Kevin W. Gao

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Publications

Google Scholar

N. Shah, L. He, K.W. Gao, N. Balsara. “Thermodynamics and phase behavior of poly(ethylene oxide)/poly(methyl methacrylate)/salt blend electrolytes studied by small angle neutron scattering,” Macromolecules. 2023. 56 (7), 2889-2898. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c02533

J. Lee*, K.W. Gao*, N. Shah, C. Kang, R. Snyder, B. Abel, L. He, S. Teixeira, G. Coates, N. Balsara. "Relationship between ion transport and phase behavior in acetal-based polymer blend electrolytes studied by electrochemical characterization and neutron scattering," Macromolecules. 2022. 55 (24), 11023-11033. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01724

X. Yu, X. Jiang, M. Seidler, N. Shah, K.W. Gao, S. Chakraborty, I. Villaluenga, N. Balsara. "Nanostructured ionic separator formed by block copolymer self-assembly: a gateway for alleviating concentration polarization in batteries," Macromolecules. 2022. 55 (7), 2787-2796. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c00193

K.W. Gao, C. Fang, D. Halat, A. Mistry, J. Newman, N. Balsara. "The Transference Number," Energy & Environmental Materials. 2022. 5 (2), 366-369. DOI: 10.1002/eem2.12359

K.W. Gao, X. Yu, R. Darling, J. Newman, N. Balsara. "Increased Donnan exclusion in charged polymer networks at high salt concentrations," Soft Matter. 2022. 18, 2. DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01511G

D. Halat, R. Snyder, S. Sundararaman, Y. Choo, K.W. Gao, Z. Hoffman, B. Abel, L. Grundy, M. Galluzzo, M. Gordon, H. Celik, J. Urban, D. Prendergast, G. Coates, N. Balsara, J. Reimer. “Modifying Li+ and anion diffusivity in polyacetal electrolytes: a pulsed-field-gradient NMR study of ion self-diffusion,” Chemistry of Materials. 2021. 33, 13, 4915-4926. DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.1c00339

R. Snyder, Y. Choo, K.W. Gao, D. Halat, S. Sundararaman, B. Abel, L. Grundy, D. Prendergast, J. Reimer, G. Coates, N. Balsara. "Improved Li+ transport in polyacetal electrolytes: conductivity and current ratio in a series of polyacetals," ACS Energy Letters. 2021. 6, 1886-1891. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.1c00594

K.W. Gao and N. Balsara. "Electrochemical properties of poly(ethylene oxide) electrolytes above the entanglement molecular weight," Solid State Ionics. 2021. 364, 115609. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssi.2021.115609

K.W. Gao, W. Loo, R. Snyder, B. Abel, Y. Choo, A. Lee, S. Teixeira, B. Garetz, G. Coates, N. Balsara. "Miscible polyether/poly(ether-acetal) electrolyte blends," Macromolecules. 2020. 53, 14, 5728-5739. DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.0c00747 ~ Technology Description

W. Loo, A. Faraone, L. Grundy, K.W. Gao, N. Balsara. "Polymer dynamics in block copolymer electrolytes detected by neutron spin echo," ACS Macro Letters. 2020. 9, 5, 639-645. DOI: 10.1021/acsmacrolett.0c00236

K.W. Gao, X. Jiang, Z. Hoffman, G. Sethi, S. Chakraborty, N. Balsara. “Optimizing the monomer structure of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane for ion transport in hybrid organic-inorganic block copolymers," Journal of Polymer Science. 2020. 58, 363-371. DOI: 10.1002/pol.20190073

L. Baumgartner, C. Coley, B. Reizman, K.W. Gao, K. Jensen. “Optimum catalyst selection over continuous and discrete process variables with a single droplet microfluidic reaction platform,” Reaction Chemistry & Engineering. 2018. 3, 301-311. DOI: 10.1039/C8RE00032H

J. Sears, T. Intrator, Y. Feng, H. Swan, J. Klarenbeek, K.W. Gao. “Investigating the momentum balance of a plasma pinch: An air-side stereoscopic imaging system for locating probes,” Review of Scientific Instruments. 2014. 85, 10, 103509. DOI: 10.1063/1.4898176

(*denotes equal contribution)

Posters and Presentations


Completely Dry Solid-State Batteries and the Path to High Silicon Content Anodes. Invited Talk at National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Conference, New Orleans, LA. 2024.

Lithium ion transport in polymer electrolytes. Poster at Batteries Gordon Research Conference, Ventura, CA. 2020.

The effect of chemical structure on the morphology, ion transport, and modulus of hybrid inorganic-organic diblock copolymer electrolytes. Talk at American Physical Society Meeting, Boston, MA. 2019.

A novel chemical reaction optimization strategy via on-demand synthesis in microliter droplets. Talk at SURF Seminar, Greenwich, CT. 2016.

Towards the iridium catalyzed generation of all-carbon quaternary chiral centers. Talk at SURF Seminar, Pasadena, CA. 2014.

A Faraday rotation diagnostic for Z pinch experiments. Poster at LANL Student Symposium, Los Alamos, NM. 2012.


Awards and Honors


2017   National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship

2014   Samuel and Berta Spalter Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

2013   US National Chemistry Olympiad Top 20 Study Camp Finalist
     LANL Foundation Gold Scholarship
     J. Robert Oppenheimer Scholarship in Memory of Nicholas C. Metropolis
     National Merit Scholarship