Staff Profile
Dr Chuan Cheng
Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering
- Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6402
- Personal Website: https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/chuancheng/
- Address: School of Engineering
Stephenson Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Dr. Chuan Cheng is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the School of Engineering, Newcastle University. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a member of IET, IOM3, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He has expertise in advanced manufacturing technologies for lithium-ion batteries, battery electrode design and optimization, high-capacity NMC cathode materials, and electrochemical mechanics of electrochemical systems.
My research focuses on electrochemical energy storage materials and devices, including lithium-ion batteries and electrochemical actuators, in specific, (i) design and manufacture electrode structures in multi-scales to facilitate ion transportation and promote redox reaction kinetics that are essential for the fast charging of batteries; (ii) operando measure charge-induced reversible strain in porous electrodes which could lead to macroscopic volume changes and degradation of electrochemical systems; (iii) experiments with electrochemical modelling & simulation to understand the mechanics and optimize the device performance; (iv) sustainable and scalable manufacturing technologies, including roll-to-roll electrode coating and continuous synthesis of energy storage materials.
Current Funding:
PI, Royal Society Flexi-Grant, Solid-state electrochemical actuators as artificial muscles.
PI, HEIF, Solvent-free manufacturing of battery electrodes
CoI, Innovate UK, Advancing sustainable in electric vehicle battery recycling
Lead supervisor, Tony Trapp PhD Studentship
Previous Funding:
PI, British Academy, Manufacturing of the next generation all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries.
PI, EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account, Solvent-free manufacturing of dry electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.
PI, Capital Equipment Fund, WMG, University of Warwick, Battery Testing Equipment and Modelling Software.
PI, Humboldt Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Electrochemical Actuation of Low-Cost and Highly-Ordered Nanoporous Materials.
Supervisor of PhD Students:
- Mr. Ruifeng Zhou
- Mr. Batukan Tarhan
- Mr. Elliot Fairweather
I am one of the supervisors of the Newcastle Formula Student team: Meet the Team | Newcastle Racing (ncl.ac.uk), where stage 3 and stage 4 project students build prototype, battery-powered, single-seat racing cars.
PhD Openings:
PhD Studentship in Energy Materials (2025 Entry):100% fees covered for four years and a minimum tax-free annual living allowance of £19,237 (2024/25 UKRI rate). An additional allowance will be provided to contribute towards consumables, equipment, and travel related to the project.
Application deadline: 10 Feb 2025.
Application through University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal: Sign in · Newcastle University Admissions Portal
Interested candidates, please contact via Email: Chuan.Cheng@newcastle.ac.uk
Self-funded PhD (2025 Entry):
PhD in Mechanical and Systems Engineering, PhD Project: Manufacturing of Lithium-ion Battery Electrodes at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com For the 2025 Entry.
I welcome self-funded/external-funded PhD applicants in the following research areas:
- Battery Electrode Manufacturing
- All-Solid-State Batteries
- Electrochemical Actuators
PhD Application Link: Mechanical and Systems Engineering MPhil, PhD | Postgraduate | Newcastle University (ncl.ac.uk).
Interested candidates please contact: Chuan.Cheng@newcastle.ac.uk
Postdoc Openings:
Host for Postdoc Fellowships
Interested candidates please contact: Chuan.Cheng@newcastle.ac.uk
ENG2022: Materials Science II
ENG1008: Introduction to Programming Languages (C, Matlab and Python)
MEC3098: Mechanical Engineering Project
MEC8095: MSc Project (Mechanical and Systems Engineering)
Former Teaching at the University of Warwick:
Battery Electrochemistry, Design and Manufacturing (Level 7) (Module Lead)
Energy Storage Systems (Level-6)
WMG Battery School for Faraday Institution & for Industry (CPD Short-Course Lead)
MSc in Sustainable Automotive Electrification (Full-Time, Level 7) (Course Lead)
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Articles
- Cheng C, Drummond R, Duncan SR, Grant PS. Extending the energy-power balance of Li-ion batteries using graded electrodes with precise spatial control of local composition. Journal of Power Sources 2022, 542, 231758.
- Cheng C, Lührs L, Krekeler T. Simultaneous Enhancement of Actuation Strain and Mechanical Strength of Nanoporous Ni–Mn Actuators. Advanced Electronic Materials 2021, 7(7), 2100381.
- Cheng C, Lührs L. Robust Metallic Actuators Based on Nanoporous Gold Rapidly Dealloyed from Gold–Nickel Precursors. Advanced Functional Materials 2021, 31(48), 2107241.
- Cheng C, Grant PS, Lührs L. Electrochemical Mechanics of Metal Thin Films: Charge‐Induced Reversible Surface Stress for Actuation. Advanced Electronic Materials 2020, 6, 1900364.
- Cheng C, Drummond R, Duncan SR, Grant PS. Combining composition graded positive and negative electrodes for higher performance Li-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources 2020, 448, 227376.
- Cheng C, Drummond R, Duncan SR, Grant PS. Micro-scale graded electrodes for improved dynamic and cycling performance of Li-ion batteries. Journal of Power Sources 2019, 413, 59-67.
- Cheng C, Lührs L, Krekeler T, Ritter M, Weissmüller J. Semiordered Hierarchical Metallic Network for Fast and Large Charge-Induced Strain. Nano Letters 2017, 17, 4774.
- Cheng C, Weissmüller J, Ngan AHW. Fast and Reversible Actuation of Metallic Muscles Composed of Nickel Nanowire-Forest. Advanced Materials 2016, 28, 5315.
- Cheng C, Ngan AHW. Reversible Electrochemical Actuation of Metallic Nanohoneycombs Induced by Pseudocapacitive Redox Processes. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 3984.
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Authored Book
- Cheng C. Electro-Chemo-Mechanics of Anodic Porous Alumina Nano-Honeycombs: Self-Ordered Growth and ActuationC. Springer, 2015.
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Patent
- Grant P, Duncan S, Drummond R, Cheng C. Electrode Structure. Oxford University Innovation Limited (Oxford (Oxfordshire), GB), US Patent App. 18/020,440, 2023.