Shu Yang (scientist)

Yang was born in China. She attended Fudan University in Shanghai.[1] She moved to the United States for graduate studies, where she joined Cornell University as a student in chemistry and chemical biology. She remained at Cornell for her doctoral research, where she worked on the design and synthesis of novel polymers for microelectronics.[2] After graduating, she joined Bell Labs as a member of the Lucent Technologies.[3]

In 2004, Yang joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania.[4] She was promoted to Professor in 2013 and elected Chair in 2021. Yang is interested in the synthesis and fabrication of novel materials, including self-assembled nanostructures and responsive materials.[5] Through the study of lotus leaves and butterflies, Yang created novel superhydrophic surfaces.[6] These surfaces have very high nanoscale roughness, which reduces the contact area between water and results in water being repelled from the surface.[6] Superhydrophic surfaces could be used to keep the outside of buildings and solar panels dry and clean.[6][7] To fabricate these surfaces, Yang pioneered the use of holographic lithography, using a laser to cross-link a photoresist.[6] Areas of the photoresist that are not illuminated by the laser are removed by a solvent, leaving a 3D network behind.[6] She optimized the structure of the network using a combination of good and bad solvents.[6] Through the study of photosymbiotic giant clams, Yang worked with Alison Sweeney on the development of solar concentrators.[8][9][10] By introduce molecular ordering in two-dimensional sheets of a rubber-like material called liquid crystal elastomer, the Yang lab transforms the sheets into complex three-dimensional geometries, such as a human face, with heat. [11] She is investigating self-morphing building blocks for novel manufacturing processes.[12] These building blocks are based on biological systems and natural materials. For example, by studying snail slime she created a novel, reversible adhesive.[13] By introducing holes and cuts in 2D sheets, Yang demonstrates dramatic color and shape change and super-conformability via collapsing or expanding of the hole arrays in the micro- and macroscales. By programming the geometry of cuts and fold using origami and kirigami mechanisms, Yang explores potential applications in water harvesting, super-stretchable and shape conformable medical devices.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang was part of a team who created an origami-inspired face mask that could be used to address the shortage of personal protective equipment in hospitals. She shared the design through Open Medical[14] and recommended the respirators be made using sterilisation wrap. The mask achieved a 95% viral filtration efficiency.[14]

• 2006 National Science Foundation Career Award[15]
• 2011 American Chemical Society Arthur K. Doolittle Award[5]
• 2014 Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors[16]
• 2015 George H. Heilmeier Faculty Award for Excellence in Research[17]
• 2017 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry[18]
• 2018 Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society[19]
• 2018 Elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society[20]
• 2019 Fellow of Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science Program[21]
• 2021 Elected Fellow of the Materials Research Society[22]

• Tom N Krupenkin; J Ashley Taylor; Tobias M Schneider; Shu Yang (1 May 2004). "From rolling ball to complete wetting: the dynamic tuning of liquids on nanostructured surfaces". Langmuir. 20 (10): 3824–3827. doi:10.1021/LA036093Q. ISSN 0743-7463. PMID 15969363. Wikidata Q81875141.
• Yu Xia; Tyler S Mathis; Meng-Qiang Zhao; et al. (16 May 2018). "Thickness-independent capacitance of vertically aligned liquid-crystalline MXenes". Nature. 557 (7705): 409–412. doi:10.1038/S41586-018-0109-Z. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 29769673. Wikidata Q59069656.
• S. Qin; Y. Geng; D. E. Discher; S. Yang (3 November 2006). "Temperature-Controlled Assembly and Release from Polymer Vesicles of Poly(ethylene oxide)-block- poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)". Advanced Materials. 18 (21): 2905–2909. doi:10.1002/ADMA.200601019. ISSN 0935-9648. Wikidata Q57341520.

• Shu Yang publications indexed by Google Scholar