# Guanjie He
**Guanjie He** (also published as G. He) is a British-based materials chemist and engineer who is Professor in Materials Chemistry and Engineering at [University College London](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-college-london) (UCL) and an ERC Starting Grant awardee. His research group works on materials, interfaces, and devices for aqueous electrochemical energy storage and conversion, particularly zinc-ion batteries and electrocatalysis.[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g) He became Vice-Dean (International) of UCL's Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current position | Professor (Chair) in Materials Chemistry and Engineering, UCL Chemistry, from 1 October 2025[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) • [3](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7365-9645) |
| Field | Aqueous energy storage and conversion, especially zinc-ion batteries and electrocatalysis[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g) |
| Signature work | Adhesive anti-aging polymer electrolyte for flexible rechargeable zinc-ion batteries, with stable interfacial resistance for over 200 hours[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g) |
| Major honors | RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Medal (2025); Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship (2025); IChemE Nicklin Medal (2026)[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) |
| Fellowships | Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC); Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM)[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) |
| Industry role | Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Element 30 Ltd, a zinc energy storage spin-out[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) |
## Education and early career
He holds a BEng in Materials Science and Engineering from Donghua University, completed in 2014.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
His doctoral thesis, *Design of nanostructures and hybrids of transition metal derivatives for energy storage applications*, was published in the UCL Discovery repository on 28 August 2018.[4](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10054600) It proposed nanostructured electrode materials based on transition metals and their derivatives for supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries, using a binder-free strategy across the entire project.[4](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10054600)
## Career: Lincoln, Queen Mary and return to UCL
He began his independent research career at the School of Chemistry, University of Lincoln, joining as Senior Lecturer in December 2019; his UCL record dates the Lincoln post from 1 December 2019 to 31 January 2021.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) He then moved to [Queen Mary University of London](https://www.edgepedia.org/queen-mary-university-of-london) as Senior Lecturer from February to August 2022 (dated 1 February to 31 August 2022 on his UCL record), before returning to UCL.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
His UCL record lists the subsequent posts as Senior Lecturer in Materials Science from 1 September 2022 to 30 September 2023, Lecturer in Advanced Propulsion and Materials Chemistry from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2025, and Professor in Chemistry from 1 October 2025.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) He also became Vice-Dean (International) of UCL's Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
## Research: aqueous zinc-ion batteries and electrocatalysis
His group focuses on materials, interfaces, and devices for aqueous electrochemical energy storage and conversion, particularly zinc-ion batteries and electrocatalysis.[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g) The Royal Society of Chemistry, in recognizing his work, describes aqueous zinc batteries as systems that use water-based electrolytes and earth-abundant zinc metal, eliminating fire hazards and enabling sustainable large-scale energy storage.[5](https://www.rsc.org/standards-and-recognition/prizes/winners/dr-guanjie-he) By contrast, conventional lithium-ion batteries are efficient but pose safety risks from flammable components and depend on expensive, geographically concentrated resources.[5](https://www.rsc.org/standards-and-recognition/prizes/winners/dr-guanjie-he)
The RSC credits him with significant contributions to advancing zinc-ion battery chemistries, electrolyte design, and in-situ characterization techniques, enabling deeper mechanistic understanding and practical implementation of aqueous energy technologies.[5](https://www.rsc.org/standards-and-recognition/prizes/winners/dr-guanjie-he) His core research focus is aqueous energy storage and conversion materials and devices, expanding into advanced characterization and AI for chemistry and electrochemical engineering; he became Associate Editor for *Battery Energy* (Wiley) and Scientific Editor for *Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers* (RSC).[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
The quantitative case his group made for the technology appears in its EPSRC project SENSE, which targeted zinc-ion batteries with volumetric energy density above 650 Wh L-1 and power density above 220 W L-1, at an estimated energy price of £50/kWh against £126/kWh for lithium-ion and £58/kWh for nickel-iron batteries.[6](https://ukerc.rl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ercri5.pl?GChoose=gpersum&GRN=EP%2FV027433%2F1&GrantPerson=13620&QString=SearchTerm%3DHe)
## Representative work
In his representative paper An anti-aging polymer electrolyte for flexible rechargeable zinc-ion batteries, his group developed an adhesive solid polymer electrolyte that maintained stable interfacial resistance for over 200 hours, twice that of conventional systems, enabling flexible zinc-ion batteries that keep working under bending or twisting.[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g)
## Honours, funding and industry roles
In 2025 he received the Royal Society of Chemistry's Harrison-Meldola Memorial Medal for Chemistry and the Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship Award, along with an Excellence Award from the UK-China Particle Tech Forum; in 2026 he received the Nicklin Medal from IChemE.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) According to the RSC award article, he received the 2025 Harrison-Meldola Early Career Prize for Chemistry and Emerging Investigator Awards from *Journal of Materials Chemistry* and *Nanoscale*.[1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g) He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of the [Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining](https://www.edgepedia.org/institute-of-materials-minerals-and-mining).[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
His EPSRC funding for zinc-ion battery research is recorded differently by two official funder records. UKERC's record for grant EP/V027433/1, titled Zinc Ion Batteries: Structural ENgineering for Severe Environment (SENSE), lists a total grant value of £386,153 with Dr G He of the School of Chemistry, University of Lincoln as Principal Investigator.[6](https://ukerc.rl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ercri5.pl?GChoose=gpersum&GRN=EP%2FV027433%2F1&GrantPerson=13620&QString=SearchTerm%3DHe) UKRI's Gateway to Research instead records SENSE as a £362,711 EPSRC award running February 2022 to August 2022 to Queen Mary University of London, and lists a separate £386,153 award running September 2021 to January 2022.[7](https://gtr.ukri.org/person/7F2E5221-8746-4D3B-A438-D6CC5F4F5357)
He became a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Element 30 Ltd, a spin-out company accelerating the commercialization of zinc-based energy storage systems and advancing safe and sustainable energy storage technologies.[2](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he) • [1](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g)
## References
1. [2025 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship winner: Dr Guanjie He](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2026/ta/d5ta90265g)
2. [Guanjie He | About | University College London](https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/45719-guanjie-he)
3. [Guanjie He (0000-0002-7365-9645) – ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7365-9645)
4. [Design of nanostructures and hybrids of transition metal derivatives for energy storage applications (UCL doctoral thesis, 2018)](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10054600)
5. [Dr Guanjie He – RSC prizes winners](https://www.rsc.org/standards-and-recognition/prizes/winners/dr-guanjie-he)
6. [UKERC EDC: Project EP/V027433/1 (SENSE)](https://ukerc.rl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ercri5.pl?GChoose=gpersum&GRN=EP%2FV027433%2F1&GrantPerson=13620&QString=SearchTerm%3DHe)
7. [Guanjie He – UKRI Gateway to Research](https://gtr.ukri.org/person/7F2E5221-8746-4D3B-A438-D6CC5F4F5357)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineers and computer scientists › Engineers and materials scientists › Researchers in chemical engineering, batteries, solar, and energy materials › Supercapacitors and electrochemical energy storage*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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