Research Archive
Before moving into AI engineering, I spent 15+ years in electrochemical energy storage — redox-flow batteries, Li-ion electrolytes, silicon anodes, membranes, lithium recovery, and autonomous materials discovery. That background still shapes how I build AI systems today: evidence-first, reproducible, and domain-aware. This archive keeps the public publications, patents, funded themes, and project history.
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Publications 97 SCI + 2 book chapters → US Patents 28 total · 25 issued → Talks & Presentations 51 talks · 13 invited → Technical Reports DOE / Argonne LDRD → Awards & Recognition R&D 100 · DOE / JCESR → Mentorship & Collaborators 13 mentees · 180+ collaborators → Press & Media Argonne / DOE / industry →
Research themes
Lithium-ion electrolytes & additivesNon-aqueous and aqueous redox flow batteries / redoxmer chemistryFunctional membranes & ionic-selective separationHigh-throughput robotic & AI/ML autonomous discoveryAdvanced manufacturing — 3D printing, recycling, binders
Selected research projects · Argonne DOE / JCESR / LDRD
DOE / JCESR public-facing projects4
Primary funded research at Argonne, 2010 – 2023
Advanced Electrolyte Additives for PHEV/EV Lithium-ion Battery
- Structure-based screening framework for SEI additives (cyclic + double-bond + unsaturation)
- Discovered redox-shuttle additives for overcharge protection — basis of multiple US patents
- Synthesized cyclic phosphate additive (EMP) with improved capacity retention
Organic Molecular Engineering for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries (NRFBs / ROMs)
- Designed liquid catholytes ANL-8/9 — featured in Argonne Today and JCESR Research Highlights
- Discovered the lightest organic radical cation for charge storage (Sci. Rep. 2016)
- Led the cross-institution low-potential Sprint (3 universities + 2 national labs)
- Led JCESR 2.0 Y3 milestone for self-reporting fluorescent redoxmers
Silicon Consortium Project — Science of Manufacturing for Silicon Anodes
- First systematic study of PAA molecular-weight effect on silicon-anode performance
- Identified Mn 24–150 kDa as the optimal range; revealed low-MW PAA causes ester cleavage and adhesion loss
- Developed crosslinked siloxane-based binders integrating adhesion and elasticity
Flow Batteries Technology Strategy Assessment / Storage Innovations 2030
- Co-author of the 2023 DOE Flow Batteries Technology Strategy Assessment
- Contributed to the Storage Innovations 2030 framework launched at the 2022 Energy Storage Grand Challenge Summit
- Engaged industry listening session: 22 attendees from 14 commercial entities
LDRD / internal Argonne research8
Laboratory-Directed R&D and exploratory programs, 2018 – ongoing
High-Density Energy Storage in Solvent-Free Redox Flow Batteries for Flexible Electric Grid
- Multi-electron redoxmers (TMPD, DMN, MPT) → up to 1183 Wh/kg theoretical specific energy
- Mixed-flow battery demonstration with BODMA cycling 150+ times stably
Hybrid Membranes for Flow Batteries
- ALD / sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS) for tunable flow-battery membranes
- Foundation for the AI + robotics electrolyte-discovery platform that became the 2024 Nature Communications paper
Organic Aqueous Hybrid Flow Batteries
Scalable Membrane Architecture from Recycled Plastics for Low-Cost Redox Flow Batteries
- Waste polystyrene → ion-exchange membranes for aqueous flow batteries and lithium extraction
- US non-provisional patent application (63/734,300) filed 2024-12-16
3D Printed Interfaces for Solid-State Batteries
- 3D printing for solid-state battery interface engineering
Novel Polymer Binders for Direct Cathode Recycling
- Fluoropolymer-removal binder-solvent system for direct Li-ion cathode recycling
Selective Ion Exchange Membranes for Lithium Recovery
- Crown-ether-modified cation exchange membranes for selective Li recovery via electrodialysis
- US application 2024/0252991 A1 (pending)
AI / ML / autonomous-discovery platforms3
Computational and robotic acceleration of materials discovery
- Multiobjective Bayesian optimization for redox-active molecule discovery
- Earliest of his ML-driven design publications
- Robotic chemistry and active learning study for electrolyte-formulation optimization
- Relevant scientific background for later personal formulation-support prototypes
Autonomous Discovery for Battery Electrolytes
- Explored autonomous-discovery workflow concepts across battery-electrolyte problems; public details intentionally limited
Membrane materials & lithium recovery3
Functional membranes — flow batteries, plastic upcycling, ionic separation
ALD/SIS-Tuned Hybrid Membranes (Jeffrey Elam collaboration)
- Atomic-layer deposition / sequential infiltration synthesis of flow-battery membranes
Upcycling Plastics into Battery Separating Membranes
- Waste polystyrene → battery separator membranes for liquid-electrolyte and aqueous flow batteries
PS Upcycling Membrane → Aqueous Flow Battery & Lithium Extraction
- Patent advanced to finalized US non-provisional draft (ANL 23-T-154 / ANL-IN-22-134)
- Manuscript in preparation
The through-line
More than a decade in experimental science, where mistakes are expensive, built an instinct for evidence, attribution, reproducibility, and uncertainty — which maps directly onto how I build AI today: grounding agents in sources, testing with deterministic evals, gating with safety screens, and keeping human review where correctness matters.
See the current AI systems →