(2ee) Engineering Polymer Thin Films for Bio-Active and Energy Storage

Pengyu Chen, Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Research Interests

My research spans the fundamental science in all-dry polymerization using vapor deposition techniques to the application of the functional materials in bio-active materials and energy storage, with a particular emphasis on programming the phenotype and behavior of living microbes through materials design.

Research experience and future interest

My doctoral studies at Cornell comprises three main threads:

• Methodologies for the synthesis of novel polymer materials. My research led to an new way to synthesize polymers, which has expanded the scope of attainable properties, including polymer morphology, molecular weight, and mechanical strength, via a fresh concept of vapor-phase solvation during CVD. This work disrupts the traditional paradigm, introducing a vapor "solvent" that influences the material properties and manufacturing process without being incorporated into the final material. By establishing a systematic theoretical framework of solvation-adsorption-reaction kinetics for all-dry polymerization, I have paved the way for more attainable control modality of material properties.
• Bio-active materials. By studying the interactions between synthetic polymers and living organisms, I have developed novel strategies for antifouling and materials for antiviral. Specifically, 1) I proposed that dynamic wetting could simultaneously satisfy the conflicting requirements for fouling resistance at the air-solid interface, which favors hydrophobicity, versus that at the liquid-solid interface, which favors hydrophilicity. 2) Also, an imidazolium based zwitterionic polymer was designed that could deactivate the coronavirus upon mere minutes of contact. 3) My work has demonstrated the potential of material-centric control modalities to manipulate the phenotype of biofilm via the efficient delivery of metal ions.
• Energy storage. The precise control of polymer film at nanoscale resolution has led to a breakthrough in the design of Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) in batteries. Together with Prof. Lynden Archer's team, I developed a zwitterionic gradient interface for an alkaline zinc battery to achieve a local environment of low-activity water at the SEI-electrode for protection and a free-water-rich region at the SEI-electrolyte interface for efficient ion transportation.

For the next steps of my research,

• In terms of material synthesis, the goal is to expand the range of material properties attainable through vacuum technology and reduce costs. I aim to developing vapor-phase chemistry, employing strategies such as vapor-phase solvation and in-situ orthogonal reactions, to diversify the library of functional groups and enhance the synthesis precision of all-dry techniques.

• In the realm of bio-active materials, my plan is to expand the understanding from two-dimensional bio-interfaces to three-dimensional bio-interphace. This will be achieved by designing conformal polymer nanocoatings at the single-cell scale, thereby enabling fine control over the cellular microenvironment to program living materials that integrate cells with synthetic materials. The benefited fields ranges from medical devices to industrial bio-production.

• Regarding energy storage materials, I plan to further leverage the advantages of precise synthesis. By decoupling the fundamental processes at the electrode interface, I aim to design nanoscale, multi-layer interfaces with target-specific functionality. This research will aid in understanding SEI, ultimately contributing to the development of stable anode-free lithium metal batteries.

For the next stage of my research, I have a wide range of interests in the cutting-edge sciences of polymers and intersections between artificial materials and living systems. I am particularly interested in areas such as advanced additive manufacturing technologies, novel hydrogels, and polymer electronic devices. Overall, a significant emphasis will be put on leveraging the power of systematic experimental design to build understanding of the fundamental physical and chemical processes of the interfacial behavior of biological system and electrochemical device with special focus on polymer material.

Publications

Chen, P.; Zhang, Z.; Rouse, Z.; Baker, S.P.; Yeo, J.; Yang, R., Engineering solvation in initiated chemical vapour deposition for control over polymerization kinetics and material properties. Nat. Synth. 2023, 2, 373–383, DOI: 10.1038/s44160-023-00242-5

Jin, S.^†; Chen, P.-Y.^†; Qiu, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Hong, S.; Joo, Y.L.; Yang, R.; Archer, L.A., Zwitterionic Polymer Gradient Interphases for Reversible Zinc Electrochemistry in Aqueous Alkaline Electrolytes. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144 (42), 19344-19352, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.2c06757

Chen, P.; Lang, J.; Zhou, Y.; Khlyustova, A.; Zhang, Z.; Ma, X.; Liu, S.; Cheng, Y.; Yang, R., An imidazolium-based zwitterionic polymer for antiviral and antibacterial dual functional coatings. Sci. Adv. 8 (2), eabl8812, DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abl8812

Chen, P.; Lang, J.; Franklin, T.; Yu, Z.; Yang, R., Reduced Biofilm Formation at the Air–Liquid–Solid Interface via Introduction of Surfactants. ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng. 2021, DOI:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.0c01691

Stalin, S.^†; Chen, P.^†; Li, G.^†; Deng, Y.; Rouse, Z.; Cheng, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Biswal, P.; Jin, S.; Baker, S. P.; Yang, R.; Archer, L. A., Ultrathin zwitterionic polymeric interphases for stable lithium metal anodes. Matter 2021, 4 (11), 3753-3773, DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2021.09.025

Chen, P.-Y.^†; Yan, C.^†; Chen, P.^†; Zhang, R.; Yao, Y.-X.; Peng, H.-J.; Yan, L.-T.; Kaskel, S.; Zhang, Q., Selective Permeable Lithium-Ion Channels on Lithium Metal for Practical Lithium–Sulfur Pouch Cells. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60 (33), 18031-18036, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202101958

Zhao, Q.^†; Chen, P.^†; Li, S.; Liu, X.; Archer, L. A., Solid-state polymer electrolytes stabilized by task-specific salt additives. J. Mater. Chem. A 2019, 7 (13), 7823-7830, DOI:10.1039/C8TA12008K

(In Preparation)

Chen, P.; Zhang, Z.; Park, K.-W.; Yang, R., Vapor Solvent for Regulating Monomer Reactivity in initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition. In preparation

Chen, P.^†; Zhang, Z.^†; Nguyen, M. T.; Khlyustova, A.; Deng, Z.; Ma, X.; Li, L.; Shao, Q.; Yang, R., Engineering Monomer Complexes to Expand the Attainable Surface Properties via initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition. In preparation

Chen, P.^†; Jin, S.^†; Qiu, Y.; Zhang, Z.; Archer, L. A.; Yang, R., Adaptive ion channels formed in ultra-thin and semi-crystalline polymer interphases for stable aqueous batteries. In preparation

Presentations

Chen, Pengyu. "Engineering monomer complexes in all-dry copolymerization", 2023 ACS Fall, Aug. 16^th, 2023, San Francisco

Chen, Pengyu. "Engineering 'Solvation' in All-Dry Polymerization", 2022 AIChE Annual Meeting, Nov. 17^th, 2022, Phoenix

Teaching

I am interested in instructing courses related to polymer chemistry, vacuum technology, polymer material characterization, transport processes, electrochemistry, energy conversion and storage. Additionally, I am also eager to develop new courses as required within the department.