Dr. Yunxiang Gao is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Prairie View A&M University. He also serves as a Research Scientist at Rice University. He obtained his B.S. in Applied Chemistry from Inner Mongolia University in 2002, his M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2006, and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Ohio University in 2010. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Case Western Reserve University from 2010 to 2013, and then as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Liquid Crystal Institute, Kent State University from 2013 to 2015. He joined Prairie View A&M University in 2018. Dr. Gao’s group focuses on interdisciplinary research at the interface of polymers and nanomaterials to meet critical needs in biomedical applications, energy conversion, sustainable agriculture, and soft robotics. By building soft materials ranging from biodegradable block-co-polymers, liquid crystalline polymers, hydrogels, elastomers, and their hybrid composites with various carbon, metal, metal oxide nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes, graphene, silver nanowires, he and his colleagues develop cutting-edge novel materials incorporated with multiple functionalities.