Faculty Directory

Dr. Shenqiang Ren is Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, with research interests in materials-by-design, self-assembly and advanced manufacturing of multifunctional and stimuli-responsive materials for extreme environments. Dr. Ren earned his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science at the University of Maryland College Park, and then served as a postdoc fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He received 2015 National Science Foundation – CAREER Award, 2014 Army Research Office – Young Investigator Award. 2014 RSC Emerging Investigator – Journal of Material Chemistry, 2009 Dean’s Doctoral Research Award at University of Maryland, College Park.

His research focuses on the control of the composition and structure of an extended structural and functional material system up to the atomic/molecular level and to establish their structure/processing/property relationship.

The current projects include materials-by-design, self-assembly and additive manufacturing of sustainable materials (carbon-sequestration building insulation materials, high energy product magnets, and environmental beneficial catalysts), molecular charge-transfer solids (multiferroics, conductors,  thermoelectrics, ferroelectrics, magnets, superconductors, and energetics), and flexible hybrid materials and electronics for extreme environments (ultrahigh temperature ceramics for shape morphing and thermal protection, and printed hybrid electronics).

Exampled Five Publications:

1. Yong Hu, Zipeng Guo, Yingjie Chen, Chi Zhou, Yuguang C. Li*, and Shenqiang Ren*, Molecular magneto-ionic proton sensor in solid-state proton battery, Nature Communications, 2022, 13, 7056.
2. Yong Hu, Jennifer L. Gottfried, Rose Pesce-Rodriguez, Chi-Chin Wu, Scott D. Walck, Zhiyu Liu, Sangeeth Balakrishnan, Scott Broderick, Zipeng Guo, Qiang Zhang, Lu An, Chi Zhou, Peter W Chung, and Shenqiang Ren*, Releasing Chemical Energy in Spatially Programmed Ferroelectrics, Nature Communications, 2022, 13, 6959.
3. Lu An,Zipeng Guo,Zheng Li, Yu Fu, Yong Hu, Yulong Huang, Fei Yao^*, Chi Zhou^*, Shenqiang Ren*, Tailoring thermal insulation architectures from additive manufacturing, Nature Communications, 2022, 13, 4309.
4. Yulong Huang*, Arjun K. Pathak*, Jeng-Yuan Tsai, Clayton Rumsey, Mathew Ivill, Noah Kramer, Yong Hu, Martin Trebbin, Qimin Yan* & Shenqiang Ren*, Pressure-controlled magnetism in 2D molecular layers. Nature Communications, 2023, 14, 3186
5. Yong Hu, Weiyi Gong, Sichen Wei, Saurabh Khuje, Yulong Huang, Zheng Li, Yuguang C. Li*, Fei Yao*, Qimin Yan*, and Shenqiang Ren*, Lithiating Magneto-Ionics in Rechargeable Battery, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2022, 119, 25.