Yitian Wang, a Ph.D. student from the Xi Chen group in Electrical and Computer Engineering, won the Recommended Oral Presentation prize at the 2023 Materials Research Society (MRS) Spring Meeting Symposium CH03: Neutron Scattering-Enabled Energy Materials Design. The MRS meeting is the world’s foremost international scientific gathering for materials research. Wang's talk, "Intrinsically low thermal conductivity and lattice dynamics in single crystals of garnet-type solid electrolyte," showcased the use of neutron scattering to investigate thermal properties in next-gen battery materials. 
Wang's research aims to understand the thermal transport mechanism in lithium-ion conductors. He grew single crystal garnet solid electrolyte using the floating zone method and utilized thermal transport measurements and neutron scattering to investigate lattice dynamics. The study provides valuable information for next-gen battery design, bridging research in the ionic conductors and all-solid-state batteries. 

MRS presentation link: https://mrs.digitellinc.com/mrs/sessions/32828/view
Xi Chen Group: https://xichenlab.engr.ucr.edu/