Q&A with Dr. Jason Zhang, Winner of the Inaugural NAI/OTT Innovator of the Year Award

Earlier this year, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), in partnership with the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), introduced the inaugural Innovator of the Year Award – aimed at recognizing and highlighting the achievements and invaluable contributions of lab researchers in advancing technology transfer and commercialization missions across DOE national laboratories, plants, and sites. The award provides an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the groundbreaking work that showcases the vital role labs, and their researchers play in translating research into tangible solutions in the marketplace to benefit society at large. 

We sat down with Dr. Jason Zhang, Laboratory Fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), to ask him a few questions about his recent recognition, what it means for the work he has done to support battery technology, and how he looks forward to contributing to new goals in technology transfer.

Can you start us off by talking about what you’re currently working on?

I continue to improve localized high-concentration electrolytes for different chemistries. We developed this approach in the last seven or eight years to improve both the cycle life and calendar life of lithium metal batteries. We try to extend this basic idea to other batteries, including graphite-based lithium-ion battery systems, silicon-based lithium-ion batteries, as well as sodium and potassium batteries. We are also trying to improve the preparation procedure for silicon anode in an attempt to improve its calendar life and efficiency. Right now, we are also trying to make batteries work better at more practical conditions such as at a broader temperature range and faster charge/discharge conditions.

What was your motivation to pursue research in energy storage and battery technology in particular? 

I'm fascinated by the use of batteries in daily life! In the last 20 to 30 years, batteries have been used to provide power for cell phones and computers and they’ve become critical for electric vehicles as well. I always wanted to work on battery technology because it has a direct impact on improving people’s daily lives. I also like to be a detective to find the main factors affecting a complicated system. 

There are a lot of ways that research can improve our daily lives. What was it about batteries or the chemistry of materials specifically that attracted you?

In my early career, I tried to explore different fields. In fact, I got my master’s degree in general relativity to study black holes. Later, I found it more interesting to work on something that has a direct impact on people’s daily lives and my own daily life. That's why I switched from theoretical physics to experimental physics. That's how I started. Eventually I realized the battery field has more direct impact on people’s daily lives, and that’s been especially true in the last 30 years.

Was there a particular moment or event that inspired you to work for a Federal Lab?

In fact, my first job in my early career, after I got my PhD degree, I was working at another national lab, the National Renewable Energy Lab. I started my battery work there. After several years—I was there for eight years—I thought maybe I could make more of a contribution to make a real battery in a company. So, I joined a startup company for battery manufacturing but after a few years, I compared my experiences in national labs and in small companies. I found that I am happier when working in a federal lab, because I have more opportunities to meet experts from different fields and explore different topics that I'm interested in.  Another thing is that I can focus more on science and technology instead of worrying about the small stuff. 

Why is the work on energy storage significant? It spans several types of battery technologies, from lithium-metal to lithium-ion to thin-film solid-state batteries, to name a few. How do you hope your research and further technological developments in these areas will have a larger impact?

I feel energy storage is very important because it has a direct impact on people’s daily lives, including my own daily life. We use cell phones. We use portable computers. Eventually, many people will use electric vehicles. All these use batteries, especially lithium batteries. So, I feel I have a direct relationship with whatever I'm working on. That's why I work in the energy storage field, especially on lithium batteries. I want to add something on this topic. At the beginning of my career, I often tried to pursue something new and have more publications. But in recent years, as I work more with industry, I find that there are some gaps between what we think to be important and what industry really needs. I started to recognize that something new does not mean it is important. If we only focus on papers or even patents, the work we do here in the lab may be somewhat irrelevant to the real world. So, I try to have more critical interactions with industry folks, to solve relevant problems and have a high impact for industry.

Could you give me an example where your contact with industry has helped you focus on a problem that you might otherwise not have focused on?

Not too long ago,  we tuned a new electrolyte for silicon anode that was developed at PNNL. But when we shared this electrolyte with industry, we found that it may fit the need of one company but not another because their electrode preparation conditions are different. In this case, we needed to tailor our electrolytes for the specific electrode used in different conditions.

There’s been a lot of progress on energy storage since you started studying batteries. Are you surprised at the amount of progress? Have there been surprises? 

I started working on lithium batteries in the 1990s. At that time, I think electric vehicles could only be used in some areas, for example in southern regions. In the north, for example in northern Canada or Europe, it's very cold and the battery would not work well, and it would take a few hours to charge. Now I am surprised to see that Norway has the highest utilization and proportion of electric vehicles in the world. In the last year, over 80 percent of new cars sold in Norway were electric vehicles. I’ve witnessed tremendous progress in lithium batteries for EVs. I think the progress in this field, both in performance and in cost reduction, has been much faster than I anticipated.

In addition to the great work you have already contributed to the energy storage space, what are some other breakthroughs or advancements in this area that you're excited about? 

In general, I’m fascinated about artificial intelligence, specifically, these autonomous driving systems. It’s amazing. I think one reason for the rapid progress is because the quick feedback from realistic driving experiences. To accelerate the use of AI for material development, we also need to find a way to have quick turnaround to test materials selected by AI under realistic conditions. 

Are you mentoring lab staff? How has your work benefited from having new talent? What do you hope the next generation of researchers/scientists in this field will accomplish?

In my 17 years at PNNL, more than 30 post-docs and staff scientists have worked with me. Many of them go to industry or to universities. As I mentioned, my background is in physics. For batteries, we need more fundamental knowledge about chemistry and electrochemistry.  Fortunately, most of my post-docs and young scientists have a strong background in these areas. I can say that I’ve learned more chemistry and electrochemistry from my colleagues, from young scientists and post-docs, than I learned in the classroom. My advantage is to have a better sense on what’s important in this field beyond a few years. Young scientists, when they come out of school, may focus on some specific problem, but they have less perspective on the long-term direction and the impact of their work. I want to say something to young scientists, based on my experience. When we come to a new environment, like a national lab, there are many topics we can work on. I can say that identifying a good direction, a high-impact problem to explore, is more important than hard work. We have to identify what will be important to science and technology in a few years instead of focusing on the next paper to publish.  

Do you have a vision for the next 5-10 years for the energy storage field at large? If so, what do you view as challenges to reaching this vision?

When I began working on EV batteries in the 1990s, I thought it would take a much longer time for EVs to be so cost effective and so broadly used around the world. I think in the next 5 to 10 years, we will see an explosion in the use of electric vehicles. I also notice that many problems about batteries, especially high-energy and high-power batteries, cannot be resolved by lab research itself. Many problems in electric vehicle batteries need to be solved by a combination of material research and engineering approaches. We need to have more close collaboration with industry to see what kind of problem can be resolved in labs, or what kind of problem can be resolved by industry. Then we can focus on the real problems. Through collaboration with industry, the real challenges in EV batteries can be resolved more efficiently. 

Outside of your primary research field, what are some other hobbies and interests that you like to pursue in your free time? Do those interests also influence your work? 

Beyond work, I like to read books, I also like to exercise, like swimming. I go to the gym often. I find that if I always focus on work, the work efficiency will be reduced with time. More importantly, life has many facets. More experience on the different sides of life and more interactions with friends and colleagues can have a very positive influence on our work.   

What’s next for you?

I think I will spend more time to support young scientists, to try to help them find high-impact topics to work on. And help them to establish more collaborations with industry partners. Those are the two areas I will try to work on next.

As we wrap up this conversation with Dr. Zhang, it’s clear that his innovative spirit and unwavering dedication are helping transform the battery storage space and paving the way for a more sustainable future. His groundbreaking work, recognized by this award, is a testament to the power of curiosity, perseverance, and visionary thinking. Dr. Zhang’s many accomplishments exemplify creativity while inspiring a new generation of scientists and innovators. OTT congratulates Dr. Zhang on this award and is excited to see how he and his colleagues at PNNL will continue to push boundaries in commercializing new technologies.