Battery Engineering Laboratory

Research Statement

Battery technologies are at the core of the global energy transition, enabling not only electric vehicles but also rapidly emerging high-demand applications such as AI data centers and robotics. Driven by these trends, batteries will continue to play a central role in shaping future energy systems. In response, Battery Engineering Laboratory (BEL) is motivated to understand emerging, high-impact research directions and uncover new phenomena that will define next-generation battery technologies. Our research integrates next generation lithium- and sodium-ion cathodes, lithium metal and anode-free systems, electrochemically engineered thin-film lithium electrodes and metallic current collectors, advanced dry electrode processing, and the development of state-of-the-art experimental tools to reveal previously inaccessible mechanisms. Ultimately, we aim to advance battery technologies for large-scale ESS applications and establish intelligent battery management frameworks that ensure safe, reliable, and efficient operation.

01 | Next-Gen Cathodes for Li-/Na-ion Batteries

Rational design of redox chemistry in Li & Mn-rich cathodes for enhanced capacity and structural stability.
Exploration of high-performance Na-based cathodes to shift the paradigm of conventional battery systems.
Mechanistic probing and understanding of real-time electrochemical dynamics and interparticle heterogeneity.
Mechanistic study of thermal processing and coating/doping process on microstructural evolution of cathode materials.

02 | Li-metal & Anode-free Battery Systems

Mechanistic shift in Li plating and charge transfer pathways on the substrate through solvation regulation.
Electrochemical way to engineer thin Li film and metallic substrate architectures (e.g., Cu, Ni, and alloys).
Real-time, quantitative mapping of large-area uniformity of lithium deposition via operando diagnostic tools.
Design and validation of full-cell lithium metal batteries for electric aviation.

03 | Thick Electrode Processing

Mechanistic design of high-energy, low-resistance electrodes, with a focus on tortuosity and transport limitations in porous electrode architectures.
Mechanistic understanding of slurry processing to correlate dispersion state with conductive network evolution to optimize ion/electron transport and structural uniformity in thick electrode systems.
Advanced dry electrode architectures for all-solid-state batteries enabling high-energy and high-safety performance.

04 | State-of-the-Art Experimental Tools

Quantitative analysis of interfacial electrochemical phenomena and heterogeneity.
Monitoring of internal cell pressure evolution and gas generation.
Development of safety evaluation platforms through quantitative analysis of self-accelerating thermal runaway behavior.
High-throughput and automated experimental frameworks for scalable and reproducible analysis.

Prof. Min-Ho Kim (Email: minhokim@kentech.ac.kr), MK Research Group, Battery Engineering Laboratory (BEL)

Department of Energy Engineering, Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), 21 Kentech-gil, Research Building 1, Room 303, Naju-si, Jellanam-do 58330, Republic of Korea