Wei Lab

Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion

Who We Are

The Wei Lab is based in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM). 

Our research focuses on understanding the fundamentals of electrochemical processes in electrodes and at electrode/electrolyte interfaces, and on that basis developing next generation high-energy batteries for energy and environmental applications. We are also interested inf nanocomposites and biomaterials design and their applications in electrochemical energy storage. Current research projects include developing cheap chemical waste batteries by using earth abundant materials that can capture/convert greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and at the same time generate/store electricity.

News and Events

July 2024

Olumide defended his MS thesis!


June 2024

Wei receives the NASA MPLAN Prize. Read the News.


May 2024

Congratulations to Dr. Chris Fetrow for successfully defending his doctoral dissertation!


May 2024

Our undergraduate student Elena was offered a year-round internship at Sandia National Laboratories. Rachael was accepted into the REU program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Congratulations!


May 2024

Hao’s review on Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Sodium Sulfur Batteries has been published in ACS Applied Electronic Materials!


May 2024

Hao’s review on Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Sodium Sulfur Batteries has been published in ACS Applied Electronic Materials!


April 2024

Raju’s paper on iron batteries has been published in ACS Applied Energy Materials!


November 2023

Chris and Raju present their research projects at the AIChE in Orlando!


October/November 2023

Wei presents the group's work at Colorado School of Mines and Arizona State University.


September 2023

Jianda’s paper on Li-CO2 batteries has been published in ACS Energy Letters!


May 2023

Our undergraduate, Rachael, designed outreach kits for K-12 students to help them realize the importance of carbon capture.


March 2023

Jianda’s review on Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts for Metal–CO2 Batteries and CO2 Electrolysis has been published in ACS Energy Letters!


March 2023

Chris’s reserach article on secondary Al-CO2 battery has been published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces!


January 2023

We received ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator grant to study electrochemical methane conversion. Read the News.


January 2023

We received NSF fund to explore new solutions for longer-lasting, affordable batteries. Read the News.


January 2023

New graduate students Gustavo Diaz and Olumide Oladoyin have joined the lab. Welcome!

November 2022

We are at the AIChE in Phoenix! Chris and Matt present their research projects.

November 2022

Wei presents chemical and materials engineering department seminars at New Mexico State University.

October 2022

Our team receives UNM Rainforest Innovations funding for battery device. Read the News.

October 2022

We welcome many prospective high school students and their parents visiting us at the SOE Open House. Live demos provided by our graduate students are so fun! 

October 2022

Dr. Raju Vadthya has joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome Raju!

October 2022

Matt’s research paper on porous zinc anode has been published in the Journal of Electrochemical Society!

June 2022

Wei receives UNM Women in STEM Awards! Read the News.

May 2022

Our students win big at the 2022 Pitch Deck Competition. Chris, Cameron and Ngoc win First Place with a $10,000 Prize after pitching their innovative business and startup ideas on Aluminum-air battery for grid storage energy. Read the News.

April 2022

CBE Senior undergraduate student  Jacquelyn Tolth awarded the NSF GRFP for the year 2022. Big congratulations to Jackie!

April 2022

Wei presents mechanical engineering department seminars at UNM.

April 2022

Wei presents a talk at the TRIMMing CO2webinars.

December 2021

Chris’s review on Metal-CO2 batteries has been published in Energy Storage Materials!

November 2021

AIChE in Boston! Prof. Wei chairs the session of Lithium and Beyond: Fundamental Advances in High Performance Batteries.

September 2021

Wei receives major NSF EPSCoR Track 2 funding for project to manage carbon dioxide in manufacturing. Read the News

September 2021

New graduate students Matt Powell, Jianda Wang and Hao Nguyen have joined the lab. Welcome!

September 2021

Matt and Chris’s review on Bio‐derived nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion has been published in Nano Select and featured on the cover!

December 2020

Wei receives the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Award. Read the News.

September 2020

New graduate students Chris Fetrow and Jessica McDow have joined the lab. Welcome Chris and Jessica!

January 2020

Wei presents the group's work at the Sandia National Laboratories.

Novermber 2019

Welcome perspective high school students and their parents to the SOE Open House! Wei teaches K-12 kids how to build a fruit battery at Discovery Festival. Read the News

Novermber 2019

AIChE in Orlando!

October 2019

ECS in Atlanta!

August 2019

Wei officially starts working at UNM as an assistant professor. Go lobos!