Group Lead

Group Lead (PI)

Hongkyung Lee, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator | Associate Professor

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
College of Engineering, Yonsei University

📭 B310, Engineering Hall II

📍50 Yonsei-ro, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea

✉️ hongkyung.lee@yonsei.ac.kr

☎️ +82-2-2123-2838

Biosketch

Hongkyung Lee is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Yonsei University. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from KAIST (Advisor: Prof. Jung-Ki Park), South Korea (2016). During his Ph. D., his research focused on the electrochemical interfaces in Li-air batteries and core technologies for Li metal stabilization. After a postdoctoral period at KAIST (Advisor: Prof. Hee-Tak Kim), he joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a postdoctoral research associate under the supervision of Dr. Wu Xu, Dr. Jie Xiao and Dr. Ji-Guang (Jason) Zhang (2017-2019). During his career at PNNL, he contributed to the Battery500 consortium to prototype practical Li-metal pouch cells by advancing Li-metal stabilization through multi-scale interface engineering. His research interests include dendrite-free electroplating of high-capacity metallic anodes, fast-charging Li-ion, and imaging-driven battery diagnosis.

Education

Ph.D. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea (Feb 2016)

B.S. Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea (Feb 2011)

Careers

Associate Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University (Sep 2024 - Present)

Graduate Program Director, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Yonsei University (Mar 2026- Present)

Affiliated Professor, Department of Battery Engineering, Yonsei University (Sep 2024 - Present)

Affiliated Professor, Graduate School of Battery Conflation Engineering, Yonsei University (Mar 2025 - Present)

Associate Professor, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, DGIST (Sep 2023 - Aug 2024)

Assistant Professor, Department of Energy Science and Engineering, DGIST (Oct 2019 - Aug 2023)

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Energy and Environment Directorate, PNNL (Jan 2017- Sep 2019)

Postdoctoral Fellow, Applied Science Institute, KAIST (Mar 2016 - Dec 2016)

Selected Publications

Pit-Free Stripping in Discharge-Initiated Lithium Metal Batteries, ACS Energy Letters (2026)

Ester-guided dynamic Li⁺ solvation enables plating-less, fast-charging Li-ion batteries, ACS Nano (2025)

Surface adaptive dual-layer protection of Li-metal anode for extending cycle-life of Li-sulfur batteries with lean electrolyte, Advanced Functional Materials (2024)

Boosting Interfacial Kinetics in Extremely Fast Charging Li-ion Batteries with Linear Carbonate-based, LiPF6-concentrated Electrolytes, Energy Storage Materials (2023)

Diagnosis of Current Flow Patterns Inside Fault-Simulated Li-Ion Batteries via Non-Invasive, In Operando Magnetic Field Imaging, Small Methods (2023)

Electrodeposition-guided pre-passivation of Li-metal anode to enable long stable cycling of practical Li-metal batteries, Energy Storage Materials (2023)

Dynamic Ionic Transport Actuated by Nanospinbar-Dispersed Colloidal Electrolytes Toward Dendrite-Free Electrodeposition, Advanced Functional Materials (2022)

Robust Cycling of Ultrathin Li Metal Enabled by Nitrate‐Preplanted Li Powder Composite, Advanced Energy Materials (2021)

High-energy Li metal pouch cells with limited anode swelling and long stable cycles, Nature Energy (2019)

Critical Parameters for Evaluating Coin Cells and Pouch Cells of Rechargeable Li Metal Batteries, Joule (2019)

Honors

EcoPro Young Scientist Awards (에코프로 젊은과학자상), EcoPro (2024)🔗

Emerging Investigators - Chemical Communications, Royal Society of Chemistry (2024)🔗

Emerging Investigators - Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Royal Society of Chemistry (2024)🔗

POSCO Science Fellowship, POSCO TJ Park Foundation (2022)🔗

Miwon Commercial Young Scientist Awards (미원상사 신진연구자상), The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (2021)

Project Team Of-the-Year (Battery500 team), PNNL (2018)

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship, National Research Foundation of Korea (2018-2019)

Outstanding Performance Award, PNNL (2017)

Full National Grantee, KAIST (2011-2016)

Graduate Excellence in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Yonsei University (2011)

National Science & Technology Scholarship, Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF) (2007-2010)

Scholarly Activities

Peer Review: Nature Energy, Joule, Nature Communications, ACS Nano, ACS Energy Letters, Advanced Materials, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Nano Energy, Nano-Micro Letters, Journal of Energy Storage, Chemistry of Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Applied Surface Science, Journal of Power Sources, Electrochemistry Communications, Electrochimica Acta, ChemSusChem, etc. 🔗ORCID record
Memberships
- The Korean Electrochemical Society (한국전기화학회) - Associated Editor of E-Chem Magazine (기술지편집위원, 2020~), Battery Division (이차전지분과 실무위원, 2024~), 종신회원
- The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry (한국공업화학회) - Electrochemistry Division (전기화학분과) 운영위원 (2024~), 종신회원
- The Korean Battery Society (한국전지학회) - 학술이사 (2020~현재), 국문지 편집위원회 (2021~2024)
- The Korean Institution of Chemical Engineers (KIChE, 한국화학공학회) - 종신회원
- The Korean Polymer Society (한국고분자학회) - 에너지부문위 학술이사 (2024~현재)
- The Electrochemical Society (ECS), Materials Research Society (MRS), American Chemical Society (ACS), etc.
Contributions
- 한국전기화학회 OBD 2024 Organizer (2024)
- 한국전기화학회 PRiME 2024 Session Organizer (2024)
- 한국화학공학회 MCARE 2024 Symposium Organizer (2024)
- 삼성미래기술육성사업단 Global Tech Conference (GTC) 기획 간사 (2024)
- 나노코리아 (NANOKOREA) 배터리분과 세션 Organizer (2024, 2025)
- 연세공학심포지엄 (Yonsei Engineering Symposium (YES) 2025), Organizer (2025)
- 한국전기전자재료학회 ICAE 2025 Battery Symposium Organizer (2025)
- 한국화학공학회 MCARE 2026 Symposium Organizer (2026)
- 한국공업화학회 Elsevier-Energy Storage Materials Session Organizer (2026)

Lectures

Undergraduate Courses
- Introduction to Polymer Science & Engineering (SE441, 고분자개론)
- Introduction to Transport Phenomena (CE302, 이동현상개론)
- Solid-State Chemistry (MSE2130, 고체화학)
- Materials Engineering Laboratory (MST2310, 재료공학기초실험)
- Electrochemical Materials and Interfaces (Tentative)
Graduate Courses
- Thermodynamics of Energy Systems (ES601c, 에너지시스템의 열역학)
- Transport Phenomena for Energy Applications (ES774, 이동현상특론)
- Electrochemical Energy Storage Materials (MSE8290, 전기화학에너지저장재료)
- Special Topic III - Beyond Li-ion (ES809, 이차전지특론III-차세대전지)
- Battery Elementary Lab. (ES783, 이차전지 실습)
- Advanced Electrochemical Analysis (MSE6270, 전기화학분석특론)
- Polymer Materials for Energy Applications (MSE7450, 에너지고분자재료)

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