About

Dingding Zhao is a first-year MA/PhD student in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, supported as a Chancellor’s Fellow. Her research investigates how contemporary and modern dance negotiate questions of urban transformation, internal migration, and the embodied experience of modernity. Drawing from dance modernisms and critical dance studies, she examines how movement practices articulate spatial politics and shifting social conditions across twentieth- and twenty-first-century contexts. Her recent paper, The Station as Heterotopia: A Contemporary Chinese Odyssey, was presented at the 2025 IAIR-IACCP Joint Conference in Brisbane, Australia. She is currently expanding this work into a broader inquiry on dance theater as a site where mobility, affect, and cultural memory intersect, linking these movement vocabularies to global conversations on mobility and place-making, exploring how dance remembers, disperses, and reassembles diasporic histories. As an artist, Dingding works primarily in contemporary and modern dance, with a background in Chinese classical and ethnic folk dance, and engagement with jazz, waacking, hip-hop, and street dance vocabularies. She has deepened her practice with Natural Dance Theatre, refining a grounded, relational movement language. Her creative works include solo pieces Walking Fish and Daylily, as well as ensemble works Dai Blossom and Aguli, which fuse Dai ethnic movement with street dance forms. Her interests lie in how contemporary choreography can reframe cultural memory, embody transitional states, and generate new possibilities for kinesthetic belonging.

Research topics

• Materials science
• Nanotechnology
• Optoelectronics

Selected publications

• Design and Application of Electrocatalyst Based on Machine Learning

  Interdisciplinary materials · 2025-05-01 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Data‐driven artificial intelligence provides strong technical support for addressing global energy and environmental issues. The powerful data processing and analysis capabilities of machine learning (ML) can quickly predict electrocatalytic performance, improving the efficiency of catalyst design and addressing the time‐consuming and inefficient nature of traditional catalyst design. By integrating ML with theoretical calculations and experiments, catalytic reaction processes can be precisely regulated. This not only accelerates the discovery of new catalysts but also drives the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly sustainable energy technologies. In this article, we discuss new approaches to discovering novel catalysts driven by ML, focusing on catalytic activity prediction, reaction energy barrier optimization, and the design of innovative catalytic materials. We systematically analysis the application of ML in the field of electrocatalysis and explore the future prospects of ML in this domain. We provide a comprehensive and in‐depth analysis of the application of ML in the field of electrocatalysis and explore its potential for future development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unveil the Failure of Alkali Ion‐Sulfur Aqueous Batteries: Resolving Water Migration by Coordination Regulation

  Angewandte Chemie · 2025-03-11 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Sulfur aqueous battery (SAB) is promising owing to its high theoretical capacity and cost competitiveness. Although decoupled electrolyte design has successfully endowed transition metal ion‐SABs with customizability to achieve high energy density, its effectiveness in alkali ion‐SABs remains problematic. Here, we identify for the first time an intractable phenomenon of alkali‐ion‐driven water migration between decoupled electrolytes through ex situ NMR, which is recognized as the origin of the irreversible sulfur redox reactions. To address the challenge, we propose an alkali‐ion‐H 2 O‐poor coordination strategy to effectively regulate water migration by incorporating low molecular polarity index (MPI) anions. In situ Raman, synchrotron spectroscopy, and molecule dynamic simulations reveal that the repulsion of low MPI anions to water effectively disrupts the hydration patterns around the alkali cations, and thereby minimizes the concomitant water migration. The elaborated Na + ‐SAB achieved an ultrahigh capacity of 1634 mAh g −1 (97.7% sulfur utilization) and prolonged stability over 500 cycles. Furthermore, the versatility of the alkali‐ion‐H 2 O‐poor coordination strategy is further substantiated in Li + ‐SAB and K + ‐SAB batteries, boosting the scope of the following SAB systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quantitative electrolyte engineering for Zn-based aqueous batteries

  Joule · 2025-04-01 · 6 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Data Quality Optimization Based on Cnn and Fuzzy Neural Network

  2025-08-01

  article

  This study aims to construct an intelligent data quality optimization framework for distribution networks by integrating convolutional neural networks (CNNS) and fuzzy neural networks (FNN), in order to address the data anomalies and omissions currently faced in the operation of distribution networks, and significantly enhance the integrity, accuracy and reliability of distribution network data. Provide high-quality data support for the planning and decision-making, status assessment, and intelligent operation and maintenance of distribution networks, ultimately achieving the dual goals of improving the operational efficiency of the power grid and reducing operation and maintenance costs. First, variational autoencoders generate synthetic abnormal data to enhance training sample diversity. Second, an improved normalization method processes power data, combined with CNN for high-precision anomaly probability prediction, dynamically adjusting detection thresholds to improve classification accuracy. Furthermore, K-means clustering locates abnormal periods to guide subsequent repair processes. Finally, a fuzzy self-organizing neural network is designed to achieve adaptive anomaly repair using spatiotemporal correlations of normal data. Experiments on 360 weeks of real-world data from Irish distribution networks demonstrate 99.805% detection accuracy, 4.404% repair error rate, and RMSE of 6.8597, significantly outperforming traditional methods. This research provides a complete “detection-localization-repair” solution for distribution network data governance, enhancing system stability while reducing operational costs, with substantial engineering value.

  PublisherDOI

• Elucidating Mesostructural Effects on Thermal Conductivity for Enhanced Insulation Applications

  Small · 2025-01-28 · 9 citations

  articleSenior author

  Thermal management is a key link in improving energy utilization and preparing insulation materials with excellent performance is the core technological issue. Complex and irregular pore structures of insulation materials hinder the exploration of structure-property relationships and the further promotion of material performance. Ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) is a kind of porous material with ordered frameworks. This work elucidates the effects of ordered porous architecture on the thermal conductivity of mesoporous silica. Herein, two typical OMS, SBA-15 and SBA-16, characterized by well-defined porous structures with distinct spatial orientations are synthesized to study the relevance between structure and thermal conductivity. Compared to the 3D cubic mesoporous structure of SBA-16, the 2D hexagonal structure of SBA-15 exhibits anisotropic effects that restrict both solid and gaseous conduction, thereby providing better thermal insulating. Due to the influence of porosity, the thermal conductivity is found to decrease strongly with increasing pore size and decreasing wall thickness. Moreover, OMS composite aerogels with outstanding thermal insulation, mechanical performance, and hydrophobicity are fabricated through incorporating OMS into cellulose nanofibers (CNF). Consequently, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of heat transfer in OMS and provides an idea for designing OMS-based composite materials, thereby advancing their potential applications.

  PublisherDOI

• Tin Substitution Stabilizes 2D Perovskite Epitaxial Heterostructures for High‐Mobility, Hysteresis‐Free Field‐Effect Transistors

  Advanced Functional Materials · 2025-08-07 · 2 citations

  article

  Abstract Halide ion migration in 2D perovskite heterostructures has long hindered the realization of their extraordinary optoelectronic properties, resulting in current–voltage hysteresis and reduced device stability. Here, it demonstrated that tin (Sn) substitution at the perovskite B‐site effectively stabilizes ultrathin 2D halide perovskite epitaxial heterostructures by suppressing halide ion migration and boosting charge transport. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that Sn 2+ incorporation raises the energy barrier for halide migration, optimizes band alignment, and lowers the effective hole mass, collectively mitigating ionic instability and promoting efficient interfacial charge transfer. As a result, field‐effect transistors (FETs) based on (PEA) 2 Pb 0.7 Sn 0.3 Br 4 ‐(PEA) 2 PbI 4 (PEA = phenylethylamine) heterojunctions achieve hysteresis‐free operation, a subthreshold swing of 813 mV dec −1 , an on/off ratio of 2.52 × 10 6 and a hole mobility of 8.41 cm 2 V −1 s −1 , positioning them among the high‐mobility p‐type 2D perovskite thin‐film FETs reported to date. These findings advance a robust strategy for stabilizing 2D perovskite heterostructures and open new pathways for integrating them into next‐generation electronic and photonic systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Unveil the Failure of Alkali Ion‐Sulfur Aqueous Batteries: Resolving Water Migration by Coordination Regulation

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2025-03-11 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Sulfur aqueous battery (SAB) is promising owing to its high theoretical capacity and cost competitiveness. Although decoupled electrolyte design has successfully endowed transition metal ion‐SABs with customizability to achieve high energy density, its effectiveness in alkali ion‐SABs remains problematic. Here, we identify for the first time an intractable phenomenon of alkali‐ion‐driven water migration between decoupled electrolytes through ex situ NMR, which is recognized as the origin of the irreversible sulfur redox reactions. To address the challenge, we propose an alkali‐ion‐H 2 O‐poor coordination strategy to effectively regulate water migration by incorporating low molecular polarity index (MPI) anions. In situ Raman, synchrotron spectroscopy, and molecule dynamic simulations reveal that the repulsion of low MPI anions to water effectively disrupts the hydration patterns around the alkali cations, and thereby minimizes the concomitant water migration. The elaborated Na + ‐SAB achieved an ultrahigh capacity of 1634 mAh g −1 (97.7% sulfur utilization) and prolonged stability over 500 cycles. Furthermore, the versatility of the alkali‐ion‐H 2 O‐poor coordination strategy is further substantiated in Li + ‐SAB and K + ‐SAB batteries, boosting the scope of the following SAB systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Perforated piezoresistive film-based flexible bidirectional strain sensors for large bending deformation detection and health monitoring of glass fiber-reinforced polymers

  Composites Part B Engineering · 2025-01-02 · 49 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Amorphization Stabilizes Te‐Based Aqueous Batteries via Confining Free Water

  Angewandte Chemie International Edition · 2025-01-14 · 14 citations

  article

  Abstract Tellurium (Te), with its rich valence states (−2 to +6), could endow aqueous batteries with potentially high specific capacity. However, achieving complete and stable hypervalent Te 0 /Te 4+ electrochemistry in an aqueous environment poses significant challenges, owing to the sluggish reduction kinetics, easy dissolution of Te 4+ species, and a controversial energy storage mechanism. Herein, we demonstrate a crystallographic regulation strategy for robust aqueous Te redox electrochemistry. With strong hydrogen bonding, NH 4 Ac confines free water, prompting the amorphization of TeO 2 (a‐TeO 2 ). In situ synchrotron characterization, spectroscopy analysis, electrochemical evaluation, and theoretical calculations reveal a specific 4 e − solid‐solid transition pathway (Te to a‐TeO 2 ) with accelerated diffusion and charge transfer kinetics, attributed to a closer unoccupied electron orbital to the Fermi level and a reduced water desorption energy barrier in a‐TeO 2 . Impressively, the a‐TeO 2 /Te redox exhibits a high reversible capacity of 834 mAh g −1 (99% of Te redox utilization), superior rate performance (644 mAh g −1 at 10 A g −1 ), and an ultralong lifespan (over 3000 cycles). These findings prove a new tactic to advance aqueous Te redox electrochemistry toward high‐energy aqueous batteries.

  PublisherDOI

• Double-headed brush CsPbI3 nanorod assemblies for high non-filtered linear polarization in optical displays

  Nano Energy · 2025-06-11 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Yonghui Deng

  214 shared

• Bo Tu

  Fudan University

  181 shared

• Zhenxia Chen

  Fudan University

  167 shared

• Zhangxiong Wu

  142 shared

• Fan Zhang

  131 shared

• Wei Li

  Guangxi University

  127 shared

• Chengzhong Yu

  University of Queensland

  117 shared

• Biao Kong

  Fudan University

  106 shared