Co-authored manuscript (lead: Lily Robertson; co-authors: Ilya Shkrob, Rajeev Assary, Jingjing Zhang) under revision at Journal of Materials Chemistry A (TA-ART-01-2026-000771). Bridges ML-driven insight to charge-carrier stability in non-aqueous flow batteries — direct extension of the JCESR DMB redoxmer line.
Battery science · Machine learning · Industrial translation
Lu Zhang, Ph.D.
Battery scientist with 14+ years at Argonne National Laboratory. Now bridging electrochemistry and ML for industrial-scale energy storage.
R&D 100 Award (2014) for redox-shuttle technology. 99 peer-reviewed publications (97 SCI + 2 book chapters), 28 patents & applications (25 issued), 4,700+ citations. Built and led cross-institution Sprint teams under JCESR (DOE BES).
photo: drop public/images/portrait.jpg 
Recent
latest firstML-guided HTE for paired BTZ/LiTFSI solubility — m-xylene/acetonitrile mixture dissolves ~3 M of both, surpassing the 2 M ceiling for neat acetonitrile. With Lily Robertson, Hieu Doan, Kee Sung Han.
H-functionalization on graphitic electrodes increases electron-transfer kinetics in non-aqueous redox media. With Curtiss, Assary, Counihan, Rodríguez-López, J. Zhang.
A vertical AI alternative to general-purpose materials platforms. Distilling 14+ years of flow-battery intuition into automated electrolyte screening. Pre-v0.1.
Building voice agents and clinical data systems for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Nature Communications — high-throughput robotic platform + active learning for electrolyte discovery
Co-authored work demonstrating an integrated robotic platform with active learning for accelerated discovery of optimal electrolyte formulations. The convergence of automation, ML, and battery chemistry.
Filed patent on selective ionic-species recovery membranes. Application of redox-flow membrane chemistry to lithium recovery.
After 14+ years at Argonne National Laboratory, started a new chapter in production data science (Cincinnati Insurance, Mercury Insurance, AAOS).
Featured research
All publications → J. Mater. Chem. A — under revision
2026
2026
From machine learning to chemical insight: Darwinian chance and the stability of charge carriers in flow batteries
ML-driven insight into the stability of charge carriers in flow batteries. Submitted to JMCA (TA-ART-01-2026-000771); a direct extension of the JCESR DMB redoxmer line. With Robertson, Shkrob, Assary, J. Zhang.
ACS Applied Energy Materials
2025
2025
Automation-Accelerated Electrolyte Design Mitigates Solubility Competition between Redox-Active Molecules and Supporting Salts
2025 follow-up to the Nature Comm robotic platform — automated HTE + ML for paired BTZ/LiTFSI solubility (~3 M, surpassing the 2 M ceiling). With Robertson, Doan, Han.
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
2025
2025
A comparative computational and SECM study of factors influencing electron transfer at hydrogenated and pristine graphite-propylene carbonate interface
2025 SECM + computational study showing H-functionalization on graphitic electrodes increases electron-transfer kinetics. With Curtiss, Assary, Counihan, Rodríguez-López, J. Zhang.
An integrated high-throughput robotic platform and active learning approach for accelerated discovery of optimal electrolyte formulations
Robotic platform + ML for electrolyte discovery — bridging chemistry and AI.
Angewandte Chemie
2015
2015
Radical Compatibility with Nonaqueous Electrolytes and Its Impact on an All-Organic Redox Flow Battery
Most-cited paper. Foundational radical-cation work for non-aqueous flow batteries.
Energy & Environmental Science
2012
2012
Molecular engineering towards safer lithium-ion batteries: a highly stable and compatible redox shuttle for overcharge protection
First-author EES paper on overcharge-protection redox shuttles — basis for R&D 100 Award (2014).
Scientific Reports
2016
2016
The lightest organic radical cation for charge storage in redox flow batteries
Systematic molecular trimming to find the smallest stable radical-cation core. Featured in Argonne Today.
AI & engineering
All projects → lu-zhang-site
lu-zhang-site
This site — academic homepage with structured data layer
Astro static site driven by JSON data extracted from a master research record. 99 publications (97 SCI + 2 book chapters), 28 patents (25 issued + 3 applications), 51 conference presentations (38 abstracts + 13 invited talks). Open source.
Live
meditation-study
meditation-study
Personal meditation learning platform
Web app for studying a meditation teacher-training course. Built around session JSON, polished script generation, and TTS audio playback. Daily-use product.
Live
guangnian-energy-agent
guangnian-energy-agent
光年新能源智能体 — Azure-deployed RAG agent for new-energy industry client
Live AI assistant deployed on Azure Container Apps for 光年新能源 (Guangnian New Energy). Built on Azure OpenAI GPT-4o + Azure AI Search retrieval (voice-rag stack), serves as a live customer-facing demo of AI × energy commercialization. Bilingual EN/ZH; Python aiohttp backend + lightweight web UI.
Live · production
rfb-formulation-agent
rfb-formulation-agent
AI scientist for redox flow battery formulation
A vertical-domain AI agent that screens electrolyte formulations for redox flow batteries. Distills 14+ years of flow-battery chemistry into automated reasoning. The flagship intersection of battery science + AI.
In progress · pre-v0.1