About

Yi Cui is the Fortinet Founders Professor and a faculty member at Stanford University, holding positions in Materials Science and Engineering, Energy Science and Engineering, and Chemistry by courtesy. His research focuses on the fundamentals and applications of nanomaterials, with particular emphasis on nanotechnology, batteries, electrocatalysis, wearables, 2D materials, environmental technology (water, air, soil), and cryogenic electron microscopy. Cui studies the development of tools for understanding nanomaterials and their applications in energy storage, environmental technology, and nanoscience. He has contributed significantly to advancing battery technology, including solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries, and has explored innovative approaches such as nanoscale encapsulation and stretchable electrochemical energy storage devices. His work is recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the Blavatnik National Laureate in Physical Sciences and Engineering, the ECS Battery Technology Award, and the Nano Today Award, among others. Cui also serves as a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy, and he is involved in various administrative roles, including co-directing initiatives like the Stanford StorageX Initiative and the Battery500 Consortium.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Chemistry
• Organic chemistry
• Computer Science
• Chemical engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Physical chemistry
• Inorganic chemistry
• Composite material
• Engineering
• Environmental science
• Thermodynamics
• Electrical engineering
• Optoelectronics
• Metallurgy
• Waste management
• Pulp and paper industry
• Medicine
• Process engineering
• Environmental engineering
• Neuroscience
• Geology
• Biochemistry
• Oceanography

Selected publications

• Microphysical variability in stratiform clouds: Aircraft observations

  Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society · 2026-05-02

  article

  Abstract The microphysical variability of stratiform precipitation over North China is investigated using in situ aircraft observations from eight vertical spirals in three stratiform events sampled during the ‘Demonstration Project for Precipitation Enhancement and Hail Suppression on the Eastern Side of Taihang Mountain’ (PPEHS) field campaign (22 May 2017; 21 May 2018; 20 April 2019). A King Air 350 equipped with cloud microphysical probes documented particle size distributions, habits, and bulk properties from the ice region down through the melting layer, together with the ambient thermodynamic and vertical airflow conditions. All events exhibit a robust mean vertical structure in which the volume‐weighted diameter D m increases and the total number concentration N t decreases toward the melting layer, indicating efficient aggregation and riming in the lower ice region. Superimposed on this common pattern, however, are pronounced differences in D m , N t , particle habits, and particle size distribution (PSD) shape among spirals and among cases, even under similar values of convective available potential energy (CAPE), relative humidity, and vertical wind shear. In the 22 May 2017 event, layered peaks and valleys in D m indicate alternating dominance of aggregation, riming, breakup, and secondary ice production, while the three spirals sample distinctly different melting‐layer structures. The 2018 and 2019 events confirm strong horizontal contrasts between small‐particle‐rich and large‐particle‐rich sectors and show that large aggregates and rimed particles carry a substantial fraction of the condensate mass. Compared with midlatitude field campaigns such as BAMEX and PECAN, the stratiform events sampled over North China exhibit weaker fractional decreases in N t but stronger growth in D m and total water content, implying more efficient production of large ice particles. These findings highlight significant subkilometer to mesoscale microphysical heterogeneity in relatively uniform stratiform precipitation events and provide observational constraints for improving microphysical parameterizations in numerical models.

  PublisherDOI

• GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hydrogel beads combined with electrical stimulation as a potential method for bone organoid construction

  Materials Letters · 2025-11-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st author

  This study developed a simple strategy for bone organoid construction using GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hydrogel beads (fabricated via pipette extrusion-UV crosslinking) combined with electrical stimulation (ES). The hydrogel beads exhibited uniform size of 2.29 ± 0.13 mm and porous structure of 100–200 μm pores. ES (75 mV/mm, 75 Hz, 80 % duty cycle) triggered Ca 2+ influx in HEK293T cells with 6–8 min and upregulated Opg expression in BMSCs. The combination of BMSCs-laden hydrogel beads and ES (20 min every other day) enhanced Osx/Runx2 expression post-osteogenic induction. This low-cost, facile system shows potential for bone organoid engineering. • Developed a simple method for fabricating large-size GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hydrogel beads. • ES of 75 mV/mm promoted Ca 2+ influx in HEK293T cells and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. • GelMA/PEDOT:PSS hydrogel beads combined with ES show potential for cultivating bone organoids.

  PublisherDOI

• Mesh-like structure integrated core-shell-shell nanocomposites for enhanced stability and performance in carbon capture

  Nature Communications · 2025-11-26 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access

  Carbon capture is essential for mitigating climate change, yet most sorbents struggle to combine high capacity with chemical stability. Here we report core-shell-shell (CSS) nanocomposites that integrate adsorption efficiency with exceptional robustness. The design couples a metal-organic framework (MOF) core, which enriches local CO2 concentration, with a polyamine shell that is reorganized into a porous, ordered network through entanglement with an outer covalent organic framework (COF) shell. This hierarchical architecture enables dual amine functionalization via sequential “click” and Schiff-base reactions, achieving a CO2 uptake of 3.4 mmol g−1 at 1 bar. The COF outer layer also acts as a protective barrier, suppressing humidity interference and doubling cycling stability under simulated flue gas. Remarkably, the nanocomposites maintain structural integrity after one week in strongly acidic (3 M HNO3) or basic (NaOH, pH=14) environments, underscoring their chemical resilience. By uniting high capacity, cycling durability, and environmental tolerance, this CSS strategy offers a versatile platform for next-generation carbon capture materials. The study reports a metal-organic framework (MOF) - covalent organic framework (COF) nanocomposite with dual amine sites that captures CO2 efficiently and remains stable under humid, harsh conditions, offering a promising path for next-generation carbon capture.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• SpeConE: Specificity and Consistency Ensemble for Efficient Multisource-Free Cross-Domain Industrial Mechanical Fault Diagnosis

  IEEE Internet of Things Journal · 2025-11-26

  article

  Adaptive knowledge transfer from pretrained source models to unlabeled target domains has emerged as a key paradigm in the Industrial Internet of Things. Such frameworks effectively mitigate distribution discrepancies between domains and ensure data privacy in cross-condition fault diagnosis. However, most existing methods require extensive parameter tuning for each source backbone, resulting in high computational costs, especially as the number of source domains or the complexity of models increases. Moreover, current methods typically learn the transferable weights of each source model at domain-level, inevitably causing instance-level bias. Thus, we propose a new idea of Specificity and Consistency Ensemble (SpeConE) for efficient multiple-source fault diagnosis, which avoids parameter tuning for each source backbone. SpeConE balances instance-specific and domain-consistent weights by jointly considering feature-feature and feature-output similarities. By fine-tuning the source bottlenecks guided by the specificity and consistency weights, SpeConE effectively achieves multi-source-free cross-domain adaptation. Additionally, a novel pseudo-label smoothing strategy is introduced to prevent overfitting in the target domain. Experiments show that, when adopting Swin Transformer, SpeConE outperforms similar methods (e.g., ∼+3% on single-device diagnosis and ∼+10% on cross-device diagnosis) while tuning only about 5% of the parameters.

  PublisherDOI

• Development of magnetic field induced ordered magnetoelectric bifunctional bone tissue engineering scaffold

  Materials Letters · 2025-10-23 · 1 citations

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Cryogenic electron microscopy and tomography for beam-sensitive materials

  Nature Reviews Physics · 2025-12-05 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Revealing Solvent-Assisted Li ⁺ Transport in the Solid Electrolyte Interphase <i>operando</i>

  Journal of the American Chemical Society · 2025-11-07 · 4 citations

  article

  The performance of energy-dense lithium metal batteries is critically influenced by the properties of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Yet, progress in understanding this layer has been limited by the lack of accurate operando characterization because the SEI evolves dynamically during cycling. Here, we apply dynamic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (dEIS) to resolve the real-time evolution of the SEI on lithium metal in ether-based electrolytes with varying degrees of fluorination. We find that faster stabilization of the compact SEI resistance correlates with improved passivation and higher Coulombic efficiency. Unexpectedly, compact SEI resistance correlates directly with Li+ solvation energy, revealing that weaker Li+ solvation increases not only bulk but also interphase resistance. These findings challenge the conventional view of the SEI as a purely solid-phase conductor and instead support a solvent-assisted Li+ transport mechanism within the compact SEI. This framework emphasizes the need to balance SEI ionic conductivity with the Li+ solvation environment to maximize lithium metal battery performance.

  PublisherDOI

• Systematic profiling of tumor-associated antigen expression for antibody-drug conjugate in prostate cancer

  Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases · 2025-12-24

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Functionalized Carbon-Based Materials for Uranium Extraction: A Review

  Separations · 2025-10-13 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  The development of effective materials for uranium extraction from seawater is vital for advancing sustainable energy solutions. However, the efficient recovery of uranium from seawater presents significant challenges due to its extremely low concentration, the presence of competing ions, and the complex marine environment. To address these issues, various materials such as inorganic and organic sorbents, chelating resins, nanostructured sorbents, and composite materials have been explored. More recently, the functionalization of carbon-based materials for enhanced adsorption properties has attracted much interest because of their high specific surface area, excellent chemical and thermal stability, and tunable porosity. These materials include activated carbon, graphene oxide, biochar, carbon cloths, carbon nanotubes, and carbon aerogels. The enhancement of carbonaceous materials is typically achieved through surface functionalization with chelating groups and the synthesis of composite materials that integrate other high-performance sorbents. This review aims to summarize the work of these functionalized carbon materials, focusing on their adsorption capacity, selectivity, and durability for uranium adsorption. This is followed by a discussion on the binding mechanisms of uranium with major chelating functional groups grafted on carbonaceous sorbents. Finally, an outlook for future research is suggested. We hope that this review will be helpful to researchers engaged in related studies.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• <i>(Battery Division Postdoctoral Associate Research Award Sponsored by MTI Corporation and the Jiang Family Foundation)</i> Molecular LOGICS of Li Metal Battery: From Interface to Interphase

  ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2025-11-24

  article

  Conventional electrochemistry centers on well-defined charge-transfer processes at idealized, “clean” solid–liquid interfaces. In contrast, next-generation energy systems—such as high-energy-density lithium-metal batteries (LMBs)—present a far more complex interfacial landscape, where the formation of a solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) fundamentally reshapes electron–ion interactions. Although essential for enabling LMBs, the molecular formation mechanisms, evolving structure, and spatial heterogeneity of the SEI remain incompletely understood. In this talk, I will present our recent efforts to decode the molecular principles governing SEI functionality. By combining electrochemical analysis, non-washing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), we elucidate how decomposition pathways and microscale heterogeneities dictate SEI composition and performance. Our findings reveal that not all decomposition products remain in the SEI—many persist dissolved—highlighting the critical role of semi-soluble, anion-derived species (e.g., LiF) in forming robust, porous, electrolyte-trapping interphases. Furthermore, we reinterpret the classical electric double layer (EDL) within nanoconfined SEI environments, uncovering key interfacial properties that govern the reversibility of lithium plating and stripping. By retro-engineering the EDL at the molecular scale, we establish essential design principles to optimize the next-generation LMBs. These insights bridge molecular interfacial chemistry with macroscopic battery performance, providing a rational framework for electrolyte and interface engineering toward durable, high-efficiency energy storage systems.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Zhenan Bao

  132 shared

• Yayuan Liu

  Baotou Research Institute of Rare Earths

  104 shared

• Guangmin Zhou

  Tsinghua University

  94 shared

• Yuzhang Li

  Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications

  94 shared

• Yanbin Li

  Stanford University

  92 shared

• Harold Y. Hwang

  Stanford University

  90 shared

• Dingchang Lin

  Johns Hopkins University

  90 shared

• Hongtao Yuan

  Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures

  83 shared

Labs

• Yi Cui's LabPI

  Not provided

Education

• Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering

  Stanford University

• M.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  Stanford University

• B.S., Materials Science and Engineering

  University of California, Berkeley