Welcome to Yuan Group @ Stockholm University


Functional Polymers and Carbons: from fundamentals to applied materials

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Research

Our mission is to design, create and investigate broadly defined functional polymers and carbons, particularly in a well-structured (e.g., colloidal or porous) form, via simple chemistry and processing. We aim to understand fundamental knowledge and confront challenges in these materials to build up a better and more sustainable society. The team deals with both basics in polymer science and carbon research, and the forefront topics in materials science and processing to inspire new solutions to environmental and energy issues. Our current focuses are listed beneath.

1. poly(ionic liquid) chemistry for materials innovation.

Currently, one of our key focuses is the synthesis and materials application of poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs), a class of multifunctional polymers that are produced via polymerization of ionic liquids and/or attachmen of IL species covalently to the polymer chain. PILs carry a traditional profile of macromolecules and simultaneously maintain certain properties of ionic liquids, therefore representing a new concept to build up task-specific functional polyelectrolytes. Our activities on this topic cover new chemical structures. colloidal systems, porous polymers and membrane, fibers and responsive materials.

2. biomass-derived functional systems

Constructing functional systems and devices entirely or partially from renewable biomass is an important materials concept towards a sustainable society. From nature trees and cottons to clothes and filter papers, we invented new design methods and processing concepts to make better materials from renewable resources. Right now we are particularly interested in biomaterial-derived soft actuators and energy storage/conversion system.

3. Polymer-derived heteroatom-doped porous carbons for energy, sensing and catalytic application

Our interest deals with polymer-derived heteroatom-doped porous carbons with well-defined shape for energy, sensing and catalytic applications. Their distinctive shapes include (nano)particles, hollow nanospheres ("nanobubbles"), forms, fibers, and membranes. These carbons are invovled as electrode or electrocatalyst in several electrochemical processes, including batteries, supercapacitors, electrolyzers, and fuel cells.

Highlights

1. Our ERC-Consolidator project (2022-2027) "Nanoporous Porous poly(ionic liquid)s for CO2 capture and simultaneous conversion under ambient conditions (PARIS)" will start in Winter 2022. We will desgin dual-functional porous polymer spheres for CO2 capture and utilization under ambient conditions!

2. Our new article on " Hierarchically Porous 3D Freestanding Holey-MXene Framework via Mild Oxidation of Self-Assembled MXene Hydrogel for Ultrafast Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage" has been accepted! We present a straightforward strategy to engineer robust 3D freestanding MXene hydrogels with hierarchically porous structures. ACS Nano. 2022, 36, 2204388. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c11551.

3. Our new article on " Redirecting configuration of atomically dispersed selenium catalytic sites for efficient hydrazine oxidation" has been accepted! We report a carbonaceous, atomically dispersed non-metallic selenium catalyst that displayed exceptional catalytic activity in the hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR) in alkaline media, outperforming the noble-metal Pt catalysts. Matter. 2024, 7, 655-667. DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2023.12.001.

4. Our new article on " Tailor-Made White Photothermal Fabrics: A Bridge between Pragmatism and Aesthetic" has been accepted! It is a joint publication with our collaborator with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. We embed cesium tungsten bronze nanoparticles as additive inside nylon nanofibers to get the webs that are capable of drawing both near-infrared (NIR) and ultraviolet (UV) light in sunlight for heating. Adv.Mater. 2023, 35, 2209215. DOI: 10.1002/adma.202209215.

5. Our new article on " Vacancy-Rich MXene-Immobilized Ni Single Atoms as a High-Performance Electrocatalyst for the Hydrazine Oxidation Reaction" is online! It is a joint publication with our collaborator Prof. Tierui Zhang in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We prepared Ti3C2Tx-MXene-supported Ni single atom catalysts by using a self-reduction strategy via the assistance of rich Ti vacancies on the Ti3C2Tx MXene surface, which acted as the trap and anchor sites for individual Ni atoms. The constructed Ni SACs supported by the Ti3C2Tx MXene (Ni SACs/Ti3C2Tx ) show an ultralow onset potential of ?0.03 V (vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)) and an exceptional operational stability toward the hydrazine oxidation reaction (HzOR). Adv. Mater. 2022, 36, 2204388. DOI: 10.1002/adma.202204388.

6. Our new article on " Poly(ionic liquid) Nanovesicle-Templated Carbon Nanocapsules Functionalized with Uniform Iron Nitride Nanoparticles as Catalytic Sulfur Host for Li?S Batteries" has been accepted! It is a joint publication with our collaborator with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. We effectively improve the performance of the Li-S batteries by surpressing the shuttling of polysylfides. ACS. Nano. 2022, jsut accepted. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c01992.

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