(Article reprinted from Forbes Public) In 2017, at the age of 30, Zhang Jiaheng officially returned to China as a professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Medicine and Health and the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen Campus, where he continues to explore the application of supramolecules in the direction of medicine, daily chemical raw materials and medical devices.

Note: The article was written by the organising committee of the Forbes China - Young Returnee Elite 100.

With the development of society, lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in many fields such as electric vehicles, portable electronic products and grid storage stations, but it is difficult for them to meet the demand of increasingly high energy density. Therefore, the development of new battery chemistries has become an important scientific issue.

In October 2022, Jiaheng Zhang made important research progress in the field of eutectic electrolytes, and the related research results were published in international journals such as Advanced Energy Materials, ACS Nano, Nano-Micro Letters and Small.

Zhang Jiaheng interviewed by the media

Zhang Jiaheng's research has revealed that it is urgent to design and develop new electrolytes that are both non-flammable and inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites, which is important for the development of next-generation high-safety and high-energy-density lithium metal batteries.

In 2017, he founded Shenzhen Xuanjia Biotechnology Co. Ltd. to focus on the R&D, production and sales of new nano-metal powders with low cost and high performance. In addition, over the past ten years, Zhang Jiaheng has published hundreds of SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded) papers with over 5,000 citations.

Entering the field of supramolecules

Before returning to China, Zhang Jiaheng worked in the US for four years, focusing on the application of supramolecular chemistry in the field of energy-containing materials such as rocket propulsion fuels, and published over 60 papers in this research area.

During his six years of study and work in the US and Japan, Zhang Jiaheng has developed a variety of pyrotechnics, rocket propulsion fuel molecules and electrolyte materials based on supramolecular technology (ionic liquids) for the modification and potentiation of pesticides and veterinary drugs.

In 2017, at the age of 30, Zhang Jiaheng officially returned to China as a professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Medicine and Health and the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Campus, where he continues to explore the application of supramolecules in the direction of pharmaceuticals, daily chemical raw materials and medical devices.

Each supramolecule can be imagined as a LEGO widget, and the components are all of biological origin," said Zhang Jiaheng. We use molecular piecing to build the molecule into a special shape, and it will have a special function. Like Lego, the supramolecule can also be taken apart after it has been built and is reversible. In this process, finding molecules that can pair up is key."

Switching tracks and founding Xuanjia Bio

In the year he returned to China, Zhang Jiaheng founded Xuanjia Bio, which completed a nearly RMB 200 million Series A round of funding in June 2022. As a supramolecular raw material supplier with an annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes, Xuanjia Bio's relevant technologies have been recognised by customers such as Hua Xi Bio, Marumei and Fan Wen Hua, and have achieved volume sales.

Through technology transformation, Zhang Jiaheng has developed materials including energy-containing materials, skin care raw materials and electronic materials, including a new type of high energy density explosive molecule developed in cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics.

According to Zhang Jiaheng, "The platform development technology of materials science is inherently fast, efficient and has a high success rate of development. This is the fundamental reason why the development efficiency of our platform is particularly high no matter which industry we are empowering."

"In the future, I want to tell different industries that supramolecules have the ability to empower a thousand industries in this way." Zhang Jiaheng says confidently.

Solidifying technology and waiting for the right moment to create Tianmu New Energy

In addition to energy-containing materials, energy materials and biomaterials are also directions that Zhang Jiaheng is committed to transforming his research technology.

Zhang Jiaheng said, "When I founded Xuanjia Bio, the industrialisation of biomaterials technology was initially realised in the cosmetics track. But actually the direction of my initial venture was new energy materials."

But in 2017, at that time, the development of electric vehicles and lithium battery industry was still immature, and the development and verification cycle of new energy-related underlying technologies was very long. So. Zhang Jiaheng chose to continue to solidify the energy materials technology after returning to China and wait for the right time to industrialize again.

At this stage, due to the explosion of the new energy vehicle industry, the application ratio of power lithium batteries shows a rapid growth trend. In founding Tianmu New Energy, Zhang Jiaheng's R&D idea is to break the pain points of commercial electrolyte usage one by one and propose a solution path from basic research.

Zhang Jiaheng in the progress of scientific research

Zhang Jiaheng found that the growth of lithium dendrites and unstable solid electrolyte interfacial layer in lithium metal batteries hinders the development of high energy density lithium metal batteries, while most of the commercial organic carbonate electrolytes currently used have low thermal stability and flammability, which are the main causes of spontaneous combustion and even explosion of lithium ion batteries.

From basic research to industrialisation pathways to commercial scenario development, product iterations and continuous testing, Zhang Jiaheng is committed to creating a database of eutectic electrolytes based on product performance, expanding the commercialisation possibilities of multiple scenarios and creating a product platform for multiple applications.

A family history of chemistry

Talking about his connection to chemistry, Zhang Jiaheng said his senior grandfather's father was the founder of the Chinese Chemical Society, Zhang Zigong.

"The family heritage is not only the inheritance of wealth, but also the inheritance of spirit and family culture, the accumulation and sublimation of a family's history and experience." Zhang Jiaheng said.

In the battle against poverty, Zhang Jiaheng has joined hands with Shijing Village in Heyuan, Guangdong Province, to carry out efficient, environmentally friendly and high value-added deep processing of bamboo to drive local villagers to increase their income. In addition, Zhang Jiaheng is the founding sponsor of Shenzhen No. 3 Talent Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund Phase II and Phase III, and has conducted research judgments for a number of talent projects. During the epidemic, he also developed new disinfection materials and donated more than RMB200,000 in anti-epidemic materials to a number of hospitals.

"In fact, we have stood on the shoulders of our predecessors to reach the heights of scientific and technological transformation today. In fact, in every direction of scientific research, scientists are developing new molecules, but not all of them are developed to be useful. The previous thinking in scientific research was to give up if the molecule doesn't work, but our thinking is to find another molecule that matches it structurally and at the same time builds on its strengths and weaknesses to make a pair, so that the development process is speeded up."

"It's really the best time for us scientists to start a business." Zhang Jiaheng said