Welcome
Welcome to the research group of Dr. Leiting Zhang (张雷霆) at the Ångström Advanced Battery Centre, Uppsala University. We study battery electrodes, electrolytes, and interphases, and develop operando and online methods for assessing sustainable and smart batteries. Learn more about our work on the Research page.
News
23 October 2026
Leiting participated in the third and final SKERIC week in Brussels and Lund, where he received comprehensive leadership training in science diplomacy. Link
14 October 2026
We received a new grant from the WASP-WISE NEST 2 joint call, titled “AIM-BATT: AI-assisted multi-fidelity battery design and management: from materials to systems.” Leiting will lead the WISE project to investigate and mitigate mechanical degradation in batteries. Out of the 43 applications, only four have been granted in this round. Link
5 September 2026
We received a new grant from the Swedish Energy Agency under the “Research for a competitive and sustainable battery value chain” call to develop gas analysis methods for solid-state batteries! The project consortium consists of Uppsala University (PI), Seoul National University, and Metrilytics AB. Link
1 September 2026
Arjunraj Padmarajan Ambika received a prestigious Research Master’s Thesis Scholarship from the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE) and will join our team as a master’s thesis student. Congratulations, Arjunraj!
24 August 2026
Prof. Prabeer Barpanda from the Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore, visited the group and gave an invited seminar titled “Layered manganese oxide as versatile insertion host.”
17 August 2026
Leiting visited Prof. Ming Xie’s group at Jianghan University and gave a talk titled “Mechanistic Understanding and Optimization of Next-Generation Batteries: from Online Sensing to Self-Driving Battery Lab.”
12 August 2026
Leiting visited Prof. Xiaowei Yang’s group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and gave a talk titled “Mechanistic Understanding and Optimization of Next-Generation Batteries: from Operando Characterization to Self-Driving Battery Lab.”
3 August 2026
Dr. Faruk Okur joined our team as a postdoctoral researcher. He will be working on anode-free solid-state batteries. Welcome!
2 July 2026
Leiting participated in the International Symposium on Beyond Lithium-Ion Batteries 2026 - BeLi26 in Zürich, Switzerland, and gave a talk titled “Quantifying Battery Chemomechanical Degradation with Online Acoustic Emission Sensing.”
28 June 2026
Leiting was invited to participate in the 1st Healing Bat workshop and gave a talk titled “Battery 2030+: Strategic Pathways to a Sustainable Energy Future.”
19 June 2026
Leiting gave an invited talk at the 2026 Machine Learning for Materials and Molecular Discoveries Symposium (ML2MD), titled “Data-Driven Battery Electrolyte Discovery Through Autonomous Coin Cell Assembly, Testing, and Bayesian Optimization.”
2 June 2026
Inti successfully defended his licentiate thesis, titled “Listening for Battery Degradation: Online Acoustic Emission Sensing for Diagnosing Battery Ageing.” Congratulations! Photo
26 May 2026
Leiting gave two talks at the 249th ECS Meeting in Seattle, at Symposium A06 - AI-Accelerated Battery Innovation and Manufacturing Process Optimization and Symposium I04 - Battery Mechano-Electro-Chemical Effects 2.
17 May 2026
A paper from Jean-Marie Tarascon’s group at Collège de France, to which Leiting contributed, “Revisiting Deep Delithiation of LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) Cathode Materials,” was accepted by Small. Link
20 April 2026
Leiting offered a one-day battery module to MSc students taking the SENSE program from KTH. This has been the fourth time that Leiting offered such events.
17 April 2026
A new team photo was taken, followed by a joint lunch. Photo
13 April 2026
Pius Appiah joined the group as a visiting PhD student for three months. He’s a 3rd year PhD student from Chungnam National University in South Korea. He will be working on machine learning-assisted battery electrolyte discovery. Welcome!
7 April 2026
Dr. Sicheng (Chase) Wu joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher! He will be working on aqueous batteries. Welcome!
24 March 2026
Leiting co-organized the symposium “F1 Safe Materials for Advanced Battery Systems” at the Materials for Sustainable Development (MATSUS) Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Link
19 March 2026
Jackie successfully defended his PhD thesis, titled “A Self-Driving Lab for Battery Electrolyte Design.” Congratulations, Jackie! Photo1 Photo2 Photo3
11 March 2026
Leiting was featured as a 2025 Rising Star in Materials Science by ACS Materials Au. Link. Leiting contributed to the special issue with a Perspective paper, titled “Unveiling Gas Evolution in Sustainable Aqueous Batteries by Online Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry: Progress and Perspectives.” Paper
16 February 2026
Leiting received the TekNat Faculty staff exchange fund to spend two months working on machine-learning-assisted analysis of battery time-series data with Dr. Jens Sjölund’s team at the Department of Information Technology, UU.
7 February 2026
The group carried out a beamtime campaign, led by Haohui, at the Balder beamline at MAX IV Laboratory, Sweden.
12 January 2026
Sisi started her PhD studies in our team. She will be working on anode-free lithium-metal batteries, funded by SSF. Welcome!
17 December 2025
Leiting was visited by Dr. Yongkuk (Jake) Jeong, assistant professor in production logistics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
27 November 2025
The group carried out a beamtime campaign, led by Ziyin, at the DanMAX beamline at MAX IV Laboratory, Sweden.
18 November 2025
The group carried out a beamtime campaign, led by Haohui, at the Balder beamline at MAX IV Laboratory, Sweden.
17 November 2025
Inti paid a two-week research stay with Prof. Qi Zhao’s group at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China, to consolidate our knowledge of acoustic emission sensing for batteries.
17 November 2025
Leiting participated in the SKERIC Science Diplomacy Academy training for future academic leaders in Seoul, Korea.
12 November 2025
Leiting presented the group’s research highlight at the third COMPEL biannual meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden.
11 November 2025
Inti presented a poster, titled “Unveiling Chemomechanical Degradation in Aqueous Batteries with Online Acoustic Emission Sensing,” at the International Battery Materials Association Annual Meeting 2025 in Singapore.
5 November 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Yang Xu to give a seminar at the Department of Chemistry, University College London. The seminar titled “Optimizing Next-Generation Batteries: from Chemomechanical Sensing to High-Throughput Electrolyte Screening.”
12 October 2025
Leiting was invited to give a talk, titled “Water Cointercalation in Aqueous Batteries,” at the 248th ECS Meeting in Chicago, Symposium A06-Next Generation Aqueous Batteries: Electrodes, Electrolytes, and Interphases.
30 September 2025
Leiting’s invited Perspective was published by ACS Materials Au, titled “Unveiling Gas Evolution in Sustainable Aqueous Batteries by Online Electrochemical Mass Spectrometry: Progress and Perspectives.” Link
15 September 2025
We warmly welcome two colleagues to our team, Dr. Hwamyung Jang (researcher) and Dr. Selen Gunaydin (postdoc)!
9 September 2025
Jackie and Inti participated in the 76th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) in Mainz, Germany, and presented their posters.
8 August 2025
A paper from Jean-Marie Tarascon’s group at Collège de France, to which Leiting contributed, “Unconventional High-Temperature Cycling Stability of O2-Type Li0.75[Li0.25Mn0.75]O2 Cathode,” was accepted by Joule. Link
7 August 2025
A paper from Jean-Marie Tarascon’s group at Collège de France, to which Leiting contributed, “Analyses of Electrode–Electrolyte Interactions in Commercial Layered Oxide/Hard Carbon Na-Ion Cells via Optical Sensors,” was accepted by Advanced Energy Materials. Link
5 August 2025
A paper from Wei Jin’s group at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to which Leiting contributed, “Revealing Electrochemical Pathways in Lithium-Ion Batteries with Operando Optical Fiber Photothermal Spectroscopy,” was accepted by Energy & Environmental Science. Link
29 July 2025
Leiting will serve for the second term on the Early Career Advisory Board of JACS Au. Announcement
22 July 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Wei Chen to give a seminar at the University of Science and Technology of China.
21 July 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Chaofeng Zhang to give a seminar at Anhui University.
11 July 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Yuanfu Deng to give a seminar at South China University of Technology.
8 July 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Guohua Chen to give a seminar at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
3 July 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Jijian Xu to give a talk at the AMI Conference in Singapore, titled “Unveiling chemomechanical degradation in aqueous batteries with online acoustic emission sensing.”
1 July 2025
A paper from Chaofeng Zhang’s group at Anhui University, to which Leiting contributed, “Design Strategy for Small-Molecule Organic Cathodes: Regulated Active Groups Enable High Capacity and Voltage in Aqueous and Seawater Aluminium Ion Batteries,” was accepted by Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Link
30 June 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Jiaqiang Huang to give a lecture at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou).
29 June 2025
A paper from Sathiya Mariyappan’s group at Collège de France, to which Leiting contributed, “O3 vs P2 Sodium Layered Oxides: A Comparative Study on Electrode–Electrolyte Reactivity and Structural Stability for Cycling Performance,” was accepted by Energy Storage Materials. Link
17 June 2025
Leiting received a prestigious SSF Future Research Leaders (FFL-9) grant from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, with SEK 15 million (EUR ~1.4 million) for 5 years, along with comprehensive leadership training. The team will be developing next-generation anode-free batteries with high energy density and improved safety, applicable to future electric aircraft or drones. Openings will be available soon! Link
10 June 2025
Leiting gave an invited webinar (in Chinese) at the Research Cloud online platform to promote the team’s recent paper. The recording is available here.
5 June 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Linas Vilčiauskas to present at the International Conference Celebrating the 220th Anniversary of the First Theory of Electrolysis by Theodor von Grotthuss. Link
3 June 2025
Leiting was appointed by the Faculty of Natural Science and Technology, Uppsala University, as Docent in Chemistry with Specialization in Materials Chemistry.
22 May 2025
Leiting attended the 247th ECS meeting in Montréal, Canada, with a Young Professional Travel Grant and presented Jackie’s latest work on automated electrolyte screening.
12–14 May 2025
Leiting was invited by Dr. Minshen Zhu (Technische Universität Chemnitz) and Dr. Minghao Yu (Technische Universität Dresden) and gave an invited talk, titled “Chemistries and technologies for next-generation aqueous batteries.”
9 May 2025
Leiting attended the Göran Gustafsson Foundation prize ceremony and received the prize certificate. Link
23 April 2025
Inti and Ziyin’s co-first-authored paper, “Unveiling Chemomechanical Degradation in Aqueous Batteries with Online Acoustic Emission Sensing” was accepted by Materials Today Energy and will be included in the special issue Promising Early Career Scientists 2025. Congratulations! Link
16 April 2025
Jackie’s paper, “Accelerating Aqueous Electrolyte Design with Automated Full-Cell Battery Experimentation and Bayesian Optimization,” was published at Cell Reports Physical Science. Congratulations, Jackie! link
4 April 2025
Leiting received the Electrochemical Society (ECS) Battery Division Young Professional Travel Grant to attend the 247th ECS Meeting in Montréal, Canada, and present Jackie’s paper “Towards Self-Driving Labs for Better Batteries: Accelerating Electrolyte Discovery with Automation and Bayesian Optimization,” (A01-0088) on May 22nd at 9:00. Thank you, ECS Battery Division!
31 March 2025
Leiting received the Göran Gustafsson Large Prize for Young Researchers from the Göran Gustafsson Foundation (UU/KTH). The Prize comes with a project grant (SEK 3.75 million for three years). News
30 March 2025
Leiting was selected as a 2025 Rising Star in Materials Science by ACS Materials Au.
19 March 2025
Leiting was invited by Dr. Robert Temperton to present research activities associated with synchrotron X-rays at the MAX IV Battery Workshop in Lund, Sweden. Link
13 March 2025
We submitted a preprint to ChemRxiv titled “Unveiling Chemomechanical Degradation in Aqueous Batteries with Online Acoustic Emission Sensing.” Link
5 March 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Fei Wang to give a seminar at Fudan University (Shanghai, China), titled “Chemistries and Technologies for Next-Generation Aqueous Batteries.” Photo
3 March 2025
Leiting was invited by Prof. Jiwei Ma to give a seminar at Tongji University (Shanghai, China), titled “Accelerating Aqueous Electrolyte Design with Automated Full-Cell Battery Experimentation and Bayesian Optimization.” Photo
20 January 2025
Prof. Vilas G. Pol from Purdue University (US) visited us and gave an invited talk titled “Unlocking sub-zero battery power: revolutionizing cold weather energy storage.” Photo
21 December 2024
Leiting gave an invited talk (online) at the 2024 International Conference on the Cooperation and Integration of Industry, Education, Research and Application - Energy Materials, titled “Towards Self-Driving Labs for Better Aqueous Batteries: Accelerating Electrolyte Discovery with Automation and Bayesian Optimization.”
10 December 2024
Leiting was invited by Berlin Technology Center to give a “L(a)unch seminar” (online), titled “Online battery health monitoring: principles, technologies, and applications.” Photo
22 November 2024
We conducted simultaneous operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments at the Balder beamline of the MAX IV Laboratory to study the reaction mechanism of advanced aqueous batteries. Photo1 Photo2
15 November 2024
Leiting participated in the two-year international academic leadership training program (WP2. Science Diplomacy Academy) of the SKERIC project (Sweden Korea Education, Research, and Innovation Collaboration). Photo
15 November 2024
Leiting visited Prof. In-suk Choi, Prof. Kisuk Kang, and Prof. Stephen Dongmin Kang from the Seoul National University and gave a seminar on chemistries and technologies for next-generation aqueous batteries. Photo1 Photo2
13 November 2024
Leiting was invited by Prof. Yoon-Mook Kang from Korea University for a lab visit and scientific discussion about potential collaboration projects between Sweden and Korea. Photo
7 November 2024
Leiting commented on the fast-charging capabilities of electric vehicle batteries on omEV. EN SV Also available in Blog 3.
4 November 2024
Prof. Yang Xu from the University College London visited us and gave an invited seminar titled “Competition for ion intercalation in Prussian blue analogs as cathode materials for post-lithium-ion batteries.” Photo1 Photo2 Photo3
10 October 2024
Leiting participated in this year’s SciFest and showed school classes and the general public how to assemble fruit batteries and prepare Prussian blue analog samples. SciFest is a science festival with a wide range of workshops and shows, where curious people of all ages get a taste of the research being conducted, with laboratory work, current research questions, and hands-on activities. If a 5-year-old kid can understand how a fruit battery works, you prove to be a good teacher. Photo1 Photo2 Photo3
13 September 2024
We conducted synchrotron operando X-ray diffraction experiments at the DanMAX beamline of the MAX IV Laboratory in Lund, Sweden! Photo1 Photo2 Photo3
3 September 2024
Leiting received the prestigious Bergstedt Prize from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala (Kungliga Vetenskaps-Societeten i Uppsala) for “his significant efforts and basic research for sustainable aqueous batteries.” The Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala is Sweden’s oldest learned society, founded in 1710. The Bergstedt Prize is the second oldest prize awarded by the academy, first offered in 1827. Photo1 Photo2
3 September 2024
Our invited Perspective paper, “Mastering Proton Activities in Aqueous Batteries,” was published in Advanced Materials. It will be included in a special issue of the journal to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Leiting is a proud graduate of HKUST). Link
18 August 2024
Leiting gave an invited talk at the Energy Lectureship Award Symposium of the ACS Fall 2024 meeting in Denver, CO. Photo
9 August 2024
A paper that Leiting contributed to, “Achieving High-Voltage Stability in Li-Rich Ni-Rich Oxides with Local W/Ni(Li) Superstructure,” was accepted by Advanced Energy Materials. Link
5 August 2024
Our invited review paper, “Online Acoustic Emission Sensing of Rechargeable Batteries: Technology, Status, and Prospects,” was accepted by the Journal of Materials Chemistry A. Congratulations to Inti (first author) and all collaborators (Linköping University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Volvo Cars)! Link
26 July 2024
Leiting was invited by Prof. Jiaqiang Huang and Prof. Tongyi Zhang to give a seminar at the Guangzhou Municipal Key Laboratory of Materials Informatics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Photo1 Photo2 Photo3 Photo4
25 July 2024
Leiting was invited by Prof. Fangxi Xie to give a seminar at the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University (Zhuhai). Photo1 Photo2 Photo3
9 July 2024
Leiting was selected as a finalist for the 2024 Energy Lectureship (Early Career) Award, jointly sponsored by the ACS Energy Letters, the ACS Energy & Fuels (ENFL) Division, and ACS Publications. He will give an invited talk on sustainable aqueous batteries at the award symposium during #ACSFall2024 in Denver. Announcement
28 June 2024
A review paper that Leiting contributed to, “Gas Evolution in Li-Ion Rechargeable Batteries: A Review on Operando Sensing Technologies, Gassing Mechanisms, and Emerging Trends”, was accepted by ChemElectroChem. Link
25 June 2024
Leiting was selected to serve on the 2024 Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB) of JACS Au. Link
18 June 2024
Leiting and Jackie attended the International Meeting on Lithium Batteries (IMLB) in Hong Kong and presented posters titled Reversible Hydration Enabling High-Rate Aqueous Li-Ion Batteries and Bayesian Optimization-Based Robotic Screening of Electrolytes for Sustainable Aqueous Lithium-Ion Batteries.
6 June 2024
Prof. Veronica Augustyn from North Carolina State University visited us and discussed the science of sustainable aqueous batteries. Link
5 June 2024
Leiting represented Batteries Sweden (BASE) to participate in the ALISTORE bi-annual meeting in Göteborg, Sweden. Link
3 June 2024
Inti was awarded this year’s educational award from the K-section (Chemical Engineering section)! Congratulations, Inti! The nomination reads: He received this award for the work he has done as a lab teacher in the Inorganic Chemistry course. He has contributed enormously to the learning of the students with his detailed and nuanced explanations. He has also made the lab a fun and safe place. This has made him worthy of K’s educational award in 2024!
24 May 2024
Leiting led a study visit with a group of students to the Northvolt Labs in Västerås. Link
8 May 2024
Leiting hosted a study visit for students from the MSc program in Smart Electrical Networks and Systems (SENSE) of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, focusing on battery technologies, at the Department of Chemistry - Ångström, Uppsala University. Link
15 April 2024
Leiting represented Battery 2030+ to participate in the Transport Research Arena conference (TRA2024) in Dublin, Ireland. Link
11 April 2024
Jackie received travel scholarships from the C.F. Liljewalchs stipendiestiftelse and the ÅForsk Foundation to attend the IMLB meeting in Hong Kong in June 2024. Congratulations, Jackie!
10 April 2024
Our recent paper, titled Reversible Hydration Enabling High-Rate Aqueous Li-Ion Batteries, is highlighted on the social media platform “AqueousEnergyStorage” (in Chinese). Link
3 April 2024
Leiting gave a presentation on acoustic emission monitoring of battery degradation at the Battery Sweden (BASE) annual meeting in Uppsala. Tweet
7 March 2024
The first group photo was taken on a sunny Thursday in Uppsala! Photo
19 February 2024
Leiting gave a Monday Seminar at the Structural Chemistry Program, Uppsala University, discussing proton activities in aqueous batteries. Tweet Post
17 February 2024
Our website is now live. Welcome!