Ai-Min Li

Dr. Ai-Min Li earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (Germany) in 2018, then joined the University of Maryland, College Park (USA), working on high-energy batteries. He was promoted to an assistant research scientist in Prof. Chunsheng Wang’s group before joining the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Li’s academic footprint has been all over the world, including: MAINZ's Annual Conference on Excellence in Materials Science (Lisbon, Portugal, 2015; Dublin, Ireland, 2016 and Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2017); European Single-Molecule Magnetism Conference in Zaragoza, Spain, 2015; International Coordination Chemistry Conference in Brest, France, 2016; Gordon Research Conference on Self-Assembly in Les Diablerets, Switzerland, 2017; German National Coordination Chemistry Conference in Heidelberg, Germany, 2018; U.S. Department of Energy Technical Conference, Austin/San Diego, USA, 2021-2024; Materials Research Society Fall Meeting & Exhibit in Boston, USA, 2025, demonstrating his broad influence and significant contributions within the global academic community.

Dr. Li’s work addresses the broad interphase issues in many battery systems (from highly reactive lithium and sodium metal anodes to high-capacity silicon anodes, to high-voltage Ni-rich and low-cost sulfur cathodes), highlighting the important role of chemistry design in leveraging the stability between solvating media and conducting salts for effective interphase construction. The outcome has been published in top-tier journals such as Nature Chemistry, Nature Energy, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Materials, and Nature Sustainability, and featured by major media outlets of Nature News, ScienceNet, and TechXplore.

Our research spans multidisciplinary fields, including organic and inorganic chemistry, materials science, and electrochemical engineering, aiming to advance innovative energy storage technologies. For instance, our small molecule design strategy has proven highly effective in creating new electrolytes for high-energy lithium metal (Nat. Chem., 2024, 16, 922-929), sodium metal (Nat. Sustain., 2025) and micro-sized Si anodes (Nat. Energy, 2024, 9, 1551–1560). The coordination and solvation approaches have shown promise in prioritizing electrochemical reduction for preferential interphase design (Nat. Nanotechnol., 2025, 1-9). We are also interested in deciphering the mysterious phenomenon in electrolyte-electrode interphases to pursue practical applications for our innovations (Nat. Comm., 2024, 15, 1206).

Key research topics include:

(1) Molecular electrolyte design: electrolyte synthesis and formulation for high-energy cathodes/anodes

(2) Materials innovation for energy storage and conversion

(3) Electrochemistry with new chemistries for sustainable energy

(4) Solvation structure investigation for electrolyte/electrode interphase construction

(5) New device fabrication and development for multiple energy storage scenes (fast-charge, variable temperatures, high-rate)

1. Li, A.-M., Zavalij, P. Y., Omenya, F., Li, X. & Wang, C. “Salt-In-PreSalt” Electrolyte for High-Voltage Sodium Metal Batteries. Nat. Nanotechnol., 2025, 1-9.

2. Li, A.-M., Wang, Z., T. Lee, Zhang, N., Li, T., Zhang, W., Jayawardana, C., Yeddala, M., Lucht, B. L. & Wang, C. Electrolyte Design for High-Energy Lithium-Ion Batteries with Microsized Alloying Anodes. Nat. Energy, 2024, 9, 1551–1560.

3. Li, A.-M., Borodin, O., Pollard, T. P., Zhang, W., Zhang, N., Tan, S., Chen, F., Jayawardana, C., Lucht, B. L., Hu, E., Yang, X. Q. & Wang, C. Methylation enables the use of fluorine-free ether electrolytes in high-voltage lithium metal batteries. Nat. Chem., 2024, 16, 922-929.

4. Li, A.-M., Wang, Z., Pollard, T. P., Zhang, W., Tan, S., Li, T., Jayawardana, C., Liou, S. C., Rao, J., Lucht, B. L., Hu, E., Yang, X. Q., Borodin, O. & Wang, C. High voltage electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries with micro-sized silicon anodes. Nat. Commun., 2024, 15, 1-14.

5.  Li, A.-M., Pollard, T. P., Wang, Z., Zhang, N., Omenya, F., Tan, S., Hu, E., Yang, X. -Q., Borodin, O. & Wang, C. Non-fluorinated electrolyte for high-voltage anode-free sodium metal battery. Nat. Sustain. 2025.

We currently have several openings across various research levels, visit our hiring page for details. Our team embraces diverse collaborative opportunities. For inquiries, please contact Prof. Ai-Min Li’s directly.