Jianbin Zhou

Zhou Jianbin is a battery scientist specializing in next-generation solid-state battery technology who left Sonocharge Energy, a US battery start-up, to return to his alma mater, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), as a special professor in March 2025.

Zhou earned his PhD at USTC in 2017, then worked as a researcher there before moving to the United States, where he held positions at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of California, San Diego. He spent 16 months at Sonocharge Energy before returning to China. During his postdoctoral studies, he was one of only 300 recipients nationwide of China's Postdoctoral Innovative Talent Support Programme.

Zhou's research focuses on the design and development of electrode materials and electrolytes for high-performance solid-state metal batteries, as well as novel electrochemical materials for catalysis and biomedicine applications. His notable work includes advances in lithium-sulphur and sodium-ion battery materials and high-capacity energy storage devices. He has published more than 20 papers in journals including Nature, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Joule, and Advanced Materials. His return comes as solid-state batteries have become a key technological battleground among major economies including the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union.