Group Alumni

Graduate Students

Osama Awadallah

FIU Ph.D. 2013-2018Osama Awadallah
M.S.  Mechanical Design and Production Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt (2009)
B.S.  Mechanical Design and Production Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt (2008)
Current position: Associate at Exponent – Battery Testing & Failure Analysis
Dissertation: Synthesis, Processing, and Fundamental Phase Formation Study of CZTS Films for Solar Cell Applications
Major publications:
1.  Awadallah, Osama; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. ” Unveiling the Phase Evolution of Sol–Gel Sulfurized Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films in ppm-Level H2S: From Binary Sulfides to Quaternary Cu-Zn-Sn-S System,” Journal of Electronic Materials (2021), 50, 314-324.  DOI:10.1007/s11664-020-08539-3
2.  Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “Study of the fundamental phase formation mechanism of sol-gel sulfurized Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films using in situ Raman spectroscopy,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells (2018), 176, 222-229.  DOI:10.1016/j.solmat.2017.11.038

3.  Sun, Shichen; Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “Poisoning of Nickel-Based Anode for Proton Conducting SOFC by H2S, CO2, and H2O as Fuel Contaminants,”  Journal of Power Sources (2018), 378, 255-263.  DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.12.056
4.  Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “Formation of sol-gel based Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films using ppm-level hydrogen sulfide,” Thin Solid Films (2017), 625 (1), 122-130.  DOI:10.1016/j.tsf.2017.01.054
5.  Awadallah, Osama; Hernandez, Joseph; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “In Situ Raman Monitoring of Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 Phase Formation from Sulfurization of Sol-gel Oxide Precursors,” Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2017 IEEE 44th (2017), 3473-3477.  DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2017.8366144
6.  Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “In Situ Raman Monitoring of Cu2ZnSnS4 Oxidation and Related Decomposition at Elevated Temperatures,” IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics (2016), 6(3), 764-769.  DOI:10.1109/JPHOTOV.2016.2542479.  DOI:10.1149/2.0021508jes
7.  Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “In situ Raman Characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 Solar Absorber Materials,” Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2015 IEEE 42nd (2015), 1-6.  DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2015.

Andrés E Behrens

FIU M.S. 2016-2018
Current position: Patent examiner at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO)

Major publications:
1.  Cheng, Zhe; Foroughi, Paniz; Behrens, Andrés, “Synthesis of high temperature ceramic powders,” US Patent 9,919,973.

2.  Cheng, Zhe*; Foroughi, Paniz; Behrens, Andrés. “Synthesis of nanocrystalline TaC powders via single-step high temperature spray pyrolysis from solution precursors,” Ceramics International (2017), 43(3), 3431-3434.  DOI:0.1016/j.ceramint.2016.11.177

Jose Belisario

FIU M.S. 2018-2020
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Arizona (1984)
Tel: 305-348-6009
Current position: Ph.D. student at the University of Central Florida (UCF)
Major publications:
1. Belisario, Jose; Mondal, Santanu; Khakpour, Iman; Franco Hernandez, Alexander; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “Synthesis and flash sintering of (Hf1-xZrx)B2 solid solution powders,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society (2021), 41(4), 2215-2225.  DOI:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.12.015

2. Mondal, Santanu; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Belisario, Jose; Cheng, Zhe*.  “Multicomponent bulk metal nitride (Nb1/3Ta1/3Ti1/3)N1−δ synthesis via reaction flash sintering and characterizations,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2020), 103(9), 4876-4893.  DOI:10.1111/jace.17226

Diana Chira

FIU M.S. 2013-2015
Project:
Novel processing of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) solar absorber material
Current position: Chemistry teacher at A.W Dreyfoos School Of The Arts


Suprabha Das

FIU Ph.D. 2020 – 2024
M.S. University of Allahabad (a central university), Allahabad, India (2019)
B.S. Physics, University of Calcutta (2017)
Email: sdas014@fiu.edu
Resume
Dissertation: Novel Processing and Fundamentals for High-Temperature Nitride Ceramics
Major Publications:
1. Eskandariyun, Amirali; Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Saeedian, Kiyana; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Cheng, Zhe*. “Effects of processing conditions on flash sintering of commercial ZrN,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2024), 107, 3735-3750. DOI:10.1111/jace.19719
2. Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Li, Wenhao; Das, Suprabha; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Chowdury, Azmal Huda; Wang, Chunlei; Cheng, Zhe*.,  “Fabrication and Preliminary Testing of Silver Patterned Cathodes for Proton Conducting IT-SOFC,” Materials Advances (2024), 5, 1940-1951. DOI:10.1039/D3MA00793F
3. Das, Suprabha; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Cheng, Zhe*. “Reactive Flash Sintering of TiZrN and TiAlN Ternary Metal Nitrides,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society (2024), 44(4), 2037. DOI:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2023.11.079
4.
Das, Suprabha; Cheng, Zhe; Durygin, Andriy. “High entropy nitride ceramics and methods of synthesizing the same,” US Patent 11,691,923.
5. Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Tang, Wei;  Das, Suprabha; Li, Wenhao; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Zhang, Cheng; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Wang, Chunlei; Agarwal, Arvind; Ding, Dong; Cheng, Zhe*. “Electrical, thermal, and H2O and CO2 poisoning behaviors of PrNi0.5Co0.5O3-δ electrode for intermediate temperature protonic ceramic electrochemical cells,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2022)
47 (51), 21817-21827. DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.05.011
6. Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Emirov, Yusuf; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Wang, Chunlei; Drozd, Vadym; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “Synthesis and flash sintering of zirconium nitride powder,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2022), 105, DOI:10.1111/jace.18421 

Amirali Eskandariyun

FIU 2021 Aug – 2022 Aug
M.S. Aerospace Engineering, University of Tehran (2018)

B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Tehran (2015)
Current position: Ph.D. Student at the University of Washington
Project:
Understanding Flash Sintering Process for Zirconium Nitride
Major Publications:
1. Eskandariyun, Amirali; Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Saeedian, Kiyana; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Cheng, Zhe*. “Effects of processing conditions on flash sintering of commercial ZrN,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2024), 107, 3735-3750. DOI:10.1111/jace.19719

 

Paniz Foroughi

FIU Ph.D. 2013-2018Paniz Foroughi
B.S. Materials Science and Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Iran (2012)
Current position: Lead Materials Scientist at Magic Leap
Dissertation: Synthesis & Fundamental Formation Mechanism Study of High Temperature & Ultrahigh Temperature Ceramics
Major publications:
1. Foroughi, Paniz; Durygin, Andriy; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Flash sintering of tantalum-hafnium diboride solid solution powder,” Journal of Materials Research (2022), 1-7. DOI:10.1557/s43578-022-00492-7
2. Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Mondal, Santanu; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile and economical routes toward novel high-entropy metal nitride high-temperature ceramic nanograin powders,” MRS Communications (2022), 1-5, DOI:10.1557/s43579-022-00159-8
3. Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Hernandez, Alexander Franco; Behrens, Andrés; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile one-step high-temperature spray pyrolysis route toward metal carbide nanopowders,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2018), 101(12), 5323-5334.  DOI:10.1111/jace.15785
4.  Foroughi, Paniz; Rabiei Baboukani, Amin; Hernandez, Alexander Franco; Wang, Chunlei; Cheng, Zhe* “Phase Control during Synthesis of Nanocrystalline Ultrahigh Temperature Tantalum-Hafnium Diboride Powders,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2018), 101(12), 5745-5755.  DOI:10.1111/jace.15783
5.  Foroughi, Paniz; Zhang, Cheng; Agarwal, Arvind; Cheng, Zhe*. “Controlling phase separation of TaxHf1−xC solid solution nanopowders during carbothermal reduction synthesis,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2017), 100 (11), 5056-5065.  DOI:10.1111/jace.15065
6.  Cheng, Zhe*; Foroughi, Paniz; Behrens, Andrés. “Synthesis of nanocrystalline TaC powders via single-step high temperature spray pyrolysis from solution precursors,” Ceramics International (2017), 43(3), 3431-3434.  DOI:0.1016/j.ceramint.2016.11.177
7.  Cheng, Zhe; Foroughi, Paniz; Behrens, Andrés, “Synthesis of high temperature ceramic powders,” US Patent 9,919,973.
8.  Foroughi, Paniz; Cheng, Zhe*. “Understanding the morphological variation in the formation of B4C via carbothermal reduction reaction,” Ceramics International (2016), 42(14), 15189-15198.  DOI:10.1016/j.ceramint.2016.06.126
9.  Foroughi, Paniz; Cheng, Zhe*. “From Micron-sized Particles to Nanoparticles and Nanobelts: Structural Non-uniformity in the Synthesis of Boron Carbide by Carbothermal Reduction Reaction,” Advances in Ceramic Armor XI: A Collection of Papers Presented at the 39th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (ed J. C. LaSalvia), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA (2016), 51-62.  DOI:10.1002/9781119211549.ch5

Santanu Mondal

FIU M.S. 2018-2020
B.S. Ceramic Technology, West Bengal University of Technology, India (2012)

Current position: PhD student at Virginia Tech

Major publications:
1. Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Mondal, Santanu; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile and economical routes toward novel high-entropy metal nitride high-temperature ceramic nanograin powders,” MRS Communications (2022), 1-5, DOI:10.1557/s43579-022-00159-8
2. Belisario, Jose; Mondal, Santanu; Khakpour, Iman; Franco Hernandez, Alexander; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “Synthesis and flash sintering of (Hf1-xZrx)B2 solid solution powders,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society (2021), 41(4), 2215-2225.  DOI:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.12.015
3. Mondal, Santanu
; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Belisario, Jose; Cheng, Zhe*.  “Multicomponent bulk metal nitride (Nb1/3Ta1/3Ti1/3)N1−δ synthesis via reaction flash sintering and characterizations,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2020), 103(9), 4876-4893.  DOI:10.1111/jace.17226

Kiyana Saeedian

FIU 2023 Sep – 2024 May
M.S. Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran (2016)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran (2014)
Email: ksaee007@fiu.edu
Resume

Current Project: Fundamentals and novel materials for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells
Major Publications:
1. Eskandariyun, Amirali; Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Saeedian, Kiyana; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Cheng, Zhe*. “Effects of processing conditions on flash sintering of commercial ZrN,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2024), 107, 3735-3750. DOI:10.1111/jace.19719

Md Shariful Sozal

FIU Ph.D. 2019 – 2024
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), Bangladesh (2014)

Email: msoza005@fiu.edu
Current Project: Fundamentals for hydrogen electrode reaction of intermediate temperature proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells (IT-PCSOFC)
Major Publications:
1. Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Li, Wenhao; Das, Suprabha; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Chowdury, Azmal Huda; Wang, Chunlei; Cheng, Zhe*.,  “Fabrication and Preliminary Testing of Silver Patterned Cathodes for Proton Conducting IT-SOFC,” Materials Advances (2024), 5, 1940-1951. DOI:10.1039/D3MA00793F
2. Das, Suprabha; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Cheng, Zhe*. “Reactive Flash Sintering of TiZrN and TiAlN Ternary Metal Nitrides,” Journal of the European Ceramic Society (2024), 44(4), 2037. DOI:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2023.11.079
3. Li, Wenhao; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Drozd, Vadym; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “BaCo0.4Fe0.4Zr0.1Y0.1O3−σ Cathode Performance for Proton Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with BaZr0.8−xCexY0.1Yb0.1O3−δ Electrolytes,” ECS Advances (2023), 2 (4), 044502. DOI:10.1149/2754-2734/ad040c
4. Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Emirov, Yusuf; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Wang, Chunlei; Drozd, Vadym; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “Synthesis and flash sintering of zirconium nitride powder,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2022), 105, DOI:10.1111/jace.18421 

5. Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Tang, Wei;  Das, Suprabha; Li, Wenhao; Durygin, Andriy; Drozd, Vadym; Zhang, Cheng; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Wang, Chunlei; Agarwal, Arvind; Ding, Dong; Cheng, Zhe*. “Electrical, thermal, and H2O and CO2 poisoning behaviors of PrNi0.5Co0.5O3-δ electrode for intermediate temperature protonic ceramic electrochemical cells,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2022)
47 (51), 21817-21827. DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.05.011

Shichen Sun

FIU Ph.D. 2013-2018Shichen Sun
B.S. Materials Physics, Fudan University, China (2011)
Current position: Postdoc researcher at the University of South Carolina
Dissertation: Electrochemical Behaviors of the Electrodes for Proton Conducting Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (IT-SOFC)
Major publications:
1. Foroughi, Paniz; Durygin, Andriy; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Flash sintering of tantalum-hafnium diboride solid solution powder,” Journal of Materials Research (2022), 1-7. DOI:10.1557/s43578-022-00492-7
2. Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Mondal, Santanu; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile and economical routes toward novel high-entropy metal nitride high-temperature ceramic nanograin powders,” MRS Communications (2022), 1-5, DOI:10.1557/s43579-022-00159-8
3. Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “SrCo0.8Nb0.1Ta0.1O3−δ Based Cathodes for Electrolyte-Supported Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Comparison with Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3−δ Based Cathodes and Implications,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2020), 167 (2), 024514.  DOI:10.1149/1945-7111/ab6bba

4.  Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “H2S poisoning of proton conducting solid oxide fuel cell and comparison with conventional oxide-ion conducting solid oxide fuel cell,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2018), 165 (10), F836-F844.  DOI:10.1149/2.0841810jes
5.  Sun, Shichen; Awadallah, Osama; Cheng, Zhe*. “Poisoning of Nickel-Based Anode for Proton Conducting SOFC by H2S, CO2, and H2O as Fuel Contaminants,”  Journal of Power Sources (2018), 378, 255-263.  DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.12.056
6.  Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Electrochemical Behaviors for Ag, LSCF and BSCF as Oxygen Electrodes for Proton Conducting IT-SOFC,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2017), 164(10), F3104-F3113.  DOI:10.1149/2.0121710jes
7.  Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Effects of H2O and CO2 on Electrochemical Behaviors of BSCF Cathode for Proton Conducting IT-SOFC,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2017), 164(2), F81-F88.  DOI:10.1149/2.0611702jes

Armin Vahid Mohammadi

FIU M.S. 2013-2015Armin Vahid Mohammadi
Current position: Sr. Cell Engineer at Tesla
Major publications:
1.  VahidMohammadi, Armin; Cheng, Zhe*. “Fundamentals of Synthesis, Sintering Issues, and Chemical Stability of BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3-δ Proton Conducting Electrolyte for SOFCs,” Journal of the Electrochemical Society (2015), 162(8), F803-811.  DOI:10.1149/2.0021508jes
2.  VahidMohammadi, Armin; Cheng, Zhe*. “Study on Sintering and Stability Issues of BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3-δ Electrolyte for SOFCs,” Advances in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells and Electronic Ceramics: A Collection of Papers Presented at 39th International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites (eds N. P. Bansal, M. Kusnezoff and K. Shimamura), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA (2016) 21-29.  DOI:10.1002/9781119211501.ch3

Postdoc Researcher

Junheng Xing

FIU Postdoc 2017-2018
Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, China (2014)
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science & Technology, China (2007)
Project: Novel fabrication of high-temperature and ultrahigh-temperature ceramic powders using techniques such as high-temperature spray pyrolysis (HTSP)
Major publications:
1. Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Mondal, Santanu; Sun, Shichen; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile and economical routes toward novel high-entropy metal nitride high-temperature ceramic nanograin powders,” MRS Communications (2022), 1-5, DOI:10.1557/s43579-022-00159-8
2.  Xing, Junheng; Foroughi, Paniz; Hernandez, Alexander Franco; Behrens, Andrés; Cheng, Zhe*. “Facile one-step high-temperature spray pyrolysis route toward metal carbide nanopowders,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2018), 101(12), 5323-5334.  DOI:10.1111/jace.15785

Undergraduate Students

Driany Alfonso Jr.

FIU 2015-2016
Project: Preparation of green YSZ samples for flash sintering
Current Position
: Project Development Engineer at ExxonMobil

Christian Cazzaniga

FIU 2020-2022
Project: Design and fabrication of environmental chamber for flash sintering
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Diego Dubois

FIU 2021-2022
Current Position: Mechanical Engineer at Sintavia
Publications/Presentations:
1. Das, Suprabha; Dubois, Diego; Sozal, Md Shariful Islam; Emirov, Yusuf; Jafarizadeh, Borzooye; Wang, Chunlei; Drozd, Vadym; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “Synthesis and flash sintering of zirconium nitride powder,” Journal of the American Ceramic Society (2022), 105(6), 3925-3936. DOI:10.1111/jace.18421
2. FIU MME 2021 fall Undergraduate Research Symposium: Preliminary study on flash sintering of commercial ZrN powders

Joseph Hernandez

FIU 2015-2016
Project: Design and fabrication of an in situ Raman micro-spectroscopy chamber with temperature and atmosphere control
Current Position: Mechanical Engineer at Honeybee Robotics
Publications/Presentations:
1. Awadallah, Osama; Hernandez, Joseph; Durygin, Andriy; Cheng, Zhe*. “In Situ Raman Monitoring of Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 Phase Formation from Sulfurization of Sol-gel Oxide Precursors,” Photovoltaics Specialist Conference (PVSC), 2017 IEEE 44th (2017), 3473-3477.  DOI:10.1109/PVSC.2017.8366144

 

Giancarlo Lombardi

FIU 2014-2015
Project: Design of an in situ Raman micro-spectroscopy chamber with temperature and atmosphere control
Current Position: Guidance, Navigation and Control Engineer Sr at Lockheed Martin

Eddie Martinez

2014
Project: Synthesis of nano ZrB2 powders
FIU McNair Scholar (11th cohort, 2014) doing summer research in Dr. Cheng’s lab