Ting-Wei Hsu

Ting Wei Hsu studies materials used inside batteries, especially solid polymer electrolytes and ways to recycle battery components.

Electrolytes are the materials that allow ions to move between a battery’s electrodes during charging and discharging. Instead of using liquid electrolytes, he focuses on solid polymer versions, which could make batteries safer and potentially easier to recycle.

As the principal investigator on a Seed Laboratory-Directed R&D project, he helped launch collaborations with multiple national laboratories through the ReCell Center. He also published a study on battery electrolytes in a peer-reviewed journal.

Hsu launched partnerships that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to speed up the discovery of new battery materials. He also turned an earlier idea into an invention involving reversible chelating polymers — materials designed to bind and release certain chemical components — which could help make battery materials easier to recover and recycle.

His research covers how ions move through polymer electrolytes; how polymers interact with dissolved salts; how stable the materials are where they contact other battery components; and how electrolyte materials can be recovered and recycled.