E-mail: yifanchen@ncu.edu.tw
Office: E237A, Engineering Building I
Lab: Biophysics Laboratory (E232, ext.34237) link
Education: Ph.D. Physics, Cornell University (2011; advisor: Sol Gruner);
B.S. Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University (2003)
Research Interests: Soft Materials Characterization, Biological Physics, Soft Condensed Matter/Biological
Liquid Crystals, Elastic/Inelastic X-ray/Neutron Scattering/Crystallography Techniques
Research Background
We are interested in applying the synchrotron- and neutron-based scattering and diffraction techniques to studying the structures, dynamics and phase behaviors of biological soft matter, including lipids, proteins/peptides and nucleic acids. We aim to explore how the function of matter is correlated with its structure and dynamics. This knowledge will not only advance our understanding towards the matter (which interests scientists) but also facilitate fabricating materials with desirable properties (which is a desirable achievement for engineers). Currently, our research interests include:
1. Mechanisms of the Phase Behavior Exhibited by Phospholipids and Proteins/Peptides
2. Correlations Between the Structural, Mechanical and Dynamical Properties of Biomimetic Lipid Membranes across differing length scales
3. Structural and Dynamical Studies of Polymer Nanoparticle Composites
4. Application of Neutron-based Scattering Techniques to the Studies of Biological and Novel Materials Systems
We welcome graduate and undergraduate students who are interested in these topics. We also seek potential collaborators who are interested in structurally and dynamically characterizing their biological and materials systems.
Publications
19. Hsieh, T. -Y., Mansel, B. W., Chen, H. -L., Chen, Y. -F. 2025 "Drastic Elevation in the Glass Transition Temperature of Poly(2-vinylpyridine) by the Entanglement-Promoting Palladium Nanoparticles." Macromolecules, Volume 58, 2336.
18. Lu, Y. -H., Chang, B. K.; Chen, Y. -F. 2025 "Electronic Structure Modulation from Configuring Anatase TiO2 into a Bicontinuous Mesostructure." Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, Volume 167, 105829 (preprint: arXiv:2310.13306).
17. Ko, T. H. & Chen, Y.-F. 2023 "Correlation between the In-plane Critical Behavior and Out-of-plane Interaction of Ternary Lipid Membranes." Membranes, Volume 13, 6.
16. Chang, S. -M., et. al. 2022 "Mechanism of endosomal escape by pH-responsive nucleic-acid vectors." Physical Review E, Volume 106, 034408.
15. Chiou, P. -C., et. al. 2022 "Molecular packing of lipid membranes and action mechanisms of membrane-active peptides." Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Volume 213, 112384.
14. Huang, Y. -J., et. al. 2021 "In-Situ Synchrotron SAXS and WAXS Investigation on the Deformation of Single and Coaxial Electrospun P(VDF-TrFE)-Based Nanofibers." Internationa Journal of Molecular Sciences, Volume 22, 12669.
13. Xie, C. -Z., et. al. 2020 "Uncoupling between the lipid membrane dynamics of differing hierarchical levels." Physical Review E, Volume 101, 012416.
12. Lee, Y. -P., et. al. 2019 "Long-term thermally stable nanoconfining networks for efficient fully T conjugated semicrystalline/amorphous diblock copolymer photovoltaics." Organic Electronics, Volume 69, p263-274.
11. Chang, W. -F., et. al. 2018 "Correlation of an antimicrobial peptide’s potency and its influences on membrane elasticity." Physical Review E, Volume 98, 042408.
10. Tsai, C. -W., et. al. 2018 "Development of an indolicidin-derived peptide by reducing membrane perturbation to decrease cytotoxicity and maintain gene delivery ability." Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, Volume 165, 18.
9. Tsang, K. -Y., et. al. 2017 "Coupling of lipid membrane elasticity and in-plane dynamics." Physical Review E, Volume 96, 012410.
8. Muduli, S., et. al. 2017 "Proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of amniotic fluid-derived stem cells." Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Volume 5, 5345.
7. Fan, Z. -A., et. al. 2016 "Revisit the Correlation between the Elastic Mechanics and Fusion of Lipid Membranes" Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), Volume 6, 31470.
6. Chen, Y. -F.*, et. al. 2015 "Differential Dependences on [Ca2+] and Temperature of the Monolayer Spontaneous Curvatures of DOPE, DOPA and Cardiolipin: Effects of Modulating the Strength of the Inter-headgroup Repulsion." Soft Matter, Volume 11, p4041-4053.
5. Liu, C. Y., et. al. 2014. "PEGylation Site-Dependent Structural Heterogeneity Study of MonoPEGylated Human Parathyroid Hormone Fragment hPTH(1-34)." Langmuir, Volume 30, p11421-11427.
4. Lee, Y. H., et. al. 2014. "Phase transformation and self-assembly behavior of supramolecular rod comb block copolymers." Polymer, Volume 55, p2481-2490.
3. Lee, Y. H., et. al. 2014. "A new strategy for co-assembling pi-conjugated polymer/cadmium sulfide hybrids into an efficient charge-transporting nanochannel array by using an all-conjugated diblock copolymer motif." Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Volume 2, p14600-14612.
2. Lai, Y. -C.; Chen, Y. -F.; Chiang, Y. -W. 2013. "ESR Study of Interfacial Hydration Layers of Polypeptides in Water-Filled Nanochannels and in Vitrified Bulk Solvents." PLoS ONE, Volume 8, e68264.
1. Yu, C. F.; Chao, D. S.; Chen, Y. -F.; Liang, J. H. 2013. "Photoluminescent Characteristics of Ion Beam Synthesized Ge Nanoparticles in Thermally Grown SiO2 Films." Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research B, Volume 307, p171-176.