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Research


Nanoporous metal evolves from the selective dissolution of an alloy or a compound. The structure manifests physics of atomic-scale self-organization and promises new functionalities. (Check this perspective for what we know)
Batteries power electronics, cars, and even the electricity grid. We strive to understand how a battery fails so that we can better design it to last for thousands of cycles


A new material does not guarantee a useful property, but always leads to new, interesting structure-property relationships. We develop rigorous methods to characterize these relationships and to guide our use of the materials.
In-situ characterization of high-capacity electrodes to tackle stability issues.

Members
Prof. Qing Chen holds a bachelor's degree in Polymer Science from Zhejiang University and a PhD in Materials Science from Arizona State University (Advisor: Karl Sieradzki). After being a postdoc at Harvard (Advisor: Mike Aziz), he joined the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

Dong Gyu Lee
PhD student (w/ Baoling Huang)

Nuotong Li
MPhil student

Xiangwei Geng
PhD student

Sze Ling Cheuk
PhD student

Zilong Wang
Postdoc

Wing Yiu
PhD student

Haocheng Li
PhD student

Yuhao Wang
Research Assistant Professor

Muya Cai
Postdoc










Publications

Wang X. et al. Resolving Elementary Steps of Vapor-Phase Dealloying via In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy. Phys. Rev. Lett. (2025). >> view the article

Chen M. et al. Percolating Anode Microstructures Underpin the Choice of Electrolyte Composition for a Stable Alkaline Zn Battery. ACS Energy Letters (2025). >> view the article

Ma Y. et al. Super-Concentrated Alkali Hydroxide Electrolytes for Rechargeable Zn Batteries. Angew. Chemie (2025). >> view the article

Wang C. et al. Patterning the Pore Orientation of Nanoporous Metal via Self‐Organization in Flow Cells. Adv. Sci. (2024). >> view the article

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