headshot of Miguel José Yacamán

Miguel José Yacamán

Regents Professor
Applied Physics and Materials Science

Contact information

Phone: (928) 523-5518
Email: Miguel.yacaman@nau.edu
Office: Science and Health Building, Room 325

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About

Dr. Jose Yacaman’s research is very broad and had made contributions in several fields of Physics, Materials science and Nanotechnology .One of the focus of his research has been the correlation of structure and properties in nanomaterials. He has developed Electron microscope methods to study nanoparticles and 2-D materials. He has published more than 550 papers in peer review journals. During his career he supervised around 100 graduate students and Postdoctoral fellows. His present interest is to develop the nanoscale equivalent of High Entropy Alloys and to develop new catalysts to produce cleaner fuels.

Internationally recognized scholar in Electron Diffraction and Microscopy and Nanotechnology and Materials Science, as demonstrated by selection as “Fellow” of Microscopy Society of America, Materials Research Society (MRS),American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS), and others. Honored with physics and materials science society awards such as the Bouchet and Wheatley awards of the American Physical Society and the Mehl award of The Metal sand Materials Society. Respected mentor and university teacher that enjoys and continues to teach a spectrum of classes from undergraduate fundamental physics to graduate courses in thermodynamics and nanoscience, receiving national recognition for that teaching and the mentoring of historically minoritized science students (e.g. Distinguished Scientist Award, Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science(SACNAS)).A highly interdisciplinary scientist with broad reach outside of his two primary disciplines, as demonstrated by his collaborations that’s pan from Alzheimer’s disease mitigation with biologists, antibacterial materials and new COVID detection scheme development with microbiologists, to finally the teaming with artists and world renowned sculptors to translate modern science concepts into art.

Professional Experience

Professor, Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, Northern Arizona University (2019-current)

Faculty, Center for Materials Interfaces in Research and Applications (¡MIRA!), Northern Arizona University (2019-current)

Professor and Department Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Texas at San Antonio. (2008-2019)

Director, International Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (ICNAM), The University of Texas at San Antonio. (2008-2019)

Director, International Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials (ICNAM), The University of Texas at Austin. (2004-2008)

Reese Professor in Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering. The University of Texas at Austin. (2001-2008)

Awards and Honors

  • Fellow of the Materials Research Society, 2019
  • Fellow of The American Vacuum Society, 2019
  • Edward Bouchet Award, American Physical Society, 2017
  • SCOPUS-Elsevier award for the most cited Latin American Scientist, 2015
  • Doctor Honoris Causa, Universidad de Córdoba, Argentina, 2015
  • Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America, 2015
  • Distinguished Scientist Award, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), 2014
  • John Wheatley Award of the American Physical Society, 2011
  • Fellow of the American Association for the Advanced of the Science (AAAS), 2009
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society, 1995

Most Cited Publications

Morones, J.R., et al., The bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticles. Nanotechnology, 2005. 16(10): p. 2346-2353.Citations 6074 [Field of Biological Applications of Materials Science]

Elechiguerra, J.L., et al., Interaction of silver nanoparticles with HIV-1. Journal of nanobiotechnology, 2005. 3: p. 6-6. Citations 1672 [Field of Biological Applications of Materials Science]

Mannix, A.J., et al., Synthesis of borophenes: Anisotropic, two-dimensional boron polymorphs. Science, 2015. 350(6267): p. 1513-1516. Citations 1200 [Field of Research solid State Physics ]

Gardea-Torresdey, J.L., et al., Formation and growth of Au nanoparticles inside live alfalfa plants. Nano Letters, 2002. 2(4): p. 397-401. Citations 1002 [Field of Interdisciplinry Science]

Gardea-Torresdey, J.L., et al., Alfalfa sprouts: A natural source for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Langmuir, 2003. 19(4): p. 1357-1361. Citations 958 [Field of Interdisciplinry Science]

Fei, H., et al., Atomic cobalt on nitrogen-doped graphene for hydrogen generation. Nature Communications, 2015. 6. Citations 833 [Field of Research Solid Sate Physics ]

Recent Publications

Google Scholar

A Nevarez-Rascón, A Hurtado-Macías, HE Esparza-Ponce, …Nano-structured hydroxyapatite and titanium dioxide enriching PENTA/UDMA adhesive as aesthetic coating for tooth enamel, Dental Materials (2021)

O Morelos-Santos, AIR de la Torre, P Schacht-Hernández, …, NiFe2O4 nanocatalyst for heavy crude oil upgrading in low hydrogen/feedstock ratio, Catalysis Today 360, 20-26 (2021)

P Horta-Fraijo, E Smolentseva, A Simakov, M José-Yacaman, B Acosta, Ag nanoparticles in A4 zeolite as efficient catalysts for the 4-nitrophenol reduction, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials 312, 110707 (2021)

JA Hernandez, LF Fonseca, MT Pettes, M Jose-Yacaman, Thermoelectric properties of antimony selenide hexagonal nanotubes, Nanotechnology 32 (9), 095705 (2020)

A Ponce, JA Aguilar, J Tate, MJ Yacamán, Advances in the electron diffraction characterization of atomic clusters and nanoparticles, Nanoscale Advances (2020)

JE Samaniego-Benitez, R Mendoza-Cruz, L Bazán-Díaz, A Garcia-Garcia, …Synthesis and structural characterization of MoS2 micropyramids, Journal of Materials Science 55, 12203-12213 (2020)