself.”

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Next generation water splitter could help renewables power the globe

Science  online

2020-03-10

Their work and another team's new device, described this week in Nature Energy, could bolster the global embrace of renewable energy if the new electrolyzers prove to be cheap and stable during many years of operation. "We are on the cusp of getting that done," says Yushan Yan, a chemical engineer at the University of Delaware, Newark, who is working on similar technology. A handful of small companies, including one he founded, have formed to commercialize it.

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Articles

Understanding hydrogen electrocatalysis by probing the hydrogen-bond network of water at the electrified Pt–solution interface

Nature Energy

2023

Rational construction of the electrode–solution interface where electrochemical processes occur is of paramount importance in electrochemistry. Efforts to gain better control and understanding of the interface have been hindered by lack of probing methods. Here we show that the hydrogen evolution and oxidation reactions (HER/HOR) catalysed by platinum in base can be promoted by introduction of N-methylimidazoles at the platinum–water interface. In situ spectroscopic characterization together with simulations indicate that the N-methylimidazoles facilitate diffusion of hydroxides across the interface by holding the second layer of water close to platinum surfaces, thereby promoting the HER/HOR.

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Enhancing Hydrogen Diffusion in Catalytic Removal of Nitrate Using a Flow Reactor

Topics in Catalysis

2023

The excessive application of nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and sewage irrigation in agriculture has caused serious nitrate pollution in natural water systems. Selective catalytic reduction of nitrate (NO3−) with hydrogen (H2) to dinitrogen (N2) is a promising approach to address this public health risk, but the practical application of this denitrification technology is currently limited by the low NO3− removal rate and the high cost of palladium-based catalysts. In this work, we report an integrated thermo/electro-catalytic flow reactor for nitrate reduction. The innovative design of the solid–gas–liquid triple-phase interface enables high-throughput catalytic reduction of NO3− to N2.

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Self-Standing Covalent Organic Framework Membranes for H2/CO2 Separation

Advanced Functional Materials

2023

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are proposed as promising candidates for engineering advanced molecular sieving membranes due to their precise pore sizes, modifiable pore environment, and superior stability. However, COFs are insoluble in common solvents and do not melt at high temperatures, which presents a great challenge for the fabrication of COF-based membranes (COFMs). Herein, for the first time, a new synthetic strategy is reported to prepare continuous and intact self-standing COFMs, including 2D N-COF membrane and 3D COF-300 membrane. Both COFMs show excellent selectivity of H2/CO2 mixed gas (13.8 for N-COF membrane and 11 for COF-300 membrane), and especially ultrahigh H2 permeance (4319 GPU for N-COF membrane and 5160 GPU for COF-300 membrane), which is superior to those of COFMs reported so far.

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Accomplishments

Fellow of the Electrochemical Society

2019

Braskem Award for Materials Science and Engineering, American Institute of Chemical Engineers

2019

Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

2019

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Education

California Institute of Technology.

PhD

Chemical Engineering

1996

Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

MS

Heterogeneous Catalysis

1992

University of Science and Technology of China

BS

Chemical Physics

1988

Patents

Poly (aryl piperidinium) polymers including those with stable cationic pendant groups for use as anion exchange membranes and ionomers

US11512156

2022-11-29

Poly (aryl piperidinium) polymers with pendant cationic groups are provided which have an alkaline-stable cation, piperidinium, introduced into a rigid aromatic polymer backbone free of ether bonds. Hydroxide exchange membranes or hydroxide exchange ionomers formed from these polymers exhibit superior chemical stability, hydroxide conductivity, decreased water uptake, good solubility in selected solvents, and improved mechanical properties in an ambient dry state as compared to conventional hydroxide exchange membranes or ionomers. Hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells comprising the poly (aryl piperidinium) polymers with pendant cationic groups exhibit enhanced performance and durability at relatively high temperatures.

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