Xin Qian
X-Thermal Lab | Energy Transport & Conversion Team
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Email: xinqian21@hust.edu.cn
2021/08-present, Tenure-track Professor, HUST, Wuhan
2019/05-2021/05, Postdoc, Mechanical Engineering, MIT
2014/08-2019/05, Ph.D, Mechanical Engineering, CU Boulder
2010/09-2014/06, B. S., Thermal Engineering, HUST, Wuhan
Research Interests:
The theme of my research focuses on understanding the fundamentals of energy transport phenomenon and thermophysical properties of advanced energy materials and devices at micro/nanoscale. My expertise includes low-grade heat harvesting, characterizing ultrafast thermal dissipation and thermal properties, and modeling of phonon transport dynamics, by combining state-of-the-art techniques such as pump-probe spectroscopy, first-principles simulations, and machine learning methods.
Thermo-electrochemistry for Energy Storage and Conversion
Our group is particularly interested in the coupling between thermal generation and transport in electrochemistry systems. These couplings could be essential for the performance, safety, and stability of batteries or supercapacitors. The thermo-electrochemistry could also be important in developing clean and sustainable energy conversion materials and devices harvesting low-grade heat, such as ionic thermoelectrics and thermally regenerable batteries. We are combining molecular-level to device-scale modeling, spectroscopic measurements, and electrochemical characterizations to understand the transport and conversion of energy by ions.
Ab-initio & Machine Learning driven Atomistic Modeling
Atomistic modeling like molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful tool for modeling thermal transport without ignoring the detailed atomic structures. However, MD suffers from the limited accuracy of potential fields. I developed potential fields from first-principles data for complex materials systems which are challenging to model using perturbation theory of phonon picture, including hybrid organic-inorganic materials, disordered oxides for thermal barrier coatings, material phases with dynamical instability.
Pump-probe Thermoreflectance Metrology
Characterizing thermal conductivity is a longstanding challenge in consensed matter physics and material science. Pump-probe thermoreflectance uses ultrafast lasers to create thermal excitation and monitor the thermal transport dynamics from a dozen of picoseconds to several nanoseconds. It primarily measures the through-plane thermal conductivity. I focused on developing methods to characterize the entire anisotropic tensor of thermal conductivity using varied spot size, beam offset and transducerless approaches.