Research topics in the group Zhang

Nanomaterials are very attractive in developing high performance energy harvesting and storage devices. The electrochemical reactions occur at nanometer scales, leading to a number of interesting effects which do not occur in conventional materials. Our goal is to perform fundamental investigations on new nanomaterials developed in recent years, and to identify their potential in energy related applications.

The story is much more than simply „cooking“ new materials. It is crucial for the community to understand the physical mechanisms behind the nanomaterial-enabled energy storage devices. This will help us to develop devices (e.g. batteries, supercapacitors) with higher capacity, higher power, longer lifetime and enhanced safety.

Development of microsized energy harvesting and storage devices plays an important role in the design of small‐scale, and even on-chip integrated electronic devices. A number of challenges exist in the electrode design, the development of solid electrolyte, and the device packaging/integration. Addressing these challenges is an important part of our researches.

In the age of artificial intelligence, energy-efficient memory devices are an absolute necessity. Using basic principles of physics and materials, it is possible to fabricate brain-inspired synaptic devices such as memristors that can perform logical and arithmetic operations with a fraction of the energy used in modern electronic chips. Our research aims to produce synaptic devices using novel materials that can then be used for AI-related applications.