Overview
Personal Profile
James L. Young leads and contributes to projects in photoelectrochemistry (PEC), low-temperature water electrolysis, fuel cells, and electrochemical ammonia synthesis. Young was originally interested in semiconductors and solid-state electronic properties of materials but became inspired by electrochemistry as an undergraduate intern at NLR in 2010.
As a graduate researcher, he developed tandem III-V PEC devices and atomic-layer-deposited thin films as protective, anti-reflective, and catalytic coatings co-advised by Steven George (CU-Boulder) and Todd Deutsch (NLR). Young continued PEC work as a postdoc while contributing to low-temperature electrolysis research projects advised by Guido Bender. Young became a scientist in 2018 and now leads NLR’s HydroGEN Consortium PEC projects, the H2NEW Consortium membrane electrode assembly performance ex-situ characterization task, a technology commercialization project on low-cost, electrolysis diffusion media materials, and a Laboratory Directed Research and Development project on electrochemical ammonia synthesis.
Research Interests
Materials electrochemistry
Electrochemical devices
Electrochemical ammonia synthesis
Photoelectrochemistry for solar fuels
Electronic properties of materials
Corrosion
Atomic layer deposition
Education/Academic Qualification
PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
Bachelor, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Collaborations and Top Research Areas From the Past 5 Years
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Advancing the Performance of Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolysis by Employing a Powder-Based Ionomer During Anode Catalyst Layer Fabrication
Chan, A.-L., Clauser, A., Parimuha, M., Young, J. L., Sugar, J. & Alia, S., 2026, In: ACS Applied Energy Materials. 9, 5, p. 2611-2623 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Durable Thin-Film Porous Transport Electrodes for High Current Density PEM Water Electrolysis: Article No. e17655
Young, J., Beltran, D., Blair, S., Duarte, R., Parimuha, M., Yu, H., van Eijk, L., Reeves, K., Grejtak, T., Martinez, J., Chao, B., Wrubel, J., Kreider, M., Miller, E., Lenef, J., Heinselman, K., Pylypenko, S., Cullen, D. & Bender, G., 2026, In: Advanced Science. 13, 12, 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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A Harmonized Protocol to Assess the Single-Cell Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers
Fortiner, S., Ouimet, R., Young, J., Bender, G., Carmo, M. & Ayers, K., 2025, In: Frontiers in Energy Research. 13, 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
4 Scopus Citations -
Conformal Electrochemical Deposition of Intermetallic AuCu Thin Films for Convergent C-N Coupling
Gerke, C., Foley, G., Wilder, L., Yang, Y., Young, J. L., Bedford, N., Miller, E. & Thoi, V. S., 2025, In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 13, 3, p. 2217-2226 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
3 Scopus Citations -
Fabrication of Porous Transport Electrodes: Development of Quantitative Approach for Quality Control: Article No. 147475
van Eijk, L., Stelmacovich, G., Khandavalli, S., Young, J. L., Ding, L., Wang, W., Li, J., Zhang, F.-Y., Mauger, S., Paxson, A. & Pylypenko, S., 2025, In: Electrochimica Acta. 543, 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
1 Scopus Citations
Activities
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American Vacuum Society (External organization)
Perkins, C. (Member), Roberts, D. (Member), Young, J. L. (Member), Ghoshal, D. (Member), Ahrenkiel, R. (Fellow) & Harvey, S. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
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Materials Research Society, MRS (External organization)
Ginley, D. (Member), Rose, A. (Member), Green, P. (Fellow), Roberts, D. (Member), Cordell, J. (Member), Young, J. L. (Member), Jungjohann, K. (Member), Dutta, N. (Member), Smaha, R. (Member), Bell, R. (Member), Aubry, T. (Member), Kang, A. (Member), Egbo, K. (Member), Marder, S. (Fellow), Kluherz, T. (Member), Quadir, S. (Member), Schichtl, Z. (Member), Smeaton, M. (Member), Tellekamp, B. (Member), Spurgeon, S. (Member), Norman, A. (Member), Nozik, A. (Member), Dinh, H. (Member), Lany, S. (Member), Xie, C. (Member), Kocher, J. (Member), Bhardwaj, R. K. (Member) & Harrison, K. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
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The Electrochemical Society (External organization)
Ginley, D. (Member), Taylor, A. (Member), Ferrell, J. (Member), Young, J. L. (Member), Kang, A. (Member), Carvalho, Q. (Member), Nozik, A. (Member), Dinh, H. (Member), Wu, I. (Member) & Harrison, K. (Member)
0001Activity: Membership › Membership of network
Awards and Honors
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National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Young, J. L. (Recipient), 2011
Prize: Honorary award
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NREL Director's Award
Young, J. L. (Recipient) & Sanchez i Nogue, V. (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Honorary award
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The Electrochemical Society Energy Technology Division Supramaniam Srinivasan Young Investigator Award
Young, J. L. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Honorary award
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U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Office Hydrogen Production R&D Award
Young, J. L. (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Honorary award
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U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Outstanding Mentor Award
Young, J. L. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Honorary award