JCESR low-potential Sprint team (2015)
ANL group · JCESR Sprint leadership · Public collaborator network
Mentorship & Collaborators
Supervised postdocs, graduate students, and visiting researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (2013 – 2023), led cross-institution JCESR Sprint teams, and built a public publication and patent collaboration record across Argonne, JCESR, PNNL, UIUC, MIT, UMichigan, and related networks.
Direct graduate students (later transitioned to postdoc roles)
5 peopleLu Zhang directly confirmed (2026-04-27). Advised or co-advised these graduate students at ANL; most later transitioned to postdoc roles (at ANL or other institutions); some moved to industry.
| # | Name | Supervision | Research thrust | Current placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhiguang Li | graduate student (co-advised by Lu Zhang and Xiaoliang Wei, Purdue) | Redoxmer techno-economics + dialkoxyarene stability for non-aqueous RFBs | private (not publicly listed) |
| 2 | Sisi Jiang | graduate student (advised by Lu Zhang at ANL) | Silicon-anode binders + Si nanoparticle surface engineering | Staff Material Engineer, Tesla (Louisville, CO) — graduated, did postdoc elsewhere (not Lu Zhang's group), then joined Tesla |
| 3 | Xiaoting Fang | graduate student (co-advised by Lu Zhang and Xiaoliang Wei, Purdue) | Multi-electron redoxmers + Wurster's Blue catholyte | ANL postdoc (NOT in Lu Zhang's group); previously Purdue ME PhD (joint training with ANL JCESR) |
| 4 | Quinton J. Meisner | graduate student (co-advised by Lu Zhang and Lei Zhu, FSU) | Li-S fluorinated ether electrolytes (FSU↔ANL cross-institution) | Staff Materials Engineer (Electrolyte team), Tesla — graduated, did postdoc, then Tesla |
| 5 | Andrea Diaz | graduate student (co-advised by Lu Zhang and Shrayesh Patel, UChicago; plastic-to-membrane LDRD) | Repurposing plastics into ion-exchange membranes for RFBs (LDRD lead author) | PhD candidate, UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (Patel group) |
Direct postdocs
8 peopleResearchers who joined Lu Zhang's group as postdocs (direct or co-advised). Many moved to industry (Tesla / GM / PNNL / ORNL) or transitioned into ANL Research Scientist roles.
| # | Name | Supervision | Research thrust | Current placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zhangxing Shi | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang at ANL) | PAA binder + HFE solvent for Li-metal/Na/Mg/S batteries | Factorial Energy, Greater Boston (battery startup) |
| 2 | Peng Du | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang for 1 year; no co-authored papers) | Battery research training | Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials, Madison WI (battery fluorochemicals) |
| 3 | Zhongbo Zhang | postdoc (co-advised by Lu Zhang, plastic upcycling LDRD with UChicago Patel group) | Repurposing plastics into ion-exchange membranes for RFBs (during postdoc); now applying polymer expertise to IC-packaging dielectrics | Member of Technical Staff (Polymer Dielectrics Technologist), Applied Materials (Atlanta) — trajectory: UChicago PME postdoc (Patel group, co-advised by Lu Zhang) → Application Development Scientist 2022–2024 → Applied Materials 2024–present (promoted Dec 2025) |
| 4 | Jinhua Huang | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang, ANL 2013–2018) | Catholyte molecular engineering for non-aqueous RFB | Wildcat Discovery Technologies, Greater San Diego |
| 5 | Bin Hu | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang) | Silicon-anode binders + PAA molecular weight optimization | Tesla (Louisville, CO) — trajectory: ANL postdoc → ORNL → Tesla (verified 2026-04-27 via LinkedIn /in/hbkang) |
| 6 | Lily A. Robertson | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang) | Self-reporting fluorescent redoxmers + crowded electrolytes | Assistant Chemist (staff scientist), Argonne National Laboratory CSE Division — 2021 Argonne Postdoc Performance Award winner |
| 7 | Yuyue Zhao | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang) | Anolyte solvation engineering | Scientist, CNPC JICHAI POWER (Salt Lake City); previously Sr. Research Scientist at Storagenergy Technologies |
| 8 | Jingjing Zhang | postdoc (advised by Lu Zhang) | Annulated dialkoxybenzenes + ML-driven stability | Living Proof, Inc., Boston (left ANL) |
Other publication-derived collaborators
0 peopleFirst-authored papers where Lu Zhang served as corresponding author.
| # | Name | Corresp. papers | Total first |
|---|
Team members (frequent first-author co-workers)
16 people · ≥3 papersResearchers who first-authored ≥3 papers in the verified record — typically direct group members or visiting postdocs.
Jingjing Zhang · 13 first-author papers
Jinhua Huang · 12 first-author papers
Sisi Jiang · 6 first-author papers
Bin Hu · 6 first-author papers
Baofei Pan · 6 first-author papers
Xiaoliang Wei · 6 first-author papers
Zhiguang Li · 4 first-author papers
Xiaoting Fang · 4 first-author papers
Lily A. Robertson · 4 first-author papers
Yuyue Zhao · 4 first-author papers
Wentao Duan · 4 first-author papers
Juran Noh · 3 first-author papers
Sambasiva R. Bheemireddy · 3 first-author papers
Zhangxing Shi · 3 first-author papers
Ilya A. Shkrob · 3 first-author papers
Benjamin Silcox · 3 first-author papers
Group size over time
| Year | Group / leadership |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 postdoc |
| 2014 | 1 postdoc + 1 student |
| 2015 | 1 postdoc + visiting student · led JCESR low-potential Sprint (3 universities + 2 national labs) |
| 2016 – 2017 | 2 postdocs + 2 students · led electrolyte-optimization Sprint (UIUC + PNNL + ANL) |
| 2018 | 3 postdocs + 1 student · JCESR 2.0 sub-thrust lead |
| 2020 – 2023 | 3 postdocs + 1 student · JCESR Y3 milestone lead |
JCESR Sprint teams (cross-institution)
JCESR electrolyte-optimization Sprint team (2016 – 2017)
JCESR 2.0 redoxmer-solvation sub-thrust (2018 – 2020)
JCESR 2.0 Y3 milestone (2020)
Representative cross-institution collaborations
| MIT | Prof. Fikile Brushett — anolyte molecule design | since 2014 |
| PNNL | Flow battery testing & cell engineering | since 2015 |
| UIUC | Electrolyte design & molecular modeling | since 2015 |
| University of Michigan | ROMs stability studies | since 2016 |
| Daimler | Industrial overcharge-protection translation | 2020 |
Public coauthor network
184 unique collaboratorsCompiled from public peer-reviewed publications and filtered by affiliation to this Lu Zhang. Sorted by number of co-authored papers.
| # | Name | Papers | Primary affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ilya A. Shkrob | 47 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 2 | Zhengcheng Zhang | 46 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 3 | Jingjing Zhang | 36 | Living Proof, Inc. (Boston) |
| 4 | Jinhua Huang | 31 | Wildcat Discovery Technologies |
| 5 | Xiaoliang Wei | 31 | Purdue University |
| 6 | Rajeev S. Assary | 30 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 7 | Lily A. Robertson | 27 | Argonne National Laboratory (Assistant Chemist, CSE Division) |
| 8 | Bin Hu | 20 | Tesla |
| 9 | Lei Cheng | 20 | Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| 10 | Wentao Duan | 19 | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (former) |
| 11 | Chen Liao | 16 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 12 | Fikile R. Brushett | 14 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| 13 | Larry A. Curtiss | 14 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 14 | Wei Wang | 14 | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
| 15 | Yuyue Zhao | 14 | CNPC JICHAI POWER |
| 16 | Anthony K. Burrell | 13 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 17 | Sisi Jiang | 12 | Tesla |
| 18 | Zhiguang Li | 12 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 19 | Khalil Amine | 10 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 20 | Levi T. Thompson | 10 | University of Delaware |
| 21 | Sambasiva R. Bheemireddy | 10 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 22 | Zhangxing Shi | 10 | Factorial Energy |
| 23 | Baofei Pan | 9 | General Motors |
| 24 | Jeffrey S. Moore | 9 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
| 25 | Tao Li | 9 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 26 | Yang Zhang | 9 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 27 | Yu Zhou | 9 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 28 | Garvit Agarwal | 8 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 29 | Vijayakumar Murugesan | 8 | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
| 30 | Benjamin Silcox | 7 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 31 | Hieu A. Doan | 7 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 32 | Randy H. Ewoldt | 7 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 33 | Xiaoting Fang | 7 | Purdue University / ANL JCESR |
| 34 | Jun Liu | 6 | Battelle |
| 35 | Shuo Zhang | 6 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 36 | Siu on Tung | 6 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 37 | Vincent Sprenkle | 6 | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
| 38 | Erik Sarnello | 5 | Northern Illinois University |
| 39 | John T. Vaughey | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 40 | Kyle C. Smith | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 41 | Paul C. Redfern | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 42 | Susan A. Odom | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 43 | Wu Xu | 5 | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory |
| 44 | Yilin Wang | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
| 45 | Zheng Yang | 5 | Argonne National Laboratory |
Recurring collaborators (56)
2 – 4 papers Aman Preet Kaur · 4
Hossam Farag · 4
Jeffery S. Moore · 4
Karl T. Mueller · 4
Lelia Cosimbescu · 4
Liang Su · 4
Magali Ferrandon · 4
Tianbiao Liu · 4
Wei Chen · 4
Zhenzhen Yang · 4
Bin Li · 3
Bin Zhao · 3
Dehong Hu · 3
Heather Job · 3
Heonjae Jeong · 3
Juran Noh · 3
Linghong Zhang · 3
M. Vijayakumar · 3
Ritu Sahore · 3
Yangang Liang · 3
Zhixia Li · 3
Adam Tornheim · 2
Andrew S. Danis · 2
Antoni S. Góźdź · 2
Chad W. Lawrence · 2
Chi Cheung Su · 2
Gregory Krumdick · 2
Haihua Liu · 2
Ira Bloom · 2
Joshua Lamb · 2
Junjie Zhang · 2
Ka-Cheong Lau · 2
Lei Zhu · 2
Meinan He · 2
R. E. Corman · 2
R.S. Vemuri · 2
Sydney Laramie · 2
Tobias Glossmann · 2
Wenquan Lu · 2
Xingyi Lyu · 2
Xinyi Liu · 2
Éric Walter · 2
One-time collaborators (79)
Rama Sesha Vemuri
Patent-only coauthors (4)
Co-inventors on issued or published US patent applications who have not yet co-authored a peer-reviewed paper with Lu Zhang.
| Name | Institution | Patents | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seth B. Darling | Argonne National Laboratory | 1 | ANL Director, Center for Molecular Engineering — co-inventor on US 2024/0252991 A1 (Li recovery membrane) |
| Feng Gao | Argonne National Laboratory | 1 | Co-inventor on US 2024/0252991 A1 (Li recovery membrane) |
| Yuepeng Zhang | Argonne National Laboratory | 1 | Co-inventor on US 2024/0252991 A1 (Li recovery membrane) |
| Shi Li | Argonne National Laboratory | 1 | Co-inventor on US 2024/0252991 A1 (Li recovery membrane) |
Other teaching & invited service
Florida State University invited seminar — Organic Molecules in Batteries (2014)
ANL internal training: project management · commercial startup · safety · electrochemistry
* Mentee and collaborator sections combine Lu Zhang's confirmed mentee list with public OpenAlex, publication, and patent records. Visiting students, interns, and external collaborators without independent first-author papers may not appear in the mentee-derived sections.