Xiaoliang Yu (於曉亮) joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) as an Assistant Professor (Research) in 2020. He leads the YU’s Smart Battery Lab, focusing on electrochemical energy storage, with particular interests in lithium/sodium metal batteries, liquid & solid-state electrolytes, electrode-electrolyte interfacial regulation, and AI-assisted battery design. The lab has been sponsored by various funding bodies. It was also funded with three PhD quotas by the highly-competitive PolyU Presidential PhD Fellowship Scheme (PPPFS) in 2022/23 and 2023/24 admissions. Our sponsors include Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (香港研究資助局), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission (香港創新科技署), Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (广东省科学技术厅), and world-leading battery companies, such as CATL (寧德時代) and XFH (翔豐華), etc.

Before joining PolyU, he was a postdoctoral fellow at National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Japan, from 2016 to 2020. He received his Ph.D and Bachelor’s degrees, both from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 2016 and 2011, respectively, advised by Professor Feiyu Kang. Xiaoliang has published more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers, many of which were published on prestigious journals like Nat. Commun., Adv. Mater., Adv. Energy Mater. ACS Nano. His research work has been cited widely, leading to more than 5000 Google scholar citations with an H-index of 37. He is a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) since 2024, was selected as an Emerging Investigator of Journal of Materials Chemistry A (2025) and Chinese Journal of Chemistry (2025), and received the Faculty of Engineering Research Grant Achievement Award from PolyU in 2025. He serves as a Lead Guest Editor for Frontiers in Chemistry (2021), a Young Editorial Board Member for Energy Materials and Devices (2025), and was an Organizing Committee Member for the International Meeting on Lithium Batteries (IMLB 2024). He is also a member of the Na-Ion Battery Technical Standards Committee (CSTM/FC59/TC03).

Research Grants

• PI, General Research Fund (GRF), Hong Kong Research Grant Council, Tailoring Linear Ether Electrolytes via Machine Learning for High-Performance Cryogenic Anode-Free Sodium Batteries, HK$ 840,217, Grant No. 15308826, 01/01/2027-31/12/2029.
• PI, Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, Development of Ultrahigh-Specific-Energy and High-Safety Sodium-based Traction Batteries, HK$1,296,350.00, Grant No. ITS/325/22FP, 01/12/2023 ‐ 30/11/2025.
• PI, Research Talent Hub (RTH), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, HK$1,887,771.27, Grant No. PiH/553-556/23, 01/12/2023 ‐ 31/05/2025.
• PI, Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, Development of Advanced Quasi-Solid-State Anode-Free Sodium Metal Batteries for Next-Generation Electric Vehicles, HK$3,017,600.00, Grant No. ITS/325/22FP, 01/05/2025 ‐ 31/10/2026.
• PI, Research Talent Hub (RTH), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission, HK$2,879,880.00, Grant No. PiH/268-271/25, 23/06/2025 ‐ 31/10/2026.
• PI, General Program of Guangdong Natural Science Fund, Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, Low-temperature electrolyte design and interface regulation mechanism for high-voltage sodium metal batteries, CNY 100,000.00, Grant No. 2023A1515010020, 01/01/2023 ‐ 31/12/2025.
• PI, General Program of Guangdong Natural Science Fund, Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation, Design of quasi-solid-state electrolyte and interface regulation for anode-free sodium metal batteries, CNY 100,000.00, Grant No. 2025Al515011149, 01/01/2025 ‐ 31/12/2027.
• Co-PI, RGC Collaborative Research Fund Young Collaborative Research Grant (CRF-YCRG), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC), Electrification and Decarbonization: Multi-port Wireless Dock and Charge for Waterborne Transportation, HK$ 1,000,000.00 allocated, Grant No. C1002-23Y, 01/06/2024 ‐ 31/05/2027.
• Co-PI, S&T Achievement Transformation Project, Inner Mongolia Science and Technology Department, Development and industrial pilot test of advanced anode-free sodium metal batteries based on functionalized carbon-coated current collectors, CNY 400,000.00 allocated, Grant No. 2022ZY0011, 01/09/2022 ‐ 31/08/2025.
• Co-PI, Key R&D and Achievement Transformation Project, Inner Mongolia Science and Technology Department, Study and Demonstrative Application of Preparation Technology of Gradient Functionalized Electrode for Anode-Free Lithium Metal Batteries, CNY 300,000.00 allocated, Grant No. 2023YFHH0062, 01/06/2023 ‐ 31/05/2025.
• Co-PI, Shandong Province Key R&D Project, Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Research and application demonstration of key technologies for full-element recycling of retired power lithium batteries, CNY 247,000.00 allocated, Grant 2024KJHZ030, 01/09/2024 ‐ 30/09/2027.

Teaching

Manufacturing Fundamentals for BEng (Hons) Scheme

Manufacturing Fundamentals for BEng (Hons) in Product Analysis and Engineering Design

Products and Materials in Modern Society