Zhang, Shenli

Bio

Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering

Email

Preferred: shenli.zhang@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (408) 924-3243

Office Hours

Monday & Wednesday 10:30-11:30; ENG 385 J

Research Website

link coming soon

Office

ENG 385J
San José State University
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0085

Education

  • Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering, University of California Davis, 2018
  • M.S., Optical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2014
  • General Engineering Diploma, 4+4 Dual Degree Program, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 2014
  • B.S., Applied Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2011

Bio

Positions and Employment

  1. July 2025 - present: Assistant Professor, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
  2. Dec. 2023 - July 2025: Postdoctoral Researcher, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA
  3. Oct. 2018 - Nov. 2023: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Chicago, IL

Honors and Awards

  • 2024: Q-MEEN-C von Neumann Distinguished Collaborative Research Award, Q-MEEN-C EFRC
  • 2021: Q-MEEN-C Distinguished von Neumann Postdoctoral Fellows, Q-MEEN-C EFRC 
  • 2018: Graduate Excellence in Materials Science Sapphire Award, 120th Annual Meeting of the America Ceramic Society
  • 2016: Graduate Student Poster Reserve Prize, UC Davis 2016 CHE MSE Research Symposium

Research Interests

  • Oxides for novel electronics such as neuromorphic devices (memristors, aritficial neurons and synapses), and qubits for quantum computing
  • Oxides for renewable energy: hydrogen production, solar water splitting
  • Computational materials research: First-principles calculations, atomistic modeling and machine-learning aided computation materials design

Publications

2025

  1. S. Zhang, W. Sun, E.G. Lomeli, W. Jeong, S.E. Weitzner, L.F. Wan, “Benchmarking density functional theory methods for efficient calculations of a strongly correlated LiNiO system”, ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 8, 13, 9110-9120 (2025).
  2. S.E. Weitzner, B. Wang, N. Rampal, W. Jeong, S. Yuan, S. Zhang, G. Bucci, N. Adelstein, S. Yan, A.C. Marschilok, L.F. Wan, “Cross-scale modeling and experimental integration for advancing cathode electrolyte interphase studies in high energy density lithium-ion batteries”, Energy Storage Mater. 80, 104368 (2025).
  3. S. Zhang, A.E. Rowberg, T. Ogitsu, T.A. Pham, J.B. Varley, “Electron-phonon renormalization in the proton-conducting electrolyte BaZrO3 and its implications for high-temperature electrolysis”, PRX Energy 4, 013013 (2025). (Newsline article: "")

2024

  1. M. Feng, J. Li, S. Zhang, A. Pofelski, R.E. Hage, C. Klewe, A. N’diaye, P. Shafer, Y. Zhu, G. Galli, I. Schuller, Y. Takamura, “Hydrogen-induced topotactic phase transformations of cobaltite thin films”, J. Phys. Chem. C 128, 17124-17133 (2024).
  2. S. Zhang and G. Galli, “Metallic interface between two insulating phases of La1-xSrxCoO3-d”, Chem. Mater. 36, 2096-2105 (2024).

2023

  1. A. Hilbrands†, S. Zhang†, C. Zhou, G. Melani, D. H. Wi, D. Lee, Z. Xi, A. R. Head, M. Liu, G. Galli and K.S. Choi, “Impact of varying the photoanode/catalyst interfacial composition on solar water oxidation: the case of BiVO4(010)/FeOOH photoanodes”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145, 23639-23650 (2023). 
  2. Y. Yuan†, Y. Yang†, K. Meihaus, S. Zhang, X. Ge, W. Zhang, R. Faller, J. Long and G. Zhu, “Selective scandium ion capture via coordination templating in a covalent organic framework”, Nat. Chem. 15, 1599-1606 (2023).

2022

  1. S. Zhang, I. Chiu, M. Lee, B. Gunn, M. Feng, T. Park, P. Shafer, A. N’Diaye, F. Rodolakis, S. Ramanathan, A. Frano, I. Schuller, Y. Takamura and G. Galli, “Determine the oxygen stoichiometry of cobaltite thin films”, Chem. Mater. 34, 2076-2084 (2022).

2021

  1. I. Chiu, M. Lee, S. Cheng, S. Zhang, L. Heki, Z. Zhang, Y. Mohtashami, P. Lapa, M. Feng, P. Shafer, A. Mehta, J. Schuller, G. Galli, S. Ramanathan, Y. Zhu, I. Schuller, Y. Takamura, “Cation and anion topotactic transformations in cobaltite thin films leading to Ruddlesden-Popper phases”, Phys. Rev. Mater. 5, 064416 (2021).
  2. S. Zhang, H. Vo and G. Galli, “Predicting the onset of metal-insulator transitions in transition metal oxides—a first step in designing neuromorphic devices”, Chem. Mater. 33, 3187-3195 (2021).
  3. H. Vo†, S. Zhang†, W. Wang† and G. Galli, “Lessons learned from first-principles calculations of transition metal oxides”, J. Chem. Phys. 154, 174704 (2021). (†: equal contribution)

2020

  1. S. Zhang and G. Galli, “Understanding the metal-to-insulator transition in LaxSr1-xCoO3-d and its applications for neuromorphic computing”, npj Comput. Mater. 6, 170 (2020). (Highlight: )
  2. Y. Yang, D. Deng, S. Zhang, Q. Meng, Z. Li, Z. Wang, H. Sha, R. Faller, Z. Bian, X. Zou, G. Zhu and Y. Yuan et al., “Porous organic frameworks featured by distinct confining fields for the selective hydrogenation of biomass-derived ketones”, Adv. Mater. 32, 1908243 (2020).
  3. A. Lindberg, W. Wang, S. Zhang, G. Galli and K. Choi, “Can a PbCrO4 photoanode perform as well as isoelectronic BiVO4?”, ACS Appl. Energy Mater. 3, 8658-8666 (2020).

2019 and before

  1. S. Zhang, Y. Huang, G. Tetiker, S. Srirman, A. Paterson and R. Faller, “Computational modelling of atomic layer etching of chlorinated germanium surfaces by argon”, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 21, 5898-5902 (2019). 
  2. A. Bokov, S. Zhang, S. J. Dillon, L. Feng, R. Faller and R. Castro, “Energetic design of grain boundary networks for toughening of nanocrystalline oxides”, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 38, 4260-4267 (2018).
  3. H. Sha, S. Zhang and R. Faller, “Molecular investigation of gas adsorption, separation, and transport on carbon nanoscrolls: A combined grand canonical Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics study”, Carbon 132, 401-410 (2018).
  4. S. Zhang, H. Sha, R. Castro and R. Faller, “Atomistic modeling of La3+ doping segregation effect on nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia”, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 20, 13215-13223 (2018). (selected as hot papers).
  5. S. Zhang, E. Yu, S. Gates, W. Cassata, J. Makel, A. Thron, C. Bartel, A. Weimer, R. Faller, P. Stroeve and J. Tringe, “Helium interactions with alumina formed by atomic layer deposition show potential for mitigating problems with excess helium in spent nuclear fuel”, J. Nucl. Mater. 499, 301-311 (2017). 
  6. S. Zhang, M. PĂ©rez-Page, K. Guan, E. Yu, J. Tringe, R. Castro, R. Faller and P. Stroeve, “Response to extreme temperatures of mesoporous silica MCM-41: porous structure transformation simulation and modification of gas adsorption properties”, Langmuir 32, 11422-11431 (2016).
  7.  M. Perez-Page, J. Makel, K. Guan, S. Zhang, J. Tringe, R. Castro and P. Stroeve, “Gas adsorption properties of ZSM-5 zeolites heated to extreme temperatures”, Ceram. Int. 42, 15423-15431 (2016).
  8. P. Yang, L. Zhou, S. Zhang, W. Shen et al., “Facile synthesis and photoluminescence mechanism of graphene quantum dots”, J. Appl. Phys. 116, 244306 (2014).
  9. S. Zhang, X. Wang, H. Liu and W. Shen, “Controllable light-induced conic structures in silicon nanowire arrays by metal-assisted chemical etching”, Nanotechnology 25, 025602 (2014).

Presentations

Proceedings:

  1. S. Zhang, H. Sha, E. Yu, M. P. Page, R. Castro, P. Stroeve, J. Tringe and R. Faller, “Computational and experimental studies on novel materials for fission gas capture”, Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems–Water Reactors (pp. 1039-1050). Springer, Cham, 2019.

Invited talks:

  1. “First-principles calculations of the structural and electronic properties of cobaltites for neuromorphic applications”, 2024 APS Meeting, Minneapolis, USA.
  2. “Harvesting oxygen vacancies in cobaltites for low-power neuromorphic devices”, team science talk (one of nine teams selected from all major DOE centers: EFRC, Hub, CMS and CCS), 2021 EFRC-CMS-CCS Virtual Principal Investigators’ Meeting.   

Conference talks (As presenter):

  1. “Band gap renormalization effects in the BaZrO3 electrolyte”, 2024 APS March Meeting, Anaheim, USA.
  2. “Electronic properties of the interface between perovskite and brownmillerite phases in La1-xSrxCoO3-ή”, 2023 APS March Meeting, Las Vegas, USA.
  3. “Harvesting oxygen vacancies in cobaltites for low-power neuromorphic devices”, 2022 MRS Spring Virtual Meeting.
  4. “Determining the oxygen stoichiometry of cobaltite thin films”, 2022 APS Virtual Meeting.
  5. “Understanding the metal-to-insulator transition in La1-xSrxCoO3−ή and its applications for neuromorphic computing”, 2021 APS Virtual Meeting.
  6. “Atomistic modeling of La3+ doping segregation effect in nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia”, 2018 MS&T Meeting, Columbus, USA.
  7. “Eliminating helium accumulation in spent nuclear fuel by facile alumina coating”, 2017 MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, USA.
  8. “Computational study on the thermal degradation mechanism and gas adsorption properties of mesoporous silica MCM-41 after high temperature treatment”, 2016 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, USA. 

Links

Research Group Website