Lingfeng He

Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering, Joint Faculty Appointment with INL

Biography

Dr. Lingfeng He earned his B.S. in Metallurgical Engineering from Central South University in 2003, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. He then served as a postdoctoral researcher and assistant scientist at Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before joining Idaho National Laboratory (INL) as a staff scientist in 2014. While at INL, he progressed to the position of Distinguished Staff Scientist (Level V) and High-Resolution Materials Characterization Group Lead before joining NC State as an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering in August 2022.

Currently, Dr. He leads the Materials In eXtremes (MIX) Lab at NC State, where his research focuses on materials behavior in radiation, corrosion, stress, and ultrahigh temperature environments. His main research areas include ceramics and composites, nuclear fuels, structural materials, spent nuclear fuels, nuclear waste forms, synthesis/manufacturing, advanced characterization, radiation effects, molten salt corrosion, oxidation, mechanical properties, and thermal properties.

Dr. He has been involved in numerous research projects, serving as the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator for 11 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) projects, 2 Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), 1 Basic Energy Sciences (BES) Core Program, 1 International Nuclear Energy Research Initiative (I-NERI) project, 3 Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) project, 1 Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) project, and 50 Nuclear Science User Facility (NSUF) projects, in addition to supporting multiple DOE programs at INL. He is the top collaborator at NSUF.

As a mentor, Dr. He has guided the research of 5 postdoctoral researchers (who are now tenure-track faculty or staff scientists at INL), 8 graduate students (2 of them graduated and became staff scientists at INL), and 7 summer intern students from various universities. He has also published 145 peer-reviewed journal articles, with an H-index of 36, 22 peer-reviewed conference proceedings, 1 book chapter, and holds 5 patents. Additionally, he is an Associate Editor for Materials Science Section in Heliyon (a Cell Press / Elsevier journal) and serves as an ad hoc reviewer for 60 journals and numerous proposals for NSF, NEUP, NSUF, AMMTO, SBIR/STTR, and LDRD at INL. He has given over 30 invited/plenary talks at conferences, workshops, and university seminars and received the INL Laboratory Director’s 2020 Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award.

Education

Ph.D. 2009

Materials Science

Chinese Academy of Sciences

B.S. 2003

Metallurgical Engineering

Central South University, China

Research Description

Dr. He focuses on studying materials behavior in extreme environments, specifically the environmental degradation of materials in nuclear power systems. His research aims to understand how processing and radiation/corrosion environments affect the microstructure, mechanical/thermal properties, and structural integrity/durability of materials and components.

Publications

Comparison of microstructural and micro-chemical evolutions in the irradiated fuel kernels of AGR-1 and AGR-2 TRISO fuel particles
Fu, Z., He, L., Rooyen, I. J., & Yang, Y. (2024), PROGRESS IN NUCLEAR ENERGY, 176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2024.105361
Compositionally complex carbide ceramics: A perspective on irradiation damage
Trinh, L., Wang, F., Bawane, K., Hattar, K., Hua, Z., Malakkal, L., … Cui, B. (2024), JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 135(20). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0202275
Dislocation channel broadening-A new mechanism to improve irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking resistance of additively manufactured 316 L stainless steel
Yang, J., Hawkins, L., Shang, Z., Tsai, B. K., He, L., Lu, Y., … Lou, X. (2024, March 1), ACTA MATERIALIA, Vol. 266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2024.119650
Elucidating the Transition of 3D Morphological Evolution of Binary Alloys in Molten Salts with Metal Ion Additives
Liu, X., Bawane, K. K., Clark, C., Peng, Y., Woods, M. E., Halstenberg, P., … Chen-Wiegart, Y.-chen K. (2024), ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 16(34), 45606–45618. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c02049
Evolution of extended defects in UO2 during high temperature annealing
Hung, C.-Y., Ferrigno, J., Gentile, R. O., Khafizov, M., & He, L. (2024), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.154997
Selective laser sintering and spark plasma sintering of (Zr,Nb,Ta,Ti,W)C compositionally complex carbide ceramics
Trinh, L., Hua, Z., Bawane, K., He, L., Malakkal, L., Chen, X., … Cui, B. (2024, July 23), JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Vol. 7. https://doi.org/10.1111/jace.20019
Evolution of dislocation loops and voids in post-irradiation annealed ThO2: A combined in-situ TEM and cluster dynamics investigation
Mazumder, S. K., Bawane, K., Mann, J. M., French, A., Shao, L., He, L., & El-Azab, A. (2023), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154686
Intragranular irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) of 316L stainless steel made by laser direct energy deposition additive manufacturing: Delta ferrite-dislocation channel interaction
Yang, J., Hawkins, L., He, L., Mahmood, S., Song, M., Schulze, K., & Lou, X. (2023), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154305
Temperature-Dependent Morphological Evolution during Corrosion of the Ni-20Cr Alloy in Molten Salt Revealed by Multiscale Imaging
Liu, X., Bawane, K., Zheng, X., Ge, M., Halstenberg, P., Maltsev, D. S., … Chen-Wiegart, Y.-chen K. (2023), ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 15(10), 13772–13782. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c23207
The effect of secondary phases on microstructure and irradiation damage in an as-built additively manufactured 316 L stainless steel with a hafnium compositional gradient
Hawkins, L., Yang, J., Song, M., Schwen, D., Zhang, Y., Shao, L., … He, L. (2023), JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, 587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154708

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Grants

Ion Irradiation and Characterization of Spent Nuclear Fuels
US Dept. of Energy (DOE)(4/20/23 - 9/30/25)