Feng Lin

Feng Lin is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Tech's College of Science, holding the Leo and Melva Harris Faculty Fellowship. His research focuses on electrochemical energy storage systems, particularly battery materials, electrocatalysis, and smart window technologies. Lin leads the Lin Lab, which investigates materials' structure-property relationships to enhance energy storage efficiency and sustainability.

Education: B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from Tianjin University (2009), Ph.D. in Materials Science from Colorado School of Mines (2012). Postdoctoral training at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2010–2012) and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (2013–2015).

Research interests include solid-liquid interfaces in batteries, oxygen release mechanisms in cathodes, and machine learning-driven material discovery. His work emphasizes chemomechanical properties of battery materials and the impact of crystallographic defects on electrochemical performance.

• Key innovations: Design of Co-free high-energy layered cathodes, defect-engineered sodium-ion batteries, and oxygen evolution catalysts.
• Collaborations: DOE SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and synchrotron facilities for advanced characterization.

Awards include the NSF CAREER Award (2021), Energy Storage Materials Young Scientist Award (2020), and Spicer Young Investigator Award (2015). His lab actively develops materials for extreme environment batteries and sustainable energy systems.