Yu Lei

Centennial Professor

CBE

Ph.D., University of California-Riverside (2004)

Current Research

  • Biosensor
  • Gas Sensor
  • Bionanotechnology
  • Environmental Biotechnology
  • High Temperature Nanomaterials based Sensing
  • Microfluidic-based Biosensor

Professional Activities

Editorial board: Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Editorial board: Analytical Letters
Guest Editor: International Journal of Nanotechnology – Special Issue on Nanotechnology in Singapore.
Guest Editor: Analytical Letters – Special issue of “Biosensors”
Guest Editor: International Journal of Environment and Waste Management

Current Research Group

Ph.D. Students
Yixin Liu
Joseph Parisi
Liang Su
Xiangcheng Sun

Research Statement

Dr. Lei’s research concentrates on the development of various (bio)sensors. Many areas of medicine, the environment, and food and agriculture – ranging from the diagnosis of disease to new drug discovery, screening and food safety, as well as pollutant monitoring – involve the detection of biological and chemical species. Dr. Lei aims at development of novel, simple, ultrasensitive and universal biosensor platforms for the detection of biological and chemical species.
Dr. Lei also involves the synthesis of nanostructured materials and their application. Nanotechnology is a strategic technology that holds the potential for great commercial rewards in the areas of electronics, medicine, environment, food and agriculture. Dr. Lei seeks to develop novel nanomaterials and apply them in sensing and biosensing.

Previous Positions

2006-2011 Assistant Professor, CMBE, UConn
2004-2006 Assistant Professor, Division of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Center of Biotechnology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Awards & Honors

2011 Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry Top Cited Article Awards
2004 University of California-Riverside Graduate Research Award
2000-2002 Distinguished Chancellor Fellowship, University of California-Riverside
1996 Excellent Graduate Student of Sichuan Province, China

Recent Publications

Wang, X., Santoro, C., Cristiani, P., Squadrito, G., Lei, Y., Agrios, A. G., Pasaogullari, U., Li, B.. Influence of electrode characteristics on coulombic efficiency (CE) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) treating wastewater. 2013. Journal of the Electrochemical Society. 160 (7), G3117-G3122.
Lei, Y.. In situ synthesis of silver nanoparticle decorated vertical nanowalls in a microfluidic device for ultrasensitive in-channel SERS sensing. 2013. Lab on a Chip. 13 (8), 1501-1508.
Jang, H.-S., Wang, Y., Lei, Y., Nieh, M.-p.. Controllable formation of pyrene (C16H10) excimers in polystyrene/tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate films through solvent vapor and temperature annealing. 2012. Journal of Physical Chemistry. C117 (3), 1428-1435.
Wang, Y., la, A., Ding, Y., Liu, Y., Lei, Y.. Novel Signal-Amplifying Fluorescent Nanofibers for Naked Eye-Based Ultrasensitive Detection of Buried Explosives and Explosive Vapors. 2012. Advanced Functional Materials. 22 (17), 3547-3555.
Zhang, Y., Su, L., Lubonja, K., Cong, Y., Liu, Y., Huo, D., Hou, C., Lei, Y.. Copper nanowires-SWCNTs hybrid composite for enhanced glucose electrooxidation and detection in alkaline medium (Invited). 2012. Science of Advanced Materials. 4 (8), 825-831.
Liu, Y., Ding, Y., Zhang, Y., Lei, Y.. Pt-Au nanocorals, Pt nanofibers and Au microparticles prepared by electrospinning and calcination for nonenzymatic glucose sensing in neutral and alkaline environment. 2012. Sensors and Actuators B. 171-172. 954-961.
Wang, Y., La, A., Brueckner, C., Lei, Y.. FRET- and PET-based sensing in a single material: expanding the dynamic range of an ultra-sensitive nitroaromatic explosives assay. 2012. Chemical Communications. 48 (79), 9903-9905.
Zhao, J., Luo, T., Zhang, X., Lei, Y., Yan, Y.. Highly Selective Zeolite Membranes as Explosive Pre-concentrators. 2012. Analytical Chemistry. 84 (15), 6303-6307.
Y. Ding, Y. Wang, Yu Lei. Direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of novel single-walled carbon nanotubes-hemoglobin composite microbelts – Towards the development of sensitive and mediator-free biosensor. 2010. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 26, 390-397.
W. Chen, Y. Ding, J. Akhigbe, C. Brückner, C.M. Li, Yu Lei. Direct electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of glucose oxidase on nanodentrite poly{[meso-tetrakis(2-thienyl)porphyrin]Co(II)}-SWNTs composites. 2010. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 26, 504-510.
FULL PUBLICATION LIST

yu lei
Contact Information
Emailyu.lei@uconn.edu
Phone(860) 486-4554
Mailing Address191 Auditorium Road, Unit 3222, Storrs, CT 06269-3222
Office LocationUTEB-274
Linkhttp://www.engr.uconn.edu/~ylei