Chenglong Zhao

Lithium-ion batteries have been widely adopted in electronics and electric vehicles due to their high energy efficiency and flexible storage capacity. However, the uneven global distribution of lithium resources has caused rising costs, severely limiting their application in large-scale energy storage systems. This reality necessitates the development of solutions based on alternative charge carriers to advance sustainable energy storage.

Chenglong Zhao focuses on key materials for alkali metal-ion batteries, particularly sodium-ion batteries, addressing core scientific challenges in structure-property relationships of layered oxide cathodes. He developed a novel crystallographic method termed "cationic potential," which resolves the field's longstanding lack of clear design rules by quantifying the electronic distribution and polarization ability of cations to accurately predict the relationship between a material's composition and its structure.

Based on this approach, he successfully designed P2-type materials with high sodium content. These materials maintain high capacity while effectively suppressing harmful phase transitions during cycling, significantly enhancing rate performance and cycle stability. Furthermore, by using titanium doping to introduce "P-type structural features" (such as larger sodium-layer spacings) into O3-type materials, he developed the high-capacity, fast-charging O3-type cathode.

He also systematically investigated the regulatory effects of multi-component doping (high-entropy oxides) on material structure and electrochemical behavior, demonstrating that this approach improves ion transport and cycling stability. These results provide a new avenue for designing low-cost, high-performance battery materials.

His work has contributed to both fundamental materials science and the practical application of sodium-ion batteries, providing crucial theoretical foundations and methodological support for the rational design of next-generation energy storage batteries.