Yu Kambe received his BS in materials science and engineering from Cornell University in spring 2013. He is now working toward his PhD in molecular engineering at the University of Chicago under the mentorship of Professor Paul Nealey. As an undergraduate, Yu worked under Professor Lynden Archer on high rate electrode materials for Li-ion and Li-metal batteries while holding the president position for the Cornell chapter of the Materials Research Society. In 2013, following graduation, he joined a Silicon Valley startup company called C3Nano Inc. as a lead project engineer, developing next generation transparent conducting films. In the fall of 2014, he joined the Institute for Molecular Engineering (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) as one of the inaugural PhD students, bringing with him over seven years of cumulative industry experience.
Solid state ion transport membranes are sought after for their versatility in myriad electrochemical processes in the industry, including batteries, fuel cells, electrolyzers, and desalination membranes. Using the Nealey Group’s ability to align thin film block copolymers via self-assembly and directed self-assembly, Kambe is orienting block copolymer domains with very different chemical functionalities and using postorganization reactions and incorporation techniques to selectively modify domains to fulfill a specific function. With a wide range of polymer chemistries and reaction methodologies in addition to device fabrication capabilities, he intends to fundamentally investigate ion transport mechanisms in solid state electrolytes and improve upon existing systems with that knowledge.
Sculpted grain boundaries in soft crystals
Li, Xiao, et al. "Sculpted grain boundaries in soft crystals." Science Advances 5.11 (2019): eaax9112.
Role of Defects in Ion Transport in Block Copolymer Electrolytes
Kambe, Yu, et al. "Role of Defects in Ion Transport in Block Copolymer Electrolytes." Nano Letters (2019).
Nanothin film conductivity measurements reveal interfacial influence on ion transport in polymer electrolytes
Dong, B. X., Bennington, P., Kambe, Y., Sharon, D., Dolejsi, M., Strzalka, J., … Patel, S. N. (2019). Nanothin film conductivity measurements reveal interfacial influence on ion transport in polymer electrolytes. Mol. Syst. Des. Eng., 4(3), 597–608. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9ME00011A
Interrogation of Electrochemical Properties of Polymer Electrolyte Thin Films with Interdigitated Electrodes
Sharon, D., Bennington, P., Liu, C., Kambe, Y., Dong, B. X., Burnett, V. F., … Nealey, P. F. (2018). Interrogation of Electrochemical Properties of Polymer Electrolyte Thin Films with Interdigitated Electrodes. Journal of The Electrochemical Society , 165(16), H1028–H1039. https://doi.org/10.1149/2.0291816jes
Interconnected ionic domains enhance conductivity in microphase separated block copolymer electrolyt
Perpendicularly Aligned, Anion Conducting Nanochannels in Block Copolymer Electrolyte Films
Arges, CG; Kambe, Y; Suh, HS; Ocola, LE; Nealey, PF. Perpendicularly Aligned, Anion Conducting Nanochannels in Block Copolymer Electrolyte Films. Chemistry of Materials. 2016. Vol. 28, Pg. 1377-1389.