Peter received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering with High Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014. After graduation, he continued his doctoral study at Illinois conducting thesis research with Professor Charles M. Schroeder at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, where he used single molecule techniques to investigate the dynamics of polymer solutions with different chain topologies and entanglements level. He also invesitaged the self-assembly mechanisms of a new class of π-conjugated oligopeptides using combined methods in optics and spectroscopy. After earning his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2019, he moved to Stanford University to conduct postdoctoral research with Professor Bianxiao Cui at the Department of Chemistry and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. At Stanford, Peter is bringing his knowledge in polymer physics, materials science and optics into biological systems. He is developing a new optical platform for precise sensing of bioelectrical signals and other cellular membrane activities.
Postdoc, Chemistry, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University (2019 - Present)
Advisor: Professor Bianxiao Cui
Ph. D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2014-2019)
Advisor: Professor Charles M. Schroeder
B. Sc., Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010-2014)
High Honors, Major concentration in polymers, Minor in Chemistry
• Invited Seminar Program for Postdoctoral Fellows, Chemistry, Penn State (2021)
• Finalist, American Physical Society (APS) DPOLY Frank J. Padden Jr. Award (2019) [Link]
• Finalist, AIChE Area 8A Excellence in Graduate Research Symposium (2018) [Link]
• Society of Rheology (SOR) Travel Grant (2018)
Ph.D. Thesis: Single molecule studies of polymers and self-assembling materials: Effects of chain topology and entanglements.[Link]
Y. Zhou, E. Liu, A. M. Osterholm, A. L. Jones, T. Zaluska, P. Sun, Y. Yang, W. Zhang, H. Mueller, J. R. Reynolds and B. Cui, “Ultrasensitive label-free optical recording of bioelectric potentials using dioxythiophene-based electrochromic polymers”, in preparation (2024)
K. Nakasone, C. Zavik, E. Liu, B. Ahmed, D. Griffith, L. Maisenbacher, A. Singh, Y. Zhou, H. Mueller and B. Cui, “Compact Electrochromic Optical Recording of Bioelectric Potential”, submitted (2024) [arXiv:2311.15506]
W. Kang, X. Ma, C. Liu, S. Wang, Y. Zhou, C. Xue, Y. Xu and B. Li, “Liquid-liquid Phase Separation (LLPS) in Synthetic Biosystems”, Materials Science and Engineering R, 157 100762 (2024) [Link]
Y. Zhou, E. Liu, Y. Yang, F. S. Alfonso, B. Ahmed, K. Nakasone, C. Forro, H. Mueller and B. Cui, “Dual-color optical recording of bioelectric potentials by polymer electrochromism”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 144 (51), 23505-23515 (2022) [Link]
*Featured on JACS Research Spotlights [Link]
Y. Zhou‡, F. Latinwo‡ and C. M. Schroeder, “Crooks Fluctuation Theorem for Single Polymer Dynamics in Time-dependent Flows: Understanding Viscoelastic Hysteresis”, Entropy, 24 (1), 27 (2022) [Link]
‡Equal contribution
Y. Zhou, E. Liu, H. Mueller and B. Cui, “Optical Electrophysiology: Toward the Goal of Label-Free Voltage Imaging”, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 143 (28), 10482-10499 (2021) [Link]
C. D. Young, Y. Zhou, C. M. Schroeder and C. E. Sing, “Dynamics and Rheology of Ring-Linear Blend Semidilute Solutions in Extensional Flow: Modeling and Molecular Simulations”, Journal of Rheology, 65 (4), 757-777 (2021) [Link][arXiv:2011.01386]
Y. Zhou, C. D. Young, M. Lee, S. Banik, D. Kong, G. B. McKenna, R. M. R. Anderson, C. E. Sing and C. M. Schroeder, “Dynamics and Rheology of Ring-Linear Blend Semidilute Solutions in Extensional Flow: Single Molecule Experiments”, Journal of Rheology, 65 (4), 729-744 (2021) [Link][arXiv:2101.01222]
F. S. Alfonso, Y. Zhou, E. Liu, A. F. McGuire, Y. Yang, H. Kantarci, D. Li, E. Copenhaver, J. B. Zuchero, H. Mueller and B. Cui, “Label-free optical detection of bioelectric potentials using electrochromic thin films”, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A., 117 (29), 17260-17268 (2020) [Link]
K. R. Peddireddy, M. Lee, Y. Zhou, S. Adalbert, S. Anderson, C. M. Schroeder, R. M. R. Anderson, “Unexpected entanglement dynamics in semidilute blends of supercoiled and ring DNA”, Soft Matter, 16 (1), 152-161 (2020) [Link]
Y. Zhou, K.-W. Hsiao, K. E. Regan, D. Kong, G. B. McKenna, R. M. R. Anderson and C. M. Schroeder, “Effect of molecular architecture on ring polymer dynamics in semidilute linear polymer solutions”, Nature Communications, 10 (1), 1753 (2019) [Link]
Y. Zhou and C. M. Schroeder, “Dynamically heterogeneous relaxation of entangled polymer chains”, Physical Review Letters, 120 (26), 267801 (2018) [Link]
B. Li, L. R. Valverde, F. Zhang, Y. Zhou, S. Li, Y. Diao, W. L. Wilson, C. M. Schroeder, “Macroscopic alignment and assembly of π-conjugated oligopeptides using colloidal microchannels”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9 (47), 41586-41593 (2017) [Link]
Y. Zhou, B. Li, S. Li, H. A. M. Ardona, W. L. Wilson, J. D. Tovar and C. M. Schroeder, “Concentration-driven assembly and sol-gel transition of π-conjugated oligopeptides”, ACS Central Science, 3 (9), 986-994 (2017) [Link]
B. Li, S. Li, Y. Zhou, H. A. M. Ardona, L. R. Valverde, W. L. Wilson, J. D. Tovar and C. M. Schroeder, “Nonequilibrium self-assembly of π-conjugated oligopeptides in solution”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9 (4), 3977-3984 (2017) [Link]
Y. Zhou and C. M. Schroeder, “Transient and average unsteady dynamics of single polymers in large-amplitude oscillatory extension”, Macromolecules, 49 (20), 8018-8030 (2016) [Link]
Y. Zhou and C. M. Schroeder, “Single polymer dynamics under large amplitude oscillatory extension”, Physical Review Fluids, 1 (5), 053301 (2016) [Link]
B. D. Wall, Y. Zhou, S. Mei, H. A. M. Ardona, A. L. Ferguson and J. D. Tovar, “Variation of formal hydrogen bonding networks within electronically delocalized π-conjugated oligopeptides nanostructures”, Langmuir, 30 (38), 11375-11385 (2014) [Link]
e: zhou62@stanford.edu