Q&A with Zhuangnan Li

A Research Fellow since 2022 turned ‘accidental entrepreneur’ leading in battery technology development, Zhuangnan Li was first drawn to King’s by Xu Zhimo’s poetry.

Can you tell us about your journey to Cambridge and why you decided to apply to King’s?

King’s has always impressed me for its amazing balance across subjects – from the humanities and social sciences to natural science and engineering. The College has shaped big ideas across different fields, from John Maynard Keynes to Alan Turing. But for me, it was a Chinese poet who first made King’s come alive. Xu Zhimo studied here in 1921 and wrote a famous poem about Cambridge that is now in every Chinese middle school textbook. So, a hundred years later, joining King’s as a Research Fellow feels like a fitting continuation of that cultural bridge. 

I grew up in Changchun, a city in Northeast China, and stayed there through my undergraduate degree. After that, I moved to the UK to pursue my MEng and PhD in Manchester and London. In 2020, I came to Cambridge for my first job as a postdoc, and two years later, became part of King’s. There are many world-class universities, but college life here – where research, education, tradition, and community naturally combine together – is what surely makes Cambridge unique.

How would you summarise your research? Is it evolving, inspired by interactions with others in College?

I work at the interface of chemistry and materials science, with a focus on materials chemistry for next-generation energy storage. The most tangible application of my research is in batteries – you see them everywhere, from phones and laptops to electric vehicles, playing an increasingly critical role as we phase out petrol and diesel cars and move toward a sustainable low-carbon future. 

It’s been a pleasant surprise to see my research enriched through conversations across the College. Talking to Professors Alan Macfarlane and Robin Osborne gave me fresh ways to think about science in its cultural and historical contexts. Professors Anne Davis and Geoff Moggridge have provided generous mentorship on academic development. The entrepreneurial advice from our Provost Gillian Tett and Kamiar Mohaddes (as well as others in the E-Lab team) has been especially valuable in shaping my start-up journey. And there are also frequent exchanges with younger Fellows like Shannon Bonke, Tiffany Harte, James Dolan, and Iris Hardege, helping me generate ideas in new directions.

In the last two years you have supervised undergraduate students in the Summer Research Programme. How has it been so far?

I’d love to share what a great experience it was. Last summer, our Part IA student Victoria Liu joined my lab for an eight-week project on lithium battery material recycling. She was amazing – super motivated, focused, and really efficient. Her performance indeed reminded me of a first-year PhD student, and I learned a lot from the experimental results she produced. We are now discussing the possibility of continuing the project this summer. 

I’d definitely encourage more Fellows to get involved in the Programme. Even within a short time frame, King’s students are capable of taking on challenging research. It’s also a rare opportunity to help them develop hands-on skills and gain early experience in running their own research project – something that traditional term-time teaching barely provides.

Only last year you co-founded a start-up to develop next-generation battery technology. Did you always see yourself as an entrepreneur?

Last year I co-founded my start-up, Molyon, and we’ve since secured funding to develop new battery materials. To be honest, I never saw myself as an entrepreneur – it wasn’t something I had planned for. The opportunity emerged from a scientific discovery I made in the lab that seemed to have strong commercial potential. So, together with my co-founders, we started Molyon, and I felt I was the right person to help move the technology forward.

The atmosphere at King’s and more broadly across Cambridge made a big difference. The environment here is incredibly encouraging, especially for deep-tech start-ups. I’ve learned a lot through the E-Lab at King’s. I definitely encourage other researchers to also consider exploring this space – Cambridge has a mature and dynamic innovation ecosystem that naturally supports an entrepreneurial mindset.

In five years’ time, where would you like to be, both as a researcher and as an entrepreneur?

Can I say I’d like to be on my way to Stockholm? (Just kidding...) But in a way, that captures my mindset. Balancing both roles of researcher and entrepreneur is not easy. In the early stages of a deep-tech start-up, it’s probably manageable – but as the company grows, the focus unavoidably shifts, and it becomes hard to give both roles the attention they need. 

What I’m really passionate about is the discovery and the pursuit of new ideas, so ideally I’d like to be in an academic position, continuing to work on fundamental research. Of course, if my team discovers something with strong ‘real-world’ potential, I’d absolutely support my students in taking those ideas forward and creating social value through science.