Dr. Haitao Ye

Haitao received a PhD degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from University College London for his work on impedance spectroscopy on diamond films (2004).  He was an Industrial Research Fellow at NTT Basic Research Labs, Hon-Atsugi, Japan (2004-2005) to work on diamond MESFETs before he returned to London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL as a research fellow /senior Research fellow to work on Rolls Royce-sponsored diamond based IGBTs. He held various academic positions with Aston University, Birmingham to work as the nanoscience research group convener to research on CVD and PVD thin films and coatings, especially carbon-based nanomaterials. He joined the University of Leicester as a Chair Professor of Materials Engineering (2018), and is now a Visiting Professor to University of Leicester.  His more recent work has centred around surface functionalised diamond coatings for antibacterial and antifungal application in harsh environments; diamond-based semiconductors devices such as MOS, MESFET, MISFET, and MEMs. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.

Haitao was the Director of PGR studies (2023) and Director of Research (2024) for the School of Engineering.  

Haitao was the recipient of EU Marie Curie Global Fellowship and Royal Society APEX Fellowship Award. He was invited to give public lectures during Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in London (2023).

• Founding Editor-In-Chief for Journal of Functional Diamond (2025 Impact factor 4.0)
• Fellow of Institute of Physics (FInstP)
• Fellow of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FMMM)
• Fellow of The Gemmological Association of Great Britain (DGA)
• Fellow of High Education Academy (FHEA)
• Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• Member of Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET)
• Member of Materials Research Society

Research Interests:

• CVD and PVD thin film growth
• Antibacterial and antimicrobial materials
• Semiconductor devices and sensors
• Thermoelectric materials for energy and environments
• Diamond and related materials

Research Projects:

• Maire Sklodowska-Curie Horizon Europe SE program: Advanced Multidisciplinary Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (PI), 2024-2027, EUR441,600
• Marie Sklodowska-Curie H2020-RISE-D-SPA: Diamond based nanomaterials and nanostructures for advanced electronic and photonics applications (PI), 2017-2023, EUR720k
• Lloyd’s Registrar Foundation PhD studentship Award: Diamond based devices for harsh environments (PI), £50k
• STFC PoC Project: Surface functionalised diamond for antibacterial application in Space (PI), £10k
• Innovate UK Industrial Challenge Project: PVD and CVD coatings for antimicrobial applications in Space (co-I), £355k
• Horizon 2020 Marie Curie Global Fellowship: Ion-implanted nanodiamonds for biomedical applications (PI), 2017-2022, EUR204,847
• Royal Society APEX Fellowship Award: Surface functionalised diamond for antifungal application in Space (PI), 2021-2023, £100k
• Royal Society Public Engagement Award: Using diamond to fight fungi in Space in collaboration with National Space Centre (PI), 2021-2023, £10k
• Royal Society International Joint Project (Costshare): Diamond biosensors for tumor biomarkers analysis (PI), £24k

1. X. Cui, S. P. Brown, X. Liu, A. Tatton, H. Ye and A. Mash, Nanodiamond promotes surfactant-mediated Triglyceride removal from a hydrophobic surface at or below room temperature, American Chemical Society - Applied Materials & Interfaces 4 (2012) 3225-3232. This article received considerable world-wide media attention and highlighted by EPSRC.
2. S. Su, J. Li, V. Kundrát, A.M. Abbot, H. Ye, Hydrogen-terminated detonation nanodiamond: impedance spectroscopy and thermal stability studies, Journal of Applied Physics 113 (2013) 023707, 1-8.
3. J. Li, S. Su, L. Zhou, V. Kundrát, A.M. Abbot, F. Mushtaq, D. Ouyang, D. James, D. Roberts, H. Ye, Carbon nanowalls grown by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition during the carbonization of polyacrylonitrile fibers, Journal of Applied Physics 113 (2013) 024313,1-6.
4. S. Su, J. Li, G.C.B. Lee, K. Sugden, D.J. Webb, H. Ye, Surface morphological analysis of femtosecond laser-induced micro fluidic channels on single crystalline diamonds, Applied Physics Letters, 231913 (2013)1-4.
5. Y. Yang, H. Wang, Q. Zhou, M. Kong, H. Ye, G. Yang, Improved lithium storage properties of electrospun TiO2 with tunable morphology: from porous anatase to necklace rutile, Nanoscale, RSC Publishing, 5 (2013) 10267.
6. X. Cui, S. Belo, D. Krüger, Y. Yan, R. Rosales, M. Jauregui-Osoro, H. Ye, S. Su, D. Mathe, N. Kovács, I Horváth, M. Semjeni, M. A. Green, and P. J. Blower, Aluminium Hydroxide Stabilized MFe2O4 (M = Mn, Fe, or Co) Nanoparticles: Dual-modality Contrasts Agent for MRI and PET Imaging, Biomaterials, 35 (2014) 5840-5846 .
7. J. Zhao, J. Liu, L. Sang, M. Liao, D. Coathup, M. Imura, B. Shi, C. Gu, Y. Koide and H. Ye, Assembly of a high-dielectric constant thin TiOx layer directly on H-terminated semiconductor diamond, Applied Physics Letters 108 (2016) 012105.
8. H. Xu, H. Ye, D. Coathup, I. Z. Mitrovic, A. D. Weerakkody, X. Hu, An insight of p-type to n-type conductivity conversion in oxygen ion-implanted ultrananocrystalline diamond films by impedance spectroscopy, Applied Physics Letters 110 (2017) 033102.
9. A. Cumont, R. Zhang, L. Corscadden, J. Pan, H. Ye*, Characterisation and antibacterial investigation of a novel coating consisted of mushroom microstructures and HFCVD graphite, Materials and Design 189 (2020) 108498.
10. Y Zheng, R Zhang, X Chen, P Hing, J Liu, J Wei, J Wang, C Li, H Ye*, Doomed Couple of Diamond with Terahertz Frequency: Hyperfine Quality Discrimination and Complex Dielectric Responses of Diamond in the Terahertz Waveband, ACS Applied Electronic Materials 2 (2020) 1459.
11. Q. Jiang, J. Yang, P. Hing and H. Ye, Recent advances, design guidelines, and prospects of flexible organic/inorganic thermoelectric composites, Materials Advances, 82 (2020) 1, 1038-1054. This article has been selected for inclusion in the 2021 Popular Advances collection.
12. N. Miriyala, D.J. Kirby, A. Cumont, R. Zhang, B. Shi, D. Ouyang, H. Ye*, Synthesis of carbon onion and its application as a porous carrier for amorphous drug delivery, Crystal 10 (2020) 281.
13. A. Cumont, A. Pitt, P. A. Lambert, M. R. Oggioni & H. Ye, Properties, mechanism and applications of diamond as an antibacterial materials - Functional diamond 1 (2021) 1-28. 
14. A. Cumont, R. Zhang, Y. Zheng, L. Corscadden, M. R. Oggioni, C. Li, R. Liu, H. Ye, Antibacterial properties of polycrystalline diamond films, Ceramics International, 2021, in press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2021.08.151

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas:

• CVD and PVD thin film growth
• Antibacterial and antimicrobial materials
• Semiconductor devices and sensors
• Thermoelectric materials for energy and environments

Experience of delivery:

• EG4006: Fourth Year Project Convener
• EG2121: Materials Process Convener
• Third Year Project Supervision
• MSc Project supervision
• Personal Tutors for Year 1- 4 and industrial placement students 

Royal Society Interdisciplinary APEX Award (2021): Surface functionalised diamond for antifungal application in Space

Royal Society APEX Public Engagement Award (2021): using diamond to fight fungus in Space

Royal Society Summer Exhibition (2023)