Donghyeon Kang

Donghyeon Kang is a Principal Materials Scientist specializing in (photo)electrochemistry and thin-film processing for inorganic materials. His research spans multiple projects, including functional coatings for battery materials, electrochemical synthesis of iron and lithium, in-field characterization of critical materials, and battery/plastic recycling.

Research Interest

• Thin Film Preparation, Functional Coatings – Electrodeposition (Link), Atomic layer deposition (ALD) (Link)
• Circular Economy – Recycling for plastic/biomass/Li-ion battery materials (Link)
• Critical Materials – Electrochemical separation & characterization of critical materials (Link)
• (Photo)Electrochemistry

Education

• Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry, University of Wisconsin – Madison
• M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry, Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea
• B.S. in Chemistry, Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea

Award

• 2024 R&D 100 Award, ​“Direct Recycling Process for Lithium-Ion Battery Cells”

Selected Publications

• Kyobin Park, Yu Lim Kim, Justin G. Connell, Cong Liu, Hacksung Kim, Sungjoon Kim, Chi Thang Nguyen, Anil U. Mane, Donghyeon Kang* and Jeffrey W. Elam*, ​“Chemical Vapor Transformation of Lithium Metal: Mechanism and Enhanced Stability”, ACS Appl. Mater. Inter., 2025, 17, 50, 67763–67775.
• Chi Thang Nguyen, Yoav Malka, Jiu Kang, Adnan Mohammad, Sungjoon Kim, Donghyeon Kang, Li Shi, Rajeev S. Assary, and Jeffrey W. Elam*, ​“Ru:Al₂O₃ Resistive Coatings Fabricated by Atomic Layer Deposition for Application in Microchannel Plates”, ACS Appl. Eng. Mater., 2025, 3, 11, 3951–3963.
• Nicholas Sinclair, Jiang Luo, Kyobin Park, Madaline Oakes, Benjamin Martin, Ashwin Balakrishnan, Justin Connell, Donghyeon Kang*, and Rohan Akolkar*, ​“A choline chloride-based water-in-salt electrolyte for efficient iron electrodeposition”, J. Electrochem. Soc., 2025, 172, 062503
• Hyejin Yu, Younghoon Oh, Yulim Kim, Cong Liu, Hyun Gil Cha, Kyobin Park, Massimiliano Delferro, Donghyeon Kang*, ​“Molecular Level Understanding of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Depolymerization in Base/Alcohol Hybrid Systems” ACS Appl. Mater. Inter., 2025, 17, 21097–21109.
• Kihoon Kim, Shana Havenridge, Nestor Zaluzec, Donghyeon Kang, Nuwanthaka Jayaweera, Jeffrey Elam, Karen Mulfort, Cong Liu, Martinson, Alex*, ​“Vapor Infiltration Synthesis of Indium Sulfide Magic Size Cluster”, ACS Nano, 2024, 18, 31372–31380.
• Zheng Lu, Angel Yanguas-Gil, Donghyeon Kang, Pragathi Darapaneni, Anil U. Mane, Christopher L. Marshall, and Jeffrey W. Elam*, ​“Scalable Synthesis of Supported Catalysts Using Fluidized Bed Atomic Layer Deposition”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 2022, 40, 042404.
• Donghyeon Kang, Robert E. Warburton, Anil U. Mane, Jeffrey Greeley*, and Jeffrey W. Elam*, ​“Modification of LiMn₂O₄ Surfaces by Controlling the Acid–Base Surface Chemistry of Atomic Layer Deposition”, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2022, 599, 153329.
• Sara Kuraitis, Donghyeon Kang, Anil U. Mane, Hua Zhou, Jake Soares, Jeffrey W. Elam*, and Elton Graugnard*, ​“Atomic Layer Deposition of Sodium Fluoride Thin Films”, J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A, 2021, 39, 032405.
• Donghyeon Kang, Dongho Lee, Kyoung-Shin Choi, ​“Electrochemical Synthesis of Highly Oriented, Transparent, and Pinhole-Free ZnO and Al-Doped ZnO Films and Their Use in Heterojunction Solar Cells”, Langmuir, 2016, 32, 10459–10466.
• Donghyeon Kang, James C. Hill, Yiseul Park, Kyoung-Shin Choi, ​“Photoelectrochemical Properties and Photostabilities of High Surface Area CuBi₂O₄ and Ag-doped CuBi₂O₄ Photocathodes”, Chem. Mater. 2016, 28, 4331–4340.
• Donghyeon Kang, Tae Woo Kim, Stephen R. Kubota, Allison C. Cardiel, Hyun Gil Cha, Kyoung-Shin Choi, ​“Electrochemical Synthesis of Photoelectrodes and Catalysts for Use in Solar Water Splitting”, Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 12839–12887.
• Donghyeon Kang, Yiseul Park, James C. Hill, Kyoung-Shin Choi, ​“Preparation of Bi-Based Ternary Oxide Photoanodes BiVO₄, Bi₂WO₆, and Bi₂Mo₃O₁₂ Using Dendritic Bi Metal Electrodes”, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 2994–2999.
• Yiseul Park, Donghyeon Kang, Kyoung-Shin Choi, ​“Marked Enhancement in Electron-Hole Separation Achieved in The Low Bias Region Using Electrochemically Prepared Mo-doped BiVO₄ Photoanodes”, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2014, 16, 1238–1246.

Selected Patents

• Donghyeon Kang, Jeffrey W. Elam, Joseph A. Libera, Yujia Liang, Hacksung Kim, Anil U. Mane, ​“Formation of Lithium-Metal-Oxygen Layer and Removal of Lithium Carbonate on Solid State Electrolytes”, Granted 04/08/2025, U.S. Patent Number 12,270,101.
• Anil U. Mane, Jeffrey W. Elam, Donghyeon Kang, Sara Kuraitis, Elton Graugnard, ​“Method of Making Thin Films of Sodium Fluorides and Their Derivatives by ALD”, Granted 08/20/2024, U.S. Patent Number 12,065,738.
• Donghyeon Kang, Jeffrey W. Elam, Anil U. Mane, ​“Formation of Lithium-Metal-Carbon Protecting Layer and Removal of Lithium Carbonate on Lithium Metal Anode”, Granted 08/16/2022, U.S. Patent Number 11,414,749.
• Donghyeon Kang, ​“Electrochemical Recycling Process for Polyesters and Polyurethanes”, Filed 06/30/2023, Published 01/02/2025, U.S. Patent Application Number 18/217,050.
• Donghyeon Kang, Anil U. Mane, Jeffrey W. Elam, ​“Method to Convert Lithium Carbonate Layer on the Surface of Battery Cathodes to Beneficial Coating Layers”, Filed 06/14/2024, U.S. Patent Application Number 18/744,373.
• Donghyeon Kang, Edward F. Barry, John Hryn, ​“Production of Lithium via Electrodeposition”, Filed 06/05/2020, Published 12/09/2021, U.S. Patent Application Number 16/894,210.