Yunfei studied materials chemistry at University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and received BS in 2012. From 2012 to 2013, he worked as a research assistant at Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale (HFNL), under the supervision of Professor Shuhong Yu. His previous research was focused on the hybrid nanomaterials for electrocatalytic applications, such as, noble-metal free nanohybrids for electro-catalyzing water splitting. He started his graduate research with the Friend group at Harvard University in 2014. 

Yunfei's research has been focused on the fundamental selectivity of gold surfaces by using Temperature Programmed Reaction Spectroscopy (TPRS) and High Resolution Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (HREELS) under ultra high vacuum conditions. Reaction selectivity is affected by the relative binding strengths of different reactant species on the catalyst surface. By comparing experimental data of the relative binding strengths of the different species, he hopes to discover the factors affecting binding strength on the catalyst surface.   His goal is to understand these mechanisms  and finally how to use them to optimize reaction selectivity.