Haoran Yu

Haoran Yu is a senior technical staff member in the Materials Science and Technology Division. His research focuses on enabling hydrogen technologies for the conversion, storage and application of renewable energy. Specifically, he focuses on electrocatalysts and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for use in hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolyzers. He employs a combination of advanced electron microscopy techniques and in situ/ex situ electrochemical measurements to investigate the structure-property relationships of materials as well as their degradation mechanisms. He is the PI for the H2NEW (Hydrogen from Next-generation Electrolyzers of Water), Roll-to-Roll and Electrocatalyst consortia and is also a staff researcher in Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck (M2FCT) and CO₂ Reduction and Upgrading for e-Fuels (CO2RUe) consortium. These consortia are funded by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) of the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) at the US Department of Energy (DOE). Since joining ORNL in February 2020 as a postdoctoral researcher, he developed an automated workflow for the high-throughput analysis of microscopy images to obtain statistics on nanoparticle properties. He also developed protocols for identical-location electron microscopy to simulate catalyst degradation in electrochemical devices. Prior to joining ORNL, he was a research professor and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Connecticut (UConn), where he earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Polymer Materials and Engineering from Donghua University in Shanghai, China.