Dong Zhang
University of Oklahoma, OK·Engineering·Early-career
Better batteries could make energy storage last longer and help electrify cars, trucks and aircraft. Two problems stand in the way.
- Fields
Engineering
Materials Science
Chemistry
- Topics
lithium-ion batteries
Li-ion
solid-state batteries
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through May 2030
What they work on
- 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.
- Create an adaptive, data-driven predictive control framework for PDE-governed battery models that captures the moving boundaries of swelling particles and reduces degradation during charging and discharging.
- Design an optimization-based method for placing thermal sensors to estimate temperature across space and time in large battery packs, validated through hardware-in-the-loop experiments on commercial and prototype cells.
- Build a multiscale multiphysics model of solid-state batteries and extend nonlinear control theory for uncertain parabolic PDE systems, enabling control that respects safety limits.
- Validate model-based control of solid-state batteries with hardware-in-the-loop testing and post-mortem electron microscopy at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to reveal how the cells degrade.
More about the research
Promising new electrode materials break down quickly, and today's lithium-ion batteries can fail dangerously when overcharged, overheated or damaged. The lab combines physics-based computer models, control theory (the math of steering systems in real time) and hardware experiments to make next-generation batteries safer and longer lasting.
Why it matters
Batteries that store more energy, charge faster and degrade less could speed the adoption of electric vehicles, long-haul trucks and electric aviation while reducing safety risks and costs. Models and control algorithms that limit damage in silicon anodes and solid-state cells, together with smarter placement of temperature sensors in battery packs, could help manufacturers and battery management systems operate cells more safely.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Zheng Fan
University of Houston, TX·Engineering·Early-career
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.
Foroogh Rouhollahi
Kettering University, MI·Engineering
Assess the market for scanning laser Doppler vibrometry as a non-contact battery health tool. This will be done through first-hand interviews with battery manufacturers, test laboratories, fleet operators and recycling processors.
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 Oklahoma: 11 labs on PI Pages, $474M a year on research, 225 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.