Principal Investigator

Dr. Zhifei Yan

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard University

Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

Zhifei obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, working with Professor Thomas E. Mallouk. His doctoral research focused on developing catalyst materials for water dissociation and acid-base neutralization reactions in bipolar membranes, with applications in (photo-)electrochemical energy storage. In 2021, Zhifei joined the laboratory of Professor Daniel G. Nocera at Harvard University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he studied electron transfer pathways and dynamics during the photo-oxidation reactions using time-resolved infrared spectroscopy, with the goal of addressing the carbonate problems in CO2 electrolysis and metal-air batteries. Since 2025, Zhifei has started his independent research group in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona.