DMSE Fall 2026 Seminar Series: Electrolytes, Interfaces, Interphases, and AI-4-Batteries

Kang Xu, the chair in engineering at The Ohio State University and chief technology officer at the SES AI Corp., will give a talk titled "Electrolytes, Interfaces, Interphases, and AI-4-Batteries" as part of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering's Fall 2026 Seminar Series. Abstract: Electrolyte is a unique component in electrochemical device, because it must interface with every other component in the device, be it active \(anode, cathode or other redox species\), assisting \(conductive additive, binder\) or inactive \(current collectors, separators, and packaging materials\). These interfaces often dictate whether the device could work according to the designed electrochemical pathways. Rechargeable batteries represent the best example for the importance of electrolytes, interfaces, and interphases, which evolves from interface if electrodes operate beyond the stability limits of the electrolytes. In the past four decades, the development of battery materials has been following Edisonian approach, while in recent five years, a paradigm-shifting technology emerges on the horizon: Artificial Intelligence. In this talk, Kang Xu will cover the fundamentals of these concepts and then move on to the latest excitement of the AI4Materials, Molecular Universe \(molecular-universe.com/map\), the world's first AI platform aiming at accelerating the discovery of new battery materials. Biography: Kang Xu is a fellow of the Materials Research Society, The Electrochemical Society, and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory \(emeritus\). He has been conducting electrolytes and interphasial chemistry research for the past 38 years, published more than 380 papers, wrote or edited five books and chapters, and obtained more than 20 U.S. patents, with more than 92,000 total citations and an h-index of 144. He is a Clarivate's highly cited author since 2018 and one of the top 2% most influential researchers in the Stanford Database. Among his numerous publications, he is best known in the field for the two comprehensive reviews published at Chemical Reviews in 2004 and 2014 and a textbook titled Electrolytes, Interfaces and Interphases published by the Royal Society of Chemistry in April 2023. His work has received many recognitions and awards, including multiple Depart of the Army R&D Awards, the 2015 UMD Invention of the Year, 2017 International Battery Association Technology Award, and 2018 ECS Battery Research Award. Upon his retirement from federal service 2023, he received an Army Civilian Service Medal. Then he went to industry and started the venture in the frontier of artificial-intelligence-driven materials discovery. He led the development of the Molecular Universe \(molecular-universe.ses.ai/search\), the world's first AI platform for end-to-end materials discoveries, which was initially released to the industry on April 29, 2025, and has been repeatedly updated with powerful features and functions. In fall 2026, he joined The Ohio State University and became its Ohio Eminent Scholar and Winbigler Chair Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.