Yue Yuan, Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
"From Interfaces to Biocatalysts: Engineering Water Interactions in Soft and Bioderived Materials"
Abstract:
Water is an active component of soft and bioderived materials, regulating molecular association, swelling, transport, mechanics, catalytic accessibility, and stability. This seminar will connect nearly a decade of research from graduate studies to current work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, through three interconnected vignettes related to research on engineering water interactions with matters.
The first will focus on engineering bio-abiotic interfaces, combining control of surface chemistry, and nanoscale structure with cell imaging, surface analysis, and metabolite characterization. By gathering research expertise from different fields, we have deepened our understanding beyond extreme wettability schemes in anti-fouling material design. The second will describe the translation of these concepts from synthetic polymeric fibers to bioderived fibers, focusing on how we are utilizing the hierarchical structure and chemical functionality to modulate water interactions for enhanced material performance. The third will address the integration of biocatalysts with engineered macromolecular materials, in both gas scrubbing use case and enzymatic polymer synthesis in organic solvents, with particular emphasis on water’s role in controlling catalytic performance.
Together, these vignettes trace the evolution of my research from fiber materials and surface functionalization to biomacromolecular engineering and biocatalysis. The work integrates synthesis, wet and dry processing, interfacial engineering, mechanical testing, spectroscopy, transport measurements, with many cutting-edge tools at Department of Energy user facilities and interdisciplinary collaborations. The seminar will highlight how engineering approaches address fundamental scientific questions across multiple length and time scales and support diverse applications, while reflecting on how graduate research experiences can evolve into a scientific career.
Bio:
Dr. Yue Yuan is a research scientist and Alvin M. Weinberg Distinguished Staff Fellow alumna at Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Drawing on an interdisciplinary background spanning soft matter and biochemistry, she leads multiple projects totaling over $1.6M since joining ORNL in 2022. Her work contributes to advances innovative research at the interface of biomolecular engineering and functional materials, helping to establish new directions in the design, characterization, and deployment of bio-inspired and bio-integrated materials at DOE user facilities. Yuan earned her Ph.D. in Fiber and Polymer Science from North Carolina State University in 2021, where she developed patented biocatalytic fibrous matrices for enhanced catalyzed reactions at liquid–gas–solid interfaces. She is an active user of international neutron scattering facilities, where she has been awarded more than $100K in competitive beamtime and reported the first deuterium-labeled chitosan from filamentous fungi. Her research has been recognized among ORNL’s Top 10 Science Achievements at the Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor (2022), and she was selected among 74 accomplished early-career engineers nationwide to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (2026).