Four distinguished scholars and their research teams from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) have been awarded grants under the HKSAR Government’s Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme (RAISe+). Two of them are associated with the College of Science (CSCI), congratulations!
The Innovation and Technology Commission recently announced the second batch of projects to receive funding support under the RAISe+ Scheme. One of the approved projects, “Breakthrough Cathode Materials for Next-generation Lithium-ion Batteries”, is led by Professor Qi Liu, Associate Professor from the Department of Physics. This project has achieved significant breakthroughs in enhancing the performance of core lithium battery materials. Professor Liu and his team have successfully addressed the voltage-decay problem in lithium-rich layered oxides (LLOs) for the first time.
This ground-breaking achievement, realised in 2023, has attracted over HK$15 million in funding, demonstrating its strong commercialisation potential. To build on this innovative technology, Professor Liu and the technical team founded a start-up, named SuFang New Energy Technology Co., Ltd., dedicated to the production of high-performance LLOs. The company has already established a production line with an annual capacity of 100 tons, and is planning to set up a 1,000-ton production line in Southeast Asia or South Korea, specifically for the production of high-performance LLOs.
Another approved project is led by Professor Qichun Zhang, a joint faculty member from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Chemistry. His project, titled “Development and application of large-scale energy storage and UPS systems based on intrinsically safe aqueous batteries”, is dedicated to developing a revolutionary aqueous zinc-ion battery.
To address the potential safety hazards of current lithium batteries and the large size and low power capability of lead-acid batteries, Professor Zhang’s team developed aqueous zinc-based batteries that offer significant advantages, including high safety, high power, low cost, and environmental friendliness. This makes them an ideal choice for next-generation UPS systems for Data Centres, providing an ultimate solution for the safe operation of Artificial Intelligence facilities.
Professor Freddy Boey, President and University Distinguished Professor of CityUHK, extended his congratulations to all the awarded scholars and their teams. “CityUHK is dedicated to fostering an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, transforming research outcomes into practical applications and collaborating closely with both government and industry. I am confident that the breakthrough technologies developed by CityUHK scholars will not only lead to industry-wide innovation in fields such as energy, materials science and biomedicine, but also contribute significantly to Hong Kong’s development as an international innovation and technology hub, benefiting our community.”
Launched in October 2023, the RAISe+ Scheme aims to fund, on a matching basis, at least 100 research teams from the eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee, targeting those with strong potential to become successful start-ups. Funding support from HK$10 million to HK$100 million will be provided for each approved project.
This article originated from CityUHK NewsCentre.