Zheng Fan
University of Houston, TX·Engineering·Early-career
Electric vehicles need batteries that store more energy than today's lithium-ion cells. One option is a solid-state battery with a lithium metal anode, the electrode that stores lithium during charging.
- Fields
Engineering
Materials Science
Chemistry
- Topics
solid-state batteries
lithium metal anode
lithium metal batteries
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through May 2030
What they work on
- Measure and explain the microstructural and chemical changes in a metal-carbon mixed ionic-electronic conductor (c-MIEC) interlayer as lithium fills its pores, using automated in situ diagnostics.
- Measure and explain the electrochemical and mechanical changes of the c-MIEC interlayer during lithiation, and link them to lithium plating and stripping behavior.
- Integrate the experimental findings with machine learning and multiphysics modeling to predict how interlayer properties control the formation of pore-free interlayers.
More about the research
Lithium metal packs a great deal of energy into a small volume. But the boundary between the lithium and the solid electrolyte can degrade and corrode. This can lead to short circuits, battery failure and overheating.
Why it matters
Solid-state lithium metal batteries could give electric vehicles longer driving range. However, instability where lithium meets the electrolyte causes short circuits and safety risks. Learning how to form reliable, pore-free interlayers could make these batteries safer, more durable and cheaper to scale. The insights may also carry over to battery chemistries beyond lithium.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
James Penner-Hahn
University of Michigan, MI·Chemistry
Clarify reaction mechanisms in sulfur composite cathodes that use the garnet solid electrolyte LLZO, using model systems, electroanalytical techniques, and in operando and ex-situ X-ray analyses that track chemistry during and after battery operation.
Dong Zhang
University of Oklahoma, OK·Engineering·Early-career
Develop a multiphysics dynamic model of stress generation and volume change in silicon and graphite particles to explain how their interactions drive degradation in silicon/graphite composite anodes.
Steve Martin
Iowa State University, IA·Materials Science
Prepare and characterize new sodium mixed glass former, mixed oxy-sulfide-nitride glassy solid electrolytes that combine silicon and phosphorus with oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen anions.
The school
University of Houston: 21 labs on PI Pages, $239M a year on research, 374 research doctorates a year.
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