The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Syracuse University is proud to announce that PhD student Haining Zhang was been awarded second place at the M. Stanley Whittingham Distinguished Student Poster Awards at the NY-BEST Fall 2025 Meeting.
Dr. Stanley Whittingham won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his significant contributions to the lithium-ion batteries. He is currently a distinguished professor at Binghamton University.
Zhang’s award-winning research focuses on developing a novel fast-curing binder system for next-generation lithium-ion battery manufacturing. The project addresses a critical bottleneck in battery production: conventional PVDF binders require over an hour of drying time, consuming nearly 60% of production energy and often causing binder migration that weakens electrode uniformity and performance.
The innovative approach enables ultrafast and energy-efficient electrode fabrication. Upon brief heating, the binder solidifies within minutes while simultaneously removing solvent, reducing drying energy by approximately 70% and forming uniform, crack-free electrodes. This breakthrough enhances both manufacturing efficiency and electrochemical performance, providing a pathway toward scalable and sustainable roll-to-roll battery production.
Zhang is supervised by Professor Yeqing Wang and co-advised by Interim Associate Dean for Research Quinn Qiao, working alongside Ruosi Qiao in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
The research is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York under the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program and with partial support from the NSF IUCRC Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage.
NY-BEST (New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium) brings together leading researchers, industry professionals, and students to advance energy storage technologies and foster collaboration across New York State. The Fall Meeting poster competition recognizes outstanding research presentations from students working on cutting-edge energy storage and related technologies.