Dr. Xiao-Guang Yang is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering of the Beijing Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2014, and then worked at the Battery and Energy Storage Technology Center of the Pennsylvania State University as a postdoc (2014-2018) and Assistant Research Professor (2018-2021). He joined the National Engineering Research Center of Electric Vehicles at the Beijing Institute of Technology in 2021 as a full Professor. His research focuses on improving the life, safety, and fast-charging capabilities of electrochemical energy systems. He has published over 40 peer-viewed journal articles in Nature, Nature Energy, Joule, PNAS, etc, with >6000 citations and an H-index of 32.

Lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) have become ubiquitous in electric vehicles and energy storage systems, but they still face significant challenges. These batteries must possess high energy density, high power density, fast charging capabilities, and excellent rate performance at low temperatures. Achieving these goals necessitates that battery materials be active. However, batteries are also required to have a long lifespan and high safety, which demands that the battery materials be stable. LiBs are notoriously difficult to optimize because any improvement in one parameter usually comes at the cost of others. For example, adding esters as co-solvents can improve electrolyte diffusivity and, thus, fast-charging ability, but it can also severely compromise electrolyte stability and battery life during normal operations. This talk will introduce a multi-level synergistic approach to address the trade-off between activity and stability in LiBs.