Zhang Kai
Ph.D., Researcher
Zhang Kai, Ph.D., Professor, College of Chemistry, Nankai University.
Special Talent：National Young Talent, Outstanding Young Scholars of Tianjin Youth Science and Technology, Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program funded by CAST, 100 Young Academic Leaders of Nankai University
Address：Room A305, Union Building, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300071, China.
Telephone：13516297862
Email：zhangkai_nk@nankai.edu.cn
Research Group Website：http://www.zhangkaigroup.com/
Research Interest：Sodium ion batteries, Solid-state batteries
History：
2006-2010 B.Sc., Materials Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin
2010-2015 Ph.D., Materials Physics & Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin (Supervisor: Prof. Jun Chen)
2015-2019 Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Energy and Materials Engineering, Dongguk University, South Korea
2019-present Professor, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin
2020- present National Young Talent
2023- present Director of Tianjin Changxing New Energy Technology Co., Ltd Co., Ltd.; Deputy Director of State Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Power Sources
Grants:
(1) 2022/11-2026/10 National Key R&D Plan funded by Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China (Key program of energy storage and smart grid technology), Grant No. 2022YFB2402202, Long-Life and Wide-Temperature Energy-Storage Batteries with Organic Electrodes, Chief Investigator.
(2) 2025/07-2026/12Disruptive Technology Innovation Project of the National Key R&D Program, Grant No. 2025YFF1502102, Lithium-Rich Manganese Cathode Materials with High Specific Capacity, High Rate and Long Life (Sub-project: Optimization and Preparation of High-Voltage Solid-State Electrolytes Matching Lithium-Rich Manganese Cathode Materials), Chief Investigator of Sub-project.
(3) 2025/03-2028/02National Key R&D Plan funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Key program of inter-governmental cooperation), Grant No. 2025YFE0100200, Key Technology of Long-Life and Wide-Temperature Sodium-Ion Batteries Based on High-Entropy Materials, Chief Investigator.
(4) 2025/01-2028/12General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No. 22479080, Construction of Dual-Gradient Solid-State Electrolytes Based on Organic-Inorganic Hybridization and Its Application in High-Energy-Density Lithium Batteries, Chief Investigator.
(4) 2024/01-2026/01Open Foundation of Shaoxing Research Institute of Renewable Energy and Molecular Engineering (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Grant No. JDSX2023003, Precise Construction and Property Regulation of High-Entropy Cathode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries, Chief Investigator.
(5) 2024/10-2028/09Distinguished Youth Project of Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin, Grant No. 24JCJQJC00220, Long-Life Energy-Storage Batteries, Chief Investigator.
(6) 2023/10-2026/09General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin, Grant No. 23JCYBJC00170, Construction of Solid-State Lithium Batteries Based on Dual-Gradient Composite Electrolytes and Its Electrochemical Mechanism Study, Chief Investigator.
(7) 2021/01-2023/12Youth Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No. 22005155, Construction of 5d Metal Ion Doped Layered Magnesium-Manganese-Based Oxides and Its Sodiation/Desodiation Mechanism Study, Chief Investigator.
(8) 2021/01-2024/12General Project of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No. 52072186, Study of Novel Structured Li-Rich Cathode Materials Constructed by Superlattice Modulation, Chief Investigator.
(9) 2022/01-2022/12Project of Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Grant No. ZYTS202104, New Reaction Mechanism Analysis of Electrochemical Energy, Chief Investigator.
(10) 2021/07-2022/072021 JEVE National Enterprise Technology Center Open-Ended Project, TechnicalScheme for Rapid Screening of Stable Cathode Materials, Chief Investigator.
(11) 2019/07-2021/12Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program funded by China Association for Science and Technology, Grant No. 2019QNRC001, Chief Investigator.
(12) 2024/11-2028/10National Key R&D Plan funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Key program of nano frontier), Grant No. 2024YFA1211104, Integration and System Optimization of High-Specific-Energy Solid-State Lithium-Air Battery Devices, Participant Investigator.
(13) 2024/01-2027/12Major Plan of National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant No. 92372203, High-Specific-Energy Lithium Batteries Based on High-Entropy Materials, Participant Investigator.
Honors and Awards
2020, The first prize of Natural Science Award of Ministry of Education of China (R2);
2022, 2024 & 2025 Clarivate Highly-Cited Researchers;
2022, New Energy Science and Engineering New Engineering Construction Project Won the Special Prize of Teaching Achievement Award of Nankai University (R8);
2024, The 9th China Electrochemistry Youth Award;
2024, Energy and Fuels Rising Stars.
Scientific Achievements & Selected Publications
Addressing major national demands in battery technologies, the research focuses on sodium-ion batteries and solid-state lithium batteries. Targeting the precise design and synthesis of layered sodium-storage materials and gel electrolytes, as well as their electrochemical instability issues, a series of innovative strategies—including bond-flexibility regulation, surface gradient architecture engineering, and fluorine-activity modulation—have been proposed. These approaches effectively break the intrinsic trade-offs among energy density, rate capability, and cycling performance of batteries.
Representative Publications：
1. Peixin Jiao, Machuan Hou, Ziheng Zhang, Jiangtao Yu, Tongrui Zhang, Yizhen Zhao, Haoxiang Sun, Xinyin Cai, Fujun Lan, Jie Zhu, Junxiang Ma, Zulipiya Shadike, Wei Zhang, Limin Zhou, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Origin of Cumulative Surface Irreversible Phase Evolution in Li-Rich Cathode Materials, CCS Chemistry, 2026, 8, 293
2. Tongrui Zhang, Jiangtao Yu, Tianxing Lin, Yuqiu Song, Menglin Li, Yang Feng, Libo Song, Ying Jiang, Weiwei Xie, Yong Lu, Tianfei Liu*, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Fluorinated Deep Eutectic Gel Electrolytes for Sustainable Lithium Metal Batteries, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2025, 147, 32861.
3. Yang Feng, Yanpeng Fan, Lingfei Zhao, Jiangtao Yu, Yaqi Liao, Tongrui Zhang, Ruochen Zhang, Haitao Zhu, Xingwei Sun, Zhe Hu, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Enhancing Microdomain Consistency in Polymer Electrolytes towards Sustainable Lithium Batteries, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025, 64, e202417105.
4. Xingwei Sun, Yang Feng, Jiangtao Yu, Yong Lu, Shuo Xu, Ying Jiang, Haixia Li, Zhenhua Yan, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen*, Eliminating intercrystalline side effects for stable lithium metal batteries, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2025, 122, e2507789122.
5. Xingwei Sun, Yang Feng, Yong Lu, Zhenhua Yan, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen*, Epitaxial Electrodeposition of Lithium Metal in Cubic Wulff Structures, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025, 64, e202506119.
6. Zhonghan Wu, Youxuan Ni, Na Jiang, Jinhan Li, Limin Zhou, Lunhua He, Liang Zhang*, Kai Zhang*, Fangyi Cheng*, Jun Chen, Enabling High Reversibility of Both Cationic and Anionic Redox in Layered Oxide Cathodes via NiMn6 Superlattice Topology for Sodium-Ion Batteries, Advanced Materials, 2025, 37, 2419137.
7. Bochao Chen, Jiahao Wang, Zhiyuan Xu, Jie Miao, Yong Lu, Zhenhua Yan, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen*, Controllable Configuration of Constitutional Units in Vanadium/Iron-Based Polyanionic Compounds for Sodium-Ion Storage, Advanced Materials, 2025, 37, e09966.
8. Yang Feng, Zhenheng Huang, Ruochen Zhang, Beidou Zhong, Zhonghan Wu, Yanpeng Fan, Zhenhua Yan, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, A Quasi-Solid-State Electrolyte with Semi-Immobilized Solvent-Like Sites for Lithium-Metal Batteries, CCS Chemistry, 2025, 7, 798.
9. Na Jiang, Jiangtao Yu, Zhonghan Wu, Jiahua Zhao, Yuyao Zeng, Haixia Li, Miao Meng, Yutong He, Peixin Jiao, Hongchuang Pan, Huili Wang, Jianing Qi, Zhe Hu, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Surface Gradient Desodiation Chemistry in Layered Oxide Cathode Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024, 63, e202410080.
10.Yanpeng Fan, Yang Feng, Guanwu Li, Yiwen Bo, Cun Wang, Dong Wang, Yumin Qian, Rujun Ma, Zhe Hu, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Enhancing the Filler Utilization of Composite Gel Electrolytes via In Situ Solution-Processable Method for Sustainable Sodium-Ion Batteries, Advanced Materials, 2024, 36, 2413303
11. Min Cheng, Diantao Li, Junlun Cao, Tianjiang Sun, Qiong Sun, Weijia Zhang, Zhengtai Zha, Mengyao Shi, Kai Zhang*, Zhanliang Tao*, Anions-in-Colloid Hydrated Deep Eutectic Electrolyte for High Reversible Zinc Metal Anodes, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024, 63, e202410210.
12.Tongrui Zhang, Jiangtao Yu, Haoyang Guo, Jianing Qi, Meihong Che, Machuan Hou, Peixin Jiao, Ziheng Zhang, Zhenhua Yan, Limin Zhou, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Sapiential battery systems: beyond traditional electrochemical energy, Chemical Society Reviews, 2024, 53, 12043.
13. Luoran Sun, Zhonghan Wu, Machuan Hou, Youxuan Ni, Haoxiang Sun, Peixin Jiao, Haixia Li, Wei Zhang, Liang Zhang, Kai Zhang*, Fangyi Cheng, Jun Chen, Unraveling and Suppressing Voltage Decay of High-Capacity Cathode Materials for Sodium-ion Batteries, Energy & Environmental Science, 2024, 17, 210.
14. Zhonghan Wu, Youxuan Ni, Sha Tan, Enyuan Hu, Lunhua He, Jiuding Liu, Machuan Hou, Peixin Jiao, Kai Zhang*, Fangyi Cheng*, Jun Chen, Realizing high capacity and zero strain in layered oxide cathodes via lithium dual-site substitution for sodium-ion batteries, Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2023, 145, 9596.
15. Ruochen Zhang, Yang Feng, Youxuan Ni, Beidou Zhong, Maoyu Peng, Tianjiang Sun, Shan Chen, Huan Wang, Zhanliang Tao, Kai Zhang*, Bifunctional interphase with target-distributed desolvation sites and directionally depositional ion flux for sustainable zinc anode, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2023, 62, e2304503.
16. Yang Feng, Limin Zhou, Hua Ma, Zhonghan Wu, Qing Zhao, Haixia Li, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen, Challenges and advances for wide-temperature rechargeable lithium batteries, Energy & Environmental Science, 2022, 15, 1711.
17. Xin He, Youxuan Ni, Yunpeng Hou, Yong Lu, Song Jin, Haixia Li, Zhenhua Yan, Kai Zhang*, Jun Chen*, A new insight into the ionic conduction mechanism of quasi-solid polymer electrolyte through multispectral characterizations, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021, 60, 22672.
Professional Cultivation
He gave lectures on Fundamentals of Energy Materials Science, Energy Chemistry, Frontier of Energy and Power and Frontier of Contemporary Chemistry. To date, the researcher has supervised 16 undergraduate students, 6 master’s students, and 6 doctoral students who have graduated and are now working in new energy enterprises, universities, or pursuing further studies in China and abroad. Under the researcher’s supervision, three students have received the National Scholarship for Graduate Students, one has been nominated for the Zhou Enlai Scholarship, and four have been recognized as Outstanding Graduates.
Students with strong interests in advanced batteries and energy materials are warmly welcome to join the group for study, research, and thesis projects. Supported by the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Chemical Power Sources and the Battery Innovation Team at Nankai University, the group focuses on major national needs and frontier scientific challenges. Through close collaboration with new energy industries, the research aims to address key scientific and technological issues in sodium-ion batteries and solid-state lithium batteries.
