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Education

Ph.D. in Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook
M.S. in Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, CAS
B.S. in Chemistry, Xiangtan University

Research Interests

The Multifunctionalized Applications of Oxides (MAO) Research Group centers around designing advanced materials and processes, achieving desirable properties and functionalities, and tackling complex interdisciplinary material challenges. Current studies focus on the development of facile and reliable synthesis and treatment processes for complex materials, especially multifunctional metal oxide nanomaterials, the investigation of their novel properties, and the exploration of their application potential in the areas of optoelectronics, energy conversion/storage, and sustainability. Specifically, we are interested in:

• Developing metal oxide-based (nano)phosphors and (nano)scintillators for applications such as lighting, radiation detection, optical data storage, anticounterfeiting, latent fingerprint detection, thermometry, biosensing, biodiagnostics and solar-blind imaging, and investigating various relevant luminescence processes, such as photoluminescence, radioluminescence, cathodoluminescence, upconversion, persistent luminescence, thermoluminescence, and optically stimulated luminescence.
• Probing optically active spin defect-embedded metal-oxide nanocrystal hosts with promise for quantum computing, sensing and quantum communication applications via avenues including novel synthesis process, core-shell fabrication, redox tuning of vacancies, and organic surfactant modification.
• Exploring molten salts as a distinctive solvent for solving multiple important challenges, such as synthesizing nanomaterials, thermal treatment of nanomaterials to simultaneously improve properties while maintaining particle size and morphology, cleaning metal substrates for remanufacturing operation, converting biosolids into biochar, and recovering critical materials from wastes.
• Investigating thermal effects on functional materials and properties, including negative thermal expansion materials, negative or zero thermal quenching visible and near-infrared phosphors, luminescent thermometric materials, etc.
• Designing and evaluating nanostructured materials for water and air treatments, either purely as adsorbents or also concurrently as catalysts.

These advanced materials, unique processes and underlying mechanisms are investigated by complementary techniques, particularly high-resolution electron microscopy, time-resolved spectroscopy and microscopy, and (in situ) synchrotron X-ray scattering and spectroscopic techniques, as a critical step in learning how to control, design, and engineer them.

In the past years, the MAO Research Group has built a vigorous, competitive and well-funded research program with sufficient external funds. I have led proposal development efforts and built teams to secure grant cross departments, colleges, and universities. As the Principal Investigator, I have secured grants from various funding agencies and foundations, such as the National Science Foundation (both regular and MRI grants), the DoD Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA, Young Investigator Award), the DoD HBCU/MI program, the Air Force of Scientific Research (AFOSR), American Chemical Society – Petroleum Research Fund (ACS PRF), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I have also served as co-PIs of an NSF PREM program and a DARPA project.

As a professor, I believe that great mentors are those who help his/her students remove barriers in their thinking and create boundaries to work within. It is our duty to advance our students’ careers and enhance their chances of success in whatever endeavors they choose to pursue. Moreover, my mentees always matter to me on a personal level. I was honored to receive the inaugural Outstanding Mentorship Award from the CUR Chemistry Division in 2019.

Professional Affiliations & Memberships

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Materials Research Society (MRS)
American Ceramic Society (ACerS)
Electrochemical Society (ECS)

Awards

Outstanding Mentorship Award, the Council on Undergraduate Research 2019

Carlos & Stephanie Manrique de Lara Endowed Professorship, UTRGV 2018-2019

Faculty Excellence Award in Research, UTRGV 2018

Excellence in Research Award, College of Sciences, UTRGV 2017

Recipient of the Visiting Faculty Program at Ames National Laboratory, Department of Energy Summers 2013, 2014 & 2015

Young Investigator Award, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), DoD 2010

Lee Myers Award for Outstanding Doctoral Chemistry Student (highest honor), SUNY-Stony Brook 2006

Publications

Selected Recent Journal Publications  (Total number: ~200 & Citations: >10k)

1. Hexi Zhang# and Yuanbing Mao, Heterovalent Substitution of K2SrP2O7:Cr3+ to Achieve Anti-Thermal-Quenching Broadband Near-Infrared Luminescence, ACS Applied Optical Materials, 2025, 3(8), 1766-1776. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaom.5c00201.
2. Yuchen Zhang# and Yuanbing Mao, Luminescent Zn2GeO4:Mn2+ Nanoparticles with High Quantum Yield for Salivary Protein Detection, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2025, 8(33), 16260-16266, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.5c02725.
3. Abdulelah Alolayan#, Nimai Pathak†, Kawsar Ali, and Yuanbing Mao, Multi-Modal Luminescence from LaAlO3:Eu3+ via Trap Modulation for High-Temperature Applications, Advanced Photonics Research, 2025, 26(16), e202500171. DOI: 10.1002/adpr.202500092.
4. Thulitha M. Abeywickrama#, Angela Guo%, and Yuanbing Mao, Trap-Engineering the Persistent Luminescence of Ca3Ga4O9:Tb3+ via Al3+ Substitution for Optical Data Storage, Advanced Optical Materials, 2025, 13(4), 2402353. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202402353.
5. Forough Jahanbazi# and Yuanbing Mao, Negative Thermal Expansion Materials as Anti-Thermal-Quenching Phosphor Matrixes: Status, Opportunities, and Challenges, Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 63, 20, 8989–9001. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.4c00329.
6. Forough Jahanbazi# and Yuanbing Mao, Luminescence Thermometry Based on Negative Thermal Expansion Host Matrices, Optical Materials, 2024, 154, 115742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optmat.2024.115742.
7. Hongjuan Liu†, Tianyu Fu, Ziying Cao and Yuanbing Mao, Eco-friendly hydroxyapatite and emerging MXenes for uranium adsorptive uptake, Environmental Science: Nano, 2024, 11, 2744-2770. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EN00849E.
8. Thulitha Abeywickrama# and Yuanbing Mao, Strong green upconversion emission from submicron spindle-shaped SrMoO4:Yb³⁺,Er³⁺, Dalton Transactions, 2024, 53(3), 1014-1030. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3DT03213B.
9. Xianli Wang† and Yuanbing Mao, Emerging Ultraviolet Persistent Luminescent Materials, Advanced Optical Materials, 2022, 10(12), 2201466. DOI: 10.1002/adom.202201466.
10. Xianli Wang† and Yuanbing Mao, Recent Advances on Pr3+-Activated Persistent Phosphors, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2022, 10, 3626 - 3646. DOI: 10.1039/D2TC00208F.
11. Forough Jahanbazi# and Yuanbing Mao, Recent Advances on Metal Oxide-Based Luminescence Thermometry, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2021, 9, 16410-16439. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1TC03455C.
12. Bhupendra B. Srivastava†, Santosh K. Gupta†, Swati Mohan†, and Yuanbing Mao, Molten Salt Assisted Annealing for Making Colloidal ZnGa2O4:Cr Nanocrystals with High Persistent Luminescence, Chemistry - A European Journal, 2021, 27(44), 11398-11405. DOI: 10.1002/chem.202101234.
13. Hongjuan Liu† and Yuanbing Mao, Graphene oxide-based nanomaterials for uranium adsorptive uptake, ES Materials & Manufacturing, 2021, 13, 3-22. DOI:10.30919/esmm5f453.
14. Santosh K. Gupta† and Yuanbing Mao, Recent development on molten salt synthesis of inorganic nanomaterials: a review, Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2021, 125(12), 6508-6533. 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c10981.
15. Santosh K. Gupta† and Yuanbing Mao, Molten-salt synthesis method for nanomaterials: Current status, opportunity and challenges, Progress in Materials Science, 2021, 117, 100734. .
16. Santosh K. Gupta†, Swati Mohan†, Marisol Valdez*, Karen Lozano, and Yuanbing Mao, Enhanced sensitivity of caterpillar-like ZnO nanostructure towards amine vapor sensing, Materials Research Bulletin, 2021, 142, 111419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2021.111419.

Notations: %High school coauthor, *Undergraduate coauthor, #Graduate coauthor, and †Postdoctoral or visiting scholar coauthor.

Complete List of Published Work in Google Scholar: 

Books

Selected Recent Books Edited and Chapters:

1. Persistently Luminescent Materials: From Development to Applications, edited by Yuanbing Mao, 2025, Wiley.
2. Metal Oxide Nanomaterials: From Fundamental to Applications, edited by Yuanbing Mao and Santosh Gupta, 2022, MDPI.
3. Nimai Pathak and Yuanbing Mao, Introduction to Persistently Luminescent Materials. In: Persistently Luminescent Materials: From Development to Applications (ed. Y. Mao), 2025, Wiley.
4. Yuanbing Mao and Xiaojun Wang, Summary and Perspectives on Persistently Luminescent Materials. In: Persistently Luminescent Materials: From Development to Applications (ed. Y. Mao), 2025, Wiley.
5. Santosh Gupta and Yuanbing Mao, Nanoscintillators. In: The 21st Century Nanoscience – A Handbook (ed. Klaus Sattler), 2020, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.

Patents

Russell Pesavento, Kassapa Ellepola, Yuanbing Mao, and Yuchen Zhang, Nanoceria Prevent Oral Disease By Prevention of Oxidative Stress, filed in US (2025).

Yuanbing Mao and Xianli Wang, Dual UVC- and UVB-emitting Persistent Phosphors for “Solar-Blind” Imaging, filed in US (2022).

Hongjuan Liu, Yuanbing Mao, Luminescent composite for detecting UO22+, Cu2+, and Cr3+ ions and methods of making same, filed in China (202111320227.0) and filed in US (2022).

Yuanbing Mao, Hisham Abdou, Kusy Zarzosa, and Evan Braswell, Using insects to carry nanocides for therapeutics, U.S. Patent Provisional Appl. no. US 62816939 (filed on March 12, 2019).

Karen Lozano, Yuanbing Mao, Carlos Hernandez, Misael E. Martinez, Mark Anthony Ruiz, Jorge Ernesto Vidal, Jose Zuniga, Mechanoluminescence polymer doped fabrics and methods, PCT Int. Appl. (2019), WO 2019049085 A1 20190314.

Yuanbing Mao, Core@shell particles composed of sensitizing broadband long-persistent phosphor core, upconversion shell, and methods of making same, U.S. Patent Appl. Publication no. US 62/074,833, and PCT Int. Appl. (2016), WO 2016073447 A1 20160512.

Yuanbing Mao, Heterogeneous core@shell photocatalyst, manufacturing method therefor, and articles comprising photocatalyst, U.S. Patent Appl. Publication no. US 62/074,835, and PCT Int. Appl. (2016), WO 2016073449 A1 20160512.

Stanislaus S. Wong and Yuanbing Mao, Large-scale synthesis of perovskite nanostructures, U.S. Patent Appl. Publication no. US 2007/0254154 A1 and PCT Int. Appl. (2006), WO 2006085912 A2 20060817.

Stanislaus S. Wong and Yuanbing Mao, Titania and titanate nanostructures and methods of making same, U.S. 8,440,162, issued May 14, 2013.

Stanislaus S. Wong and Yuanbing Mao, Metal oxide and metal fluoride nanostructures and methods of making same, U. S.7,575,735, issued August 18, 2009.

Stanislaus S. Wong and Yuanbing Mao, Hydrothermal synthesis of perovskite nanotubes, US 7,147,834 B2, issued December 12, 2006.

Bizhong Li, Yuanbing Mao, Junhui Ji, Qing Yan, and Xiaoxu Dong, Preparation of antibacterial antifungal resin composition, Chinese Patent CN 1,294,145, issued May 9, 2001.

Expertise

Design and development of synthesis methodologies for inorganic materials

Bottom-up synthesis of nanomaterials, mostly metal oxides

Molten salt synthesis, cleaning, and processing

Exploration of optoelectronic, sensing, and catalytic properties of advanced (nano)materials

Meet interdisciplinary material challenges in energy, lighting, sensing, information storage, communication, security fields