The Urban Gruppo

soheejeong[at]lbl.gov

Sohee received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Yonsei University in February 2016 and joined the group in April
2016. Her research interests include development and design of nanomaterials for high-capacity hydrogen
storages and understanding hydrogenation/dehydration processes.

Christian Selene joined the Urban group in October 2016. Her research interests include the synthesis and characterization of perovskites for photovoltaic applications, as well as the synthesis of lead-free perovskites with reduced toxicity. She also has interest in understanding the optical, electrical and photovoltaic phenomena within perovskites and at the interfaces with the goal of increasing stability. Christian Selene received her PhD in Science and Engineering of Materials at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 2015. Her PhD research focused on core/shell CdSe/CdS for hybrid solar cells with P3HT, at the Institute of Renewable Energies (IER), UNAM.

cma[at]lbl.gov

Canghai joined Urban group in June 2017. He received his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2012 and his thesis involved next-generation ester-crosslinkable hollow fiber gas separation membranes. Upon graduation, he joined Air Liquide as a Research Scientist working on advanced membrane technology and commercialization. His current research interests include novel forward osmosis water treatment and gas separation membranes. Besides research, he enjoys watching NBA and playing basketball. 

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (2012)

M.S. Mechanical & Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China (2008)

B.S. Applied Chemistry, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China (2006)

jaeyoochoi[at]lbl.gov

Jaeyoo joined the Urban group in Sept 2017. His Ph.D. research involved the rational design of flexible thermoelectric generators based on nanocarbon materials. Previously, Jaeyoo also spent 6 years as a research associate (2012-2017) at the Nanohybrids Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology. In the Urban group, he is continuing to work on flexible thermoelectric devices, with special focus on cooling. He likes playing, watching and coaching basketball and soccer.  

Ph.D. Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University (2017)

M.S. Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University (2012)

B.S. Biomaterials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University (2010)

pengyu.yuan[at]lbl.gov

Pengyu received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University (ISU) in 2018 and joined the group in March 2018. He has one B.S. in Energy and Power Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and another B.S. in Business Administration from Wuhan University in 2012. He was a project mechanical engineer at GEA China from 2012 to 2014 before his graduate study at ISU. Currently, his research is to characterize ultrafast heat transfer induced by a pulsed electron beam from SEM through numerical simulations and thermal measurements with designing and fabricating devices for nanothermomertry.

His past research focused on studying the interface thermal energy transport and hot carrier diffusion in two-dimensional TMDs (transition metal dichalcogenides) by Raman-based thermal probing techniques. Pengyu enjoys photography, and he is a co-founder and portrait photographer of a website-based photography studio.

zhuoleizhang[at]lbl.gov

Zhuolei has an educational background in materials chemistry and nanotechnology. He received his Ph.D. from Jilin University in July 2015. His research interests include synthesis/self-assembly of novel inorganic/organic nanomaterials and their device design, fabrication and characterization for optical, photoelectric, ferroelectric, and energy storage applications. In the Urban Group, Zhuolei’s current research focuses on development of nanomaterials with high volumetric hydrogen density for reversible hydrogen storage at mild conditions.

cforsythe[at]lbl.gov

Carlos joined the Urban group in July 2019. He received his Ph.D in physics from Columbia University. There he studied exotic quantum phenomena in 2-D material systems (i.e. graphene) such as Hofstadter's butterfly in moire superlattices. In the Urban group his research interest is in measuring thermal conductivity in various materials and thin films, through electrical and optical means.

Ph.D. Physics, Columbia University (2017)

B.S. Physics and Applied Mathematics, UC Berkeley (2008)

cdun[at]lbl.gov

Chaochao joined the Urban group in July 2019. He received his PhD degree in Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, Physics department in Wake Forest University (2012-2017). His current research focuses on the development of nanocomposites for high-capacity hydrogen storage. He also works on thermoelectric conversion, functionalization of nano-materials and manufacturing for flexible thermoelectric devices.