Energy is the driving force for the development of human society. In recent years, as the global “carbon peak, carbon neutral” development goals, based on renewable energy utilization of mass energy storage and the popularization of new energy vehicles has become the inevitable trend of development, people for safety, environmental protection, high energy density, low cost battery demand more urgent, it also for scientists to explore a new generation of battery put forward higher requirements. In this context, drainage zinc ion batteries are considered as one of the most potential sustainable energy storage technologies because of their high safety, low cost and environmental friendliness. The research direction of Li Xinliang, a professor at the School of Physics of Zhengzhou University, is closely related to this field.

Over the years, Li Xinliang has devoted himself to scientific research, and made a series of innovative scientific research achievements in the research and development of drainage battery / halogen battery energy storage system and electromagnetic wave absorption / shielding devices.”Fortunately, my personal research interests are in line with the national strategic development needs, so I have overcome difficulties and seek truth and responsibility.”He said.

Down-to-earth, step by step on the road of scientific research

Everything should be down-to-earth to do, for it is easy, do not is difficult. Li Xinliang’s scientific research path is more like a portrayal of most ordinary students. In 2011, he was admitted to Zhengzhou University of Light Technology, majoring in physics and electronic Engineering. The research on energy storage was not popular at that time. In college, while he had a dream, he felt more confused.

With the in-depth study of energy storage research, Li Xinliang gradually found that the scientific research achievements in this field can be truly applied and transformed. In order to further study scientific research in related fields, he studied for master’s and doctor’s degrees at Northwestern Polytechnical University and City University of Hong Kong after graduation. It was also in the later stage that he met Professor Yin Xiaowei and Professor Zhi Chunyan, who had an important influence on his scientific research career.

Li Xinliang bluntly said that he experienced a period of confusion after graduation. It was under the guidance of Professor Yin Xiaowei, his master’s tutor, who set his research direction on radiation resistance materials and embarked on the road of scientific research step by step. During his stay at City University of Hong Kong, Li Xinliang, under the guidance of doctoral supervisor Professor Zhi Chunyan, has combined the research on radiation resistance materials with energy storage topics, and carried out research on safe energy storage and flexible wearable electronics, so as to serve the potential needs of the country in civil and important fields. In addition, during his master’s degree, the two tutors provided Li Xinliang with a very free scientific research environment, so that he could give full play to his subjective initiative and constantly explore and move forward driven by his interest.”At the beginning, my planning and future goals for scientific research were vague. It was under their step by step guidance that I grew up a lot. Without their help, I think I have no chance to embark on this road of scientific research.”Li Xinliang said.

In order to make his scientific research work as soon as possible, after graduation, Li Xinliang joined the City University of Hong Kong-Hong Kong Big Zinc Energy Co., Ltd. engaged in safe energy storage scientific research. Li Xinliang is well aware that there is still a long way to go from the laboratory to the enterprise application, especially in the process of the laboratory research results to the production of mass products, there will be many “put large-scale” problems and difficulties. During this period of working in Hong Kong Big Zinc Energy Co., Ltd., Li Xinliang tried to change his scientific research work from problem-oriented to research-oriented and application-oriented, which provided a more comprehensive perspective for his future scientific research topics.

 Based on the current situation, the innovation of water system battery research

In September 2020, China clearly stated the goal of “carbon peak” by 2030 and “carbon neutrality” by 2060.

As new energy becomes a trend today, batteries have been widely used in new energy vehicles, consumer electronic equipment and all kinds of energy storage power systems. In this social background, Li Xinliang shoulders the responsibility of scientific researchers and is eager to do something in related fields.

As we all know, lithium-ion batteries, widely used in new energy vehicles, have the advantages of high energy density, small volume, light weight and long service life. However, lithium batteries require extremely high sealing, especially during the service to isolate water and oxygen environment, once the battery encountered such as collision, extrusion and other battery packaging, battery may trigger a series of chain exothermic reaction, and even fire and explosion… In this context, Li Xinliang believes that the development of more safe, green, more stable water batteries to meet the needs of the field of safe energy storage pays great attention to battery safety characteristics, especially the wearable electronics and even internal implanted medical devices in direct contact with the human body.

Li Xinliang said, drainage battery as a new battery technology, with internal safety and rapid charge and discharge ability, can extend the service life of the battery and battery has the ability to deal with a variety of harsh energy storage / energy scenario, in renewable energy storage system, electric vehicles and portable electronic products and other fields has a broad application prospect.”Therefore, the main direction of our research now is to develop drainage batteries to fill the gap in the supply chain in the current safe energy storage market for lithium-ion batteries. In the meantime, in future research, we also consider including radiation issues in complex electromagnetic / infrared backgrounds in the dynamic assessment of service safety.”He said.

In this process, Li Xinliang and his research team first carried out the overall design of the drainage battery to ensure the high adaptability of each part of the battery components. Second, they introduced temperature and voltage monitoring systems, as well as overcurrent and overvoltage protection devices, to monitor the battery operation in real time and track the occurrence of abnormal conditions. In addition, they also use the electrode and electrolyte modification to improve the electrochemical performance of drainage batteries while reducing the possible side reactions in the service process of drainage batteries, so as to improve the safety and stability of drainage batteries.

The electrolyte carrier —— water is a low-cost, renewable and environmentally friendly solvent. Compared with the organic solvent in traditional organic batteries, water has inherent safety and lower cost, with less impact on the environment. In addition, water batteries are also renewable. Water and metal salts are renewable resources, which can reduce resource consumption and reduce the demand for rare metals. However, using water as the electrolyte, there is a disadvantage, that is, the stable voltage window of water is narrow, and may react with the electrode, especially the negative extreme of the metal, resulting in the reduction of battery service life. On the basis of the relevant research results, Li Xinliang is also committed to the development of new high-energy density halogen batteries.

Due to the advantages of high redox potential, low cost and abundant resources, halogen shows great application prospects in electrode materials. In this background, Li Xinliang team put forward an efficient electrolyte modulation strategy to realize halogen in conversion energy storage system of reversible multivalent transition, and choose more safe halide salt as active halogen source replace traditional halogen single material as a proof of concept, build an unprecedented high-performance halogen based on multielectron conversion chemical battery. It is worth mentioning that through a series of scientific research and exploration, they successfully increased the energy density of halogen batteries to more than 200% of the original value, significantly improving the energy storage capacity of halogen batteries. In addition, the new redox mechanism developed by Li Xinliang’s team shows excellent low-temperature adaptability, which greatly expands the application scenarios of halogen batteries.

 Calm our attitude and promote scientific research

Scientific research, a long time. Li Xinliang knows that the performance improvement of drainage batteries is not achieved overnight. Sometimes a performance test may take a year or years to see results, which will encounter a series of problems.”When we encounter problems, first of all, we must read the literature extensively and learn from the experience and lessons of others. Secondly, we must discuss with our mentors and colleagues and brainstorm, which will always be fruitful.”Li Xinliang said.

The year 2023 is a new turning point for Li Xinliang’s life. This year, standing at 30, he returned to his hometown of Henan province and came to the School of Physics of Zhengzhou University to carry out scientific research work.”I’m just one of the people who always have to come back to fill the’ tech depression ‘.”He said. As the introduction of scientific research talents, both Henan Province, Zhengzhou University and the School of Physics of Zhengzhou University have given Li Xinliang great support in his living and scientific research environment, and helped him eliminate his worries at home. Now, in more than half a year, he has set up his own research team, but also determined the future work direction according to his research foundation.”First of all, we aim to improve the performance and stability of the battery, and develop some exploration programs for the frontier direction and open scientific issues in the field, through a lot of scientific research practice, to judge whether the relevant solutions are feasible. In this period, it would be better to solve some technical problems, put forward some basic innovation theoretical models, and push forward one small step in the field.”He said.

The road ahead is a long way to go. In the development and exploration of drainage battery technology, failure and frustration are the most common things, but Li Xinliang always believes that there will always be gains. In the near future, he hopes to build a unique research team based on complex and safe energy storage, focus his research on the country’s major technological needs, and strive to make his own contribution.”With technological advances and improved economic feasibility, we can expect to see drainage battery technology gradually enter the market in the coming years to provide more reliable and environmentally safe energy solutions for the country, society and ordinary consumers.”Li Xinliang said confidently.