Shuguang Deng

If you are interested in liquid electrolyte design for Li-ion batteries, please check our invited perspective published in the ACS Energy Letters special issue titled: "The Evolving Landscape of Energy Research: Insights from Leading Researchers.” The article discusses liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and its applications in the design of battery electrolytes. The article link can be found below: https://lnkd.in/g3T9RfWU KAUST PSE

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A common challenge in catalyst design is that materials are usually either fast or durable, but not both. Professors Yang Shao-Horn, Ju Li, and other researchers developed a new nickel-based catalyst for green hydrogen that is both efficient and stable—thanks to tiny engineered defects. Read more in ACS Publications: https://buff.ly/o1Jr7kl

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Semester's coming to a close but everyone's putting in a lot of work and effort to finish strong (last day of classes at Purdue University is today), and so for #FreePaperFriday today I'm going to highlight a paper that looks at changing materials to create lower power electronics. The news is filled with information about power usage around data centers, and if you could lower the power used per transistor even just a tiny amount you'd certainly make an impact in decreasing power in centers with (insert Carl Sagan voice) billions and billions of circuits. Profs. Peide Ye, Wenzhuo Wu, and Haiyan Wang of Purdue University Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Purdue University School of Materials Engineering have just shown how 2D Tellurium (I don't know what's cooler, using a novel material or using it in a two atom thick layer) to create a near ideal transistor. These devices can operate at 0.08V, much lower than current devices (and since power goes with V squared, dropping V means a big drop in power consumption). Their team of Chang Niu, Lingjia Long, Yizhi Zhang, Zehao Lin, Pukun Tan, Jian-Yu has a new paper out that I hope you check out! https://lnkd.in/gVvPxuu6

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I’m excited to share our latest review article published in Energy Reports (Impact Factor: 5.1): 📄 “Review of Thermal Management Strategies for Cylindrical Lithium-Ion Batteries: Active, Passive, and Hybrid Approaches” 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dQKZGEMy ⸻ 🔎 Why Thermal Management Is Now a Strategic Priority Cylindrical lithium-ion cells (18650, 21700, 4680) are widely used across electric vehicles, energy storage, and high-power applications — but they present complex thermal challenges: 🔥 Radial temperature gradients 🔥 Core heat accumulation 🔥 Non-uniform aging effects 🔥 Elevated safety and performance risks As systems push higher power, faster charging, and longer life, thermal management has become a design driver — not an afterthought. ⸻ 📊 Key Takeaways from the Review 1️⃣ Active Cooling — High Performance with Cost Tradeoffs Liquid and refrigerant systems deliver excellent heat removal and temperature uniformity. ✔ Suitable for high C-rates and fast charging ✔ Effective for large EV packs ⚠ Complexity, cost, and energy consumption remain concerns Insight: Smart control and demand-based cooling are outperforming brute-force approaches. ⸻ 2️⃣ Passive Cooling — Simple but Capacity-Limited Phase Change Materials, heat pipes, and natural convection offer elegant, low-power solutions. ✔ Lower system energy use ✔ Fewer moving parts ✔ Lower weight ⚠ Limited heat removal under sustained loads Insight: Best used for peak temperature buffering, not continuous high-power duty. ⸻ 3️⃣ Hybrid Systems — Balancing Strengths Hybrid architectures (PCM + liquid cooling, heat pipes + forced air) combine the best of both worlds. ✔ Improved temperature uniformity ✔ Reduced energy penalty ✔ Enhanced safety redundancy Future Direction: AI-driven adaptive control, electro-thermal modeling, and integrated system design. ⸻ 🔥 Why This Matters for Industry The next generation of high-performance battery systems must: ✔ Minimize temperature gradients (<3–5 °C) ✔ Enable ultra-fast charging without degradation ✔ Suppress thermal runaway propagation ✔ Combine real-time sensing with predictive control Thermal management is now a system-level optimization challenge that intersects cell chemistry, pack architecture, and battery management algorithms. ⸻ 💡 Final Thoughts We’re operating in a moment where thermal constraints are shaping the limits of performance — not just chemistry. Organizations that integrate advanced thermal strategies into early design will lead in safety, durability, and customer trust. 🙏 Grateful for the collaboration of all co-authors and partners on this work. Let’s continue advancing safe, reliable, and high-performance battery systems! #BatteryThermalManagement #LithiumIon #EVInnovation #EnergyStorage #ThermalEngineering #BatterySafety #Research #EnergyReports

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New publication of Manish Mukherjee Room Temperature Size Tuning of CsPbI3 Quantum Dots | ACS Materials Letters https://lnkd.in/gUescQ5W We have CsPbI3 quantum dots (5–13.5 nm) are synthesized by first preparing CsPbBr3 QDs at room temp., followed by halide exchange with iodide ions and characterize excited state properties.

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We continue exploring pathways to partially (and ultimately fully) replace toxic elements in perovskite photovoltaics. This time, the focus was on crystallization dynamics, and how it can be balanced using a single chemical handle. https://lnkd.in/gE_7_rDT

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🎉 Excited to share that our latest paper has just been published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B! 🎉 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3h4F3E6 Fluoride is known to form some of the strongest hydrogen bonds in aqueous solution, making it a great system for studying the interplay between ion–water and water–water interactions, hydrogen-bond dynamics, and nuclear quantum effects (NQEs). In this study, we combined our data-driven many-body energy (MB-nrg) potential energy functions with advanced quantum dynamics simulations to uncover the molecular-level mechanisms that define fluoride hydration. Here is a brief summary of our key findings: 🔹 Distinct OH bond reorientation pathways in the first hydration shell that give rise to the bifurcation of the libration band in the infrared spectrum. 🔹 Short-range three-body interactions are essential to accurately capture the structure and vibrational response of the first hydration shell. 🔹 Nuclear quantum effects induce a redshift in the OH-stretch region but have only minimal impact on the overall hydration structure and orientational dynamics. This work demonstrates the importance of rigorously accounting for many-body interactions and NQEs when modeling ionic hydration in water, which plays an important role in various fields ranging from biophysics to energy science. We’re honored that this paper is part of the special issue celebrating the contributions of Mark A. Johnson, whose work has inspired generations of researchers exploring the vibrational dynamics of molecular clusters and solvated ions. 👏 Congratulations to Richa, Benjamin, Henry, and Roya! UC San Diego School of Physical Sciences Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, UC San Diego San Diego Supercomputer Center

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HMC chemistry professor Spencer Brucks has been awarded a Petroleum Research Fund grant from the American Chemical Society to support his research group's project studying the impact of stereochemistry on polymer degradation. Read more about Bruck's project by visiting our news page. https://uqr.to/brucks-acsg. 

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This Special Issue from ACS Materials Letters highlights publications contributing to the state-of-the-art materials research on post-lithium battery materials & new areas of research that will help to transform energy platforms in the future. Explore: https://go.acs.org/csn

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I’m happy to share our recent publication in ACS Energy Letters! "Pre-Disordering for Preserving Transition Metal–Oxygen Covalency in Lithium-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes" DOI: https://lnkd.in/gy9nw958 Lithium-rich layered oxides (LRLOs) are promising cathode materials for high energy density batteries, but high-voltage operation often induces structural disorder, oxygen release, transition metal migration, and large voltage hysteresis. In this work, we introduce a pre-disordering strategy that provides favorable ion-transport pathways and structural robustness from the outset, effectively mitigating first-cycle overpotential. Using operando XRD and operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we show that structural disorder, traditionally viewed as detrimental, can instead be leveraged as a functional design parameter to stabilize delocalized TM–O π-redox chemistry. This study builds on our previous work published in Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adt0232). Together, these studies highlight how intentional control of structural and electronic design can transform LRLOs into truly viable high energy cathodes for next-generation batteries. Congratulations to the entire team for this excellent collaborative effort, and sincere thanks to all colleagues and shared facilities that made this work possible. #ACS_Energy_Letters #ScienceAdvances #LithiumIonBatteries #CathodeMaterials #AnionicRedox #EnergyStorage #BatteryResearch #MaterialsScience

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Our this recent work published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A reports the multiple interface tuning across all the battery components to achieve the compact electrode|electrolyte for a superior zinc metal hydrogel battery. In these types of batteries, the suboptimal contact between the electrode and electrolyte interfaces limits the full potential of these batteries. To address these issues and enhance the compatibility of the hydrogel system with electrodes, we introduced a novel approach of double interface engineering. This approach involves integrating a cathode onto glass fiber and tuning the formed interface with the hydrogel polymer electrolyte (HPE) via UV polymerization to obtain a binder-free, flexible electrode and electrolyte. Additionally, an artificial solid electrolyte interface was developed over the Zn foil using the same HPE. Hearty congratulations to Swati for leading the project and all the co-authors for their significant contributions. https://lnkd.in/dTTMWqkG

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Excited to share our new Chemical Reviews article on thermal stability and safety of lithium metal batteries (American Chemical Society)! 🔗 Link to paper: https://lnkd.in/gPtZfZKx In this paper, we take a mechanistic deep dive into thermal instability pathways in emerging lithium metal battery chemistries with solid electrolytes and liquid electrolytes, examining how material, interface, and cell level factors drive exothermic reaction pathways, gas evolution, and thermal instability signatures. We further discuss the complex coupling among electrode-electrolyte interactions, interphases, morphological evolution, and thermal instability, and their importance for the safety of lithium metal batteries. Congratulations to Kausthubharam S for leading this work, and to the entire team for their outstanding contributions! A fantastic collaboration with Dr. Judith Jeevarajan and the Electrochemical Safety Research Institute (ESRI), supported through the Center for Advances in Resilient Energy Storage (CARES). Bairav Sabarish Vishnugopi, Anuththara Alujjage, Vinay Premnath, Wan Si TANG (Ph.D.) Purdue University, Purdue University College of Engineering, UL Research Institutes #ChemicalReviews #lithiummetalbatteries #safety #thermalstability

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Intercalation chemistry has been the most successful battery chemistry to date, largely because of its exceptional structural robustness. When discussing chemomechanical degradation in intercalation-based batteries, the prevailing picture is familiar: repeated lithiation and delithiation drive lattice expansion and contraction, ultimately leading to unwanted cracking. While this framework is largely correct, critical pieces of the story remain unresolved. In our latest work, published in Science Magazine today, we uncover the missing links and reveal what is really happening beneath this well-accepted narrative. It turns out that the chemical reactions and mechanical strain developments can couple and decouple at different location, time, and under different electrochemical conditions. Article link: https://lnkd.in/ggfaud5q This work is the result of a close collaboration with a group of outstanding colleagues: Dr. Tianxiao Sun, Dr. Guannan Qian, Mr. Wenlong Li, Mr. Shimao Deng, and Prof. Guihua Yu of Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin Dr. Ruqing Fang and Prof. Juner Zhu of Northeastern University Dr. Guibin Zan and Dr. Wenbing Yun of Sigray, Inc. Dr. Zhichen Xue, Prof. Piero Pianetta, and Prof. William Chueh of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University Dr. Steve Trask, Dr. Arturo Gutierrez, Dr. Luxi Li, and Dr. Jason Croy of Argonne National Laboratory We acknowledge the support from U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Vehicle Technologies Office through the EaCAM consortium.

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Excited to share one more piece of news from our group at WashU Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering. A review article on the topic of the economic viability of polymer-membrane-based CO2 electrolysis technologies just got published in Nature Review Clean Technology. Here is the link to access the full text: https://rdcu.be/efnYA

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