Dr. Penghua Ying is a postdoctoral researcher in the joint group of Prof. Michael Urbakh and Prof. Oded Hod at the School of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University. He received his PhD in Mechanics from the Harbin Institute of Technology in Shenzhen, China in 2022. His doctoral research focused on mechanical and thermal transport behaviors of two-dimensional materials and metal-organic frameworks using atomistic simulations including ab initio methods, molecular dynamics simulation and machine-learning potential approaches. In 2020, Dr. Ying was awarded the China National Scholarship for post-graduate students.

 

Dr. Ying’s postdoctoral research is focusing on cutting-edge investigations to reveal the physical origins of friction in complex interfaces of two-dimensional (2D) materials. To achieve this goal, he is developing a multiscale computational approach for studying the shear dynamics of large-scale interfaces incorporating heterogeneous layered material coatings. The method tailors the finite-elements coarse-grained simulation approach for bulk systems with physically motivated and machine-learning based classical force-fields dedicated for the simulation of layered material interfaces. The developed approach will be used to address key questions that are relevant to large-scale super lubricity; including friction in polycrystalline layered interfaces, corrugated surfaces, multi-contact junctions, and the interplay between bulk mechanics and interfacial friction.