Pronouns: He/him

Pengyu Chen graduated from Tsinghua University in 2019 with a B.S. degree in Polymer Science and Engineering. He joined Cornell University as a Ph.D. student in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department, working with Prof. Rong Yang. His research focuses on the synthesis and applications of nanoscale polymer thin films using vapor deposition methods. He is interested in studying the surface properties of these films and their potential impacts on various fields such as living materials, antifouling coatings, and metal batteries.

At the Kavli Institute, Pengyu is expanding the all-dry polymerization chemistry to achieve novel properties like self-healing, ionic conductivity, selective permeability, etc. The conformal polymer coating will also be applied to living cells at the single-cell level to control the cellular environment and subsequent cell behaviors for high-efficient bioproduction and bio-detoxification.