Publications

Prior to joining UCF

1.     W. Zhang, Z. Wang, H. Wan, A. Li, Y. Liu, S. Liou, K. Zhang, Y. X. Ren, C. Jayawardana, B. L. Lucht & C. Wang*, “Revitalizing Interphase In All-Solid-State Li Metal Batteries By Electrophile Reduction”, Nature Materials, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-02064-y, (2025).

2.     Y. X. Ren, T. X. Lai, A. Manthiram*, “Reversible Sodium–Sulfur Batteries Enabled by a Synergistic Dual Additive Design”, ACS Energy Letters, 8, 2746-2752 (2023).

3.     Y. X. Ren, A. Manthiram*, “A dual-phase electrolyte for high-energy lithium–sulfur batteries”, Advanced Energy Materials, 2106680 (2022).    

4.     Y. X. Ren, A. Barghav, W. Shin, H. Sul, A. Manthiram*, “Anode-Free Lithium-Sulfur Cells Enabled by Rationally Tuning Lithium Polysulfide Molecules”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 202207907 (2022).  

5.     Y. X. Ren, N. M. Hortance, J. R. McBride, , K. B. Hatzell*, “Mitigating chemo-mechanical failure in li-s solid state batteries with compliant cathodes”, Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 169, 060503 (2022).  

6.     Y. X. Ren, W. Shin, A. Manthiram, “Operating high-energy lithium-metal pouch cells with reduced stack pressure through a rational lithium-host design”, Advanced Energy Materials, 202200190 (2022).  

7.     Y. X. Ren, Z. H. Cui, A. Barghav, J. R. He, A. Manthiram*, “A self-healable sulfide/polymer composite electrolyte for long-life, low-lithium-excess lithium-metal batteries”, Advanced Functional Materials, 32, 202106680 (2022).

8.     Y. X. Ren, K. B. Hatzell*, “Elasticity-oriented design of solid-state batteries: challenges and perspectives”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 9, 13804-13821 (2021).

9.     Y. X. Ren, N. M. Hortance, J. R. McBride, K. B. Hatzell*, “Sodium-sulfur batteries enabled by a protected inorganic/organic hybrid solid electrolyte”, ACS Energy Letters, 6, 345-353 (2020).

10. C. Zhao, G. L. Xu*, Y. Zhou, L. C. Zhang, I. H. Huang, Y. X. Mo, Y. X. Ren, L. Cheng, C. J. Sun, Y. Ren, X. B. Zuo, J. T. Li, S. G. Sun, K. Amine*, T. S. Zhao*, “Enabling practical high-energy and long-cycling Ah-level lithium-sulfur pouch cell via a catalytic cathode design”, Nature Nanotechnology, 16, 166-173 (2021).

11. Y. X. Ren, L. Wei, H. R. Jiang, C. Zhao, T. S. Zhao*, “On-site fluorination approach for enhancing lithium utilization in lithium-sulfur full batteries”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, 53860- 53868 (2020).

12. L. Zeng, Y. X. Ren, L. Wei, X. Fan, T. S. Zhao*, “Asymmetric porous polybenzimidazole membranes with high conductivity and selectivity for vanadium redox flow batteries“, Energy Technology, 8, 2000592 (2020). 

13. L. Zeng, J. Sun, T. S. Zhao*, Y. X. Ren, C. Zhao, “Balancing the specific surface area and mass diffusion property of electrospun carbon fibers to enhance the cell performance of vanadium redox flow battery”, Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 45, 12565-12576 (2020). 

14. Y. X. Ren, L. Zeng, C. Zhao, C. Xiong, Q. Chen, T. S. Zhao*, “A safe and efficient lithiated silicon sulfur battery enabled by a bi-functional composite interlayer”, Energy Storage Materials, 25, 217-223 (2020). 

15. Y. X. Ren, H. R. Jiang, C. Xiong, C. Zhao, T. S. Zhao*, An in-situ encapsulation approach for polysulfide retention in lithium–sulfur batteries”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 8, 6902-6907 (2020).

16. C. Xiong, Y. X. Ren, H. R. Jiang, M. C. Wu, T. S. Zhao*, “Artificial bifunctional protective layer composed of carbon nitride nanosheets for high performance lithium–sulfur batteries”, Journal of Energy Storage, 26, 101006 (2019).

17. L. Wei, H. R. Jiang, Y. X. Ren, M. C. Wu, T. S Zhao*, “Investigation of an aqueous rechargeable battery consisting of manganese tin redox chemistries for energy storage”, Journal of Power Sources, 437, 226918 (2019).

18. Y. X. Ren, L. Zeng, H. R. Jiang, W. Q. Ruan, Q. Chen*, T. S Zhao*, Rational design of spontaneous reactions for protecting porous Li electrodes in lithium-sulfur batteries. Nat. Comm. 10, 3249 (2019).  

19. C. Xiong, T. S. Zhao*, Y. X. Ren, H. R. Jiang, X. L. Zhou, “Mathematical modeling of the charging process of Li-S batteries by incorporating the size-dependent Li2S dissolution”, Electrochimica Acta, 296, 954-963 (2018). 

20. H. R. Jiang, W. Shyy, Y. X. Ren, R. H. Zhang, T. S. Zhao*, “A room-temperature activated graphite felt as the cost-effective, highly active and stable electrode for vanadium redox flow batteries”, Applied Energy, 233, 544-553 (2019).

21. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, M. Liu, H. R. Jiang, C. Xiong, “A Li2S-based sacrificial layer for stable operation of lithium-sulfur batteries“, Energy Technology, 6, 2210-2219 (2018).

22. Y. X. Ren, H. R. Jiang, T. S. Zhao*, L. Zeng, C. Xiong, “Remedies of capacity fading in room temperature sodium-sulfur batteries”, Journal of Power Sources, 396, 304-313 (2018).

23. L. Wei, M. C. Wu, T. S. Zhao*, Y. K. Zeng, Y. X. Ren, “An aqueous alkaline battery consisting of inexpensive all-iron redox chemistries for large-scale energy storage”, Applied Energy, 215, 98-105 (2018)

24. H. R. Jiang, M. C. Wu, Y. X. Ren, W. Shyy, T. S. Zhao*, “Towards a uniform distribution of zinc in the negative electrode for zinc bromine flow batteries”, Applied Energy, 213, 366-374 (2018).

25.  H. R. Jiang, W. Shyy, M. Liu, Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, “Borophene and defective borophene as potential anchoring materials for lithium–sulfur batteries: a first-principles study”, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 6, 2107-2114 (2018).

26. M. Liu, Y. X. Ren^#, H. R. Jiang, C. Luo, F. Y. Kang*, T. S. Zhao*, “An efficient Li2S-based lithium-ion sulfur battery realized by a bifunctional electrolyte additive”, Nano Energy, 40, 240247 (2017). (# equal contribution)

27. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, M. Liu, Y. K. Zeng, H. R. Jiang, “A self-cleaning Li-S battery enabled by a bifunctional redox mediator”, Journal of Power Sources, 361, 203-210 (2017).

28. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, M. Liu, L. Wei, R. H. Zhang, “High-performance nitrogen-doped titania nanowire decorated carbon cloth electrode for lithium-polysulfide batteries”, Electrochimica Acta 242, 137-145 (2017).

29. M. C. Wu, T. S. Zhao*, H. R. Jiang, Y. K. Zeng, Y. X. Ren, “High-performance zinc bromine flow battery via improved design of electrolyte and electrode”, Journal of Power Sources, 355, 62-68 (2017). 

30. Y. K. Zeng, T. S. Zhao*, X. L. Zhou, J. Zou, Y. X. Ren, “A hydrogen-ferric ion rebalance cell operating at low hydrogen concentrations for capacity restoration of iron-chromium redox flow batteries”, Journal of Power Sources, 352, 77-82 (2017).

31. H. R. Jiang, T. S. Zhao*, Y. X. Ren, R. H. Zhang, M. C. Wu, “Ab initio prediction and characterization of phosphorene-like SiS and SiSe as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries”, Science Bulletin, 62, 572-578 (2017).

32. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, H. R. Jiang, M. C. Wu, M. A. Liu, “A stabilized high-energy Li-polyiodide semi-liquid battery with a dually-protected Li anode”, Journal of Power Sources, 347, 136-144 (2017). 

33. Y. K. Zeng, T. S. Zhao*, X. L. Zhou, L. Wei, Y. X. Ren, “A novel iron-lead redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage”, Journal of Power Sources, 346, 97-102 (2017).

34. Y. X. Ren, M. Liu, T. S. Zhao*, L. Zeng, M. C. Wu, “An aprotic lithium/polyiodide semi-liquid battery with an ionic shield”, Journal of Power Sources, 342, 9-16 (2017). 

35. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, P. Tan, Z. H. Wei, X. L Zhou. “Modeling of an aprotic Li-O2 battery incorporating multiple-step reactions”, Applied Energy, 187, 706-716 (2017).

36. M. Liu, Y. X. Ren^#, D. Zhou, H. R. Jiang, F. Y. Kang*, T. S. Zhao*, “A lithium/polysulfide battery with dual-working mode enabled by liquid fuel and acrylate-based gel polymer electrolyte”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9, 2526-2534 (2017).  

37. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao*, M. Liu, P. Tan, Y. K. Zeng, “Modeling of lithium-sulfur batteries incorporating the effect of Li2S precipitation”, Journal of Power Sources, 336, 115-125 (2016).

38. M. Liu, D. Zhou, H. R. Jiang, Y. X. Ren, F. Y. Kang*, T. S. Zhao*, “A highly safe lithium-ion sulfur polymer battery with SnO2 anode and acrylate-based gel polymer electrolyte”, Nano Energy 28, (2016). 

39. Y. X. Ren, L. Zhao, D. W. Jing*, L. J. Guo*, “Investigation and modeling of CPC based tubular photocatalytic reactor for scaled-up hydrogen production”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41, 16019-16031 (2016).

40. M. Liu, H. R. Jiang, Y. X. Ren, D. Zhou, F. Y. Kang*, T. S. Zhao*, “In-situ fabrication of a freestanding acrylate-based hierarchical electrolyte for lithium-sulfur batteries”, Electrochimica Acta, 213, 871-878 (2016).

41. D. Song, D. W. Jing*, J. Geng, Y. X. Ren, “A modified aggregation-based model for the accurate prediction of particle distribution and viscosity in magnetic nanofluids”, Powder Technology, 283, 561-569 (2015). 

42.  D. Song, D. W. Jing*, B. Luo, J. Geng, Y. X. Ren, “Modeling of anisotropic flow and thermodynamic properties of magnetic nanofluids induced by external magnetic field with varied imposing directions”, Journal of Applied Physics, 118, 45101 (2015).

43. Y. X. Ren, D. W. Jing*, “Study on particle and photonic flux distributions in a magnetically stirred photocatalytic reactor”, Journal of Photonics for Energy, 5, 52097 (2015).  

Presentations

1. Y. X. Ren, Invited talk for Albemarle Corporation, Kings Mountain, NC (2023)  

2. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao, Remedies of capacity fading in room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries, ECS meeting, Seattle, WA (2018)  

3. Y. X. Ren, T. S. Zhao, An efficient Li2S-based lithium-ion sulfur battery realized by a bifunctional electrolyte additive, ECS meeting, New Orleans, LA (2017)