Pierre Yao

Pierre Yao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Delaware, part of the College of Engineering. His research focuses on energy materials for advanced batteries, particularly lithium-oxygen and lithium-ion systems, leveraging operando electrochemical tools like synchrotron diffraction and spectroscopy. He holds a PhD from MIT (2016) and a BS from the University of Delaware (Summa Cum Laude), with postdoctoral experience at Argonne National Laboratory.

Education:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016
• BS in Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Summa Cum Laude

Research Interests:

• Development of operando tools for real-time material analysis
• Stabilization of conversion anodes in lithium-ion batteries
• Electrolyte systems to mitigate polysulfide shuttling in Li-S batteries
• Data-driven approaches to energy material discovery

Professional Highlights:

• Recipient of five years of research funding from Toyota Motor Europe R&D Advanced Technologies
• Alumni of the University of Delaware Mechanical Engineering Department
• Key contributions to understanding battery degradation mechanisms and solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) dynamics

Labs & Affiliations: Office located at 334 Spencer Lab, Newark, DE. Active in the University of Delaware’s Energy Materials and Devices research cluster.