"What I value more is solving real problems in the research field, and that's where the value of scientific research lies." said Zhang Qiang, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University. Having formed a team of more than 50 people and won several awards, Zhang Qiang, 38, is already a well-known scholar in the field of international lithium battery research.

After completing his Ph.D. at Tsinghua University, he went to the U.S. and Germany to complete his postdoctoral research. 2011, when he first returned to China, he dove into the lab. At that time, the academic community was looking for battery systems with higher energy density, lower cost and longer service life, and the lithium-sulfur battery system was considered to be an important development direction.

However, the reaction mechanism of lithium-sulfur battery system is complicated, and there are a series of problems such as safety to be verified. "To strive to be at the forefront of the international", with this belief, Zhang Qiang led the team to attack the problem, almost home in the laboratory. They study the physical and chemical mechanism of lithium-sulfur batteries, demonstrate the feasibility of application, promote the frontier understanding in depth, and help China's basic research in this field to be among the world's top level. With outstanding results, Qiang Zhang has gained wide academic recognition.

From making small button-level battery samples to designing large batteries that can be produced on a large scale, although the synthesis path is similar, it involves very complicated work such as process validation and parameter adjustment. During that time, Zhang Qiang and his students repeatedly calcined, polished, and tested samples, and pushed back again and again when the products did not meet the standards ...... Efforts did not fail, and Zhang Qiang and his team finally overcame the technical problems of large-scale production.

"Scientific research is not a closed door, our research should be oriented to the major needs of the country." Zhang Qiang said. In recent years, focusing on the technological needs of lithium batteries in the next 5 to 10 years, Zhang Qiang identified several cutting-edge topics and launched research: the use of artificial intelligence to predict the nature of molecules, instead of manual experimental methods, more efficient and accurate to find energy materials and design a safer battery system; the development of high-performance lithium battery energy storage system to help green power grid-connected peaking, voltage regulation... ...

From time to time, he takes his team members and goes into factories and workshops to understand the dynamics and needs of the industry. "Be sure to go to the field to see progress and find problems. We do scientific research to solve real problems, real solutions." Zhang Qiang said.

Among Zhang Qiang's students, doctoral students Chen Xiaozhi, Zhao Changxin and Li Xiyao won the National Challenge Cup Grand Prize, and nine were awarded Tsinghua University Grand Scholarships. "Mr. Zhang encourages us to face the application needs, strive for innovation, discover real problems and propose new strategies." Chen Shiaozhi said.

"My students are very capable of self-learning, and my work focuses on helping them find a research direction. Scientific research has an inexhaustible power when it has the right orientation." Talking about his experience in training students, Zhang Qiang said, "I hope to show them through my actions that it is a blessing to think what the country thinks, to be anxious about what the country needs, and to do an important career."

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)