Dr. Haimei Zheng, PI
Senior Staff Scientist
MSD, LBNL
&
Adjunct professor
MSE, UC Berkeley
My research interests are centered on understanding how nanoscale heterogeneity and fluctuations control the physical and chemical processes of materials. My research group develops and applies advanced in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques, such as the design and fabrication of liquid cells and other in situ apparatus, integrating cutting-edge imaging and image analysis methods with in situ data acquisition, to study materials dynamic phenomena at the atomic level. The current research topics include nucleation, growth and transformations of materials, solid-liquid (electrode-electrolyte), and solid-liquid-gas interfaces. Insights garnered from this research enable novel design of materials, and efficient applications of materials in catalysis, batteries and other functional devices.
• Haimei has been elected the Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA), Class of 2023. Link
• Imaging, understanding and controlling of Li dendrite growth. Li nanogranular growth was achieved by coating the electrodes in a liquid cell with a cationic (PDDA) polymer film. Liquid cell TEM is remarkable in revealing the mechanisms of Li dendrite suppression. In situ EDS chemical analysis of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on an individual nanograin was achieved for the first time. EES 13, 1832 (2020).
• Haimei received 2019 MRS Medal Award. (Link)
• We discovered novel mechanisms of 2D materials growth in solution using liquid cell TEM, Nature Materials 18, 970 (2019). (Link)
• Dynamic deformability of individual PbSe nanocrystal during superlattice phase transitions was revealed through liquid cell TEM in Science Advances, 5, eaaw5623 (2019). (Link)
A U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory Managed by the University of California