Benjamin Kleinman – Battery Electrolyte Researcher at UMD

Research

Electrolytes for the cold and the heat

Batteries lose capacity in the cold and wear out in the heat. The electrolyte, the liquid that carries lithium ions between the electrodes, is a big part of both problems. My summer project focused on heat; this semester I’m working on the cold.

−40°C

Fall 2026 – present
In progress

Keeping lithium ions moving in the deep cold

In the cold, electrolytes thicken, ions slow down and a battery can lose most of its usable capacity. I’m leading a project on electrolyte additives that change how lithium ions travel through the liquid, with the goal of keeping cells working down to −40 °C.

Designed a multi-formulation additive study against an industry-standard baseline
Building coin cells and full pouch cells that I fill with electrolyte and seal myself
Measuring ionic conductivity, rate capability and cold-weather capacity from 40 °C down to −40 °C
Testing a second solvent family alongside the additive work

So far: one formulation has outperformed the baseline at every temperature tested. More cells are being built to confirm it.

Results are unpublished.Week by week →

75°C

Summer 2026
Completed

A polymer electrolyte built to take the heat

Batteries in aircraft, EVs and drones can run at 75 °C, where ordinary electrolytes degrade. Polymer electrolytes are safer, but their performance swings with temperature. I developed a thermally stable liquid polymer electrolyte meant to conduct well when things get hot.

Formulated electrolytes at three salt concentrations with two plasticizers
Built blocking-electrode coin cells and measured conductivity from 25 to 75 °C
Checked thermal stability with differential scanning calorimetry

Result: conductivity rose about tenfold with temperature, reaching 7.5 mS/cm at 75 °C, with no thermal transitions below 130 °C.

The full poster is below.See the poster →

Fall 2026 · Low-temperature project

The semester so far

I present an update at our group meeting every week. These are the highlights. Formulations and results stay private until the work is published.

Weekly updates: 8
Electrolytes made: 17
Impedance spectra: 700+
Coldest test: −40 °C

Glovebox bench with a hydraulic coin-cell crimper and rows of labeled electrolyte vials — My glovebox bench this fall, next to the crimper that seals every coin cell.

Seven small labeled vials of electrolyte lined up inside a glovebox — Seven additive blends, one vial each, inside the glovebox.

Six small bags on a lab bench, each holding a coin cell labeled A, B or C — Replicate cells labeled A, B and C, so no single cell decides a result.

Research poster · Summer 2026

Liquid polymer electrolytes for high-temperature lithium-ion batteries

My summer project in one page. Pick a panel to zoom in, or click anywhere on the poster.

Software I built

FML Plot

A desktop app I designed and built for the lab. Open a raw file from the potentiostat or network analyzer and it converts the file, works out which test it is, reads the key numbers off the data, plots it and writes the report.

Screens show the real app running on synthetic demo data.

Reads any instrument file

BioLogic, Arbin, Touchstone, TXT and CSV files are converted automatically, and the app detects which test it is looking at.

Model-free impedance analysis

Finds each semicircle on the Nyquist plot and reports R_s, R_SEI, R_ct, their capacitances and the Warburg tail, with no circuit model to fit.

Temperature sweeps

Merges any number of files into one dataset, reading each temperature from names like 25C, and overlays them from cold to hot.

Conductivity and activation energy

Turns each spectrum’s resistance into ionic conductivity, corrected for the separator, and fits the Arrhenius activation energy for every sample with its error and R².

Charge–discharge and more

Capacity per cycle and coulombic efficiency from cycling data, plus cyclic voltammetry and dielectric permittivity from S-parameters.

Figures ready for slides

A detail slider goes from clean data to every point labeled, and any title, axis or legend can be renamed by clicking it.

Python · Tkinter · pandas · NumPy · matplotlib · galvani. Sole developer. Released under the Apache 2.0 license.

In development

An autonomous research pipeline for the whole lab

My next software project. The lab’s results live in hundreds of slide decks, spreadsheets and papers. This system is designed to read them on its own, connect every measurement to the recipe and conditions behind it, and suggest which experiments are worth running next. The design is written and a pilot is planned; it does not run on lab data yet.

Every proposed experiment is reviewed by a researcher before anything happens at the bench.

In the lab

How I run an experiment

I carry each experiment through the whole battery-lab workflow, working alongside graduate students and faculty.

Read and plan
Review the literature, pick what to test and design the experiment matrix with my mentors.
Formulate
Weigh and mix electrolytes with micropipettes and balances, and dry materials in vacuum ovens.
Prepare components
Cut electrodes and separators to size for coin and pouch cells.
Build in the glovebox
Assemble and crimp coin cells, and fill and seal pouch cells under inert atmosphere. I also help maintain the glovebox.
Test
Impedance spectroscopy, charge–discharge cycling, rate capability, thermal analysis and temperature sweeps.
Analyze and share
Process the data in FML Plot, work out why a cell misbehaved, and go over the results with the group to decide what to test next.

Small labeled vials of electrolyte formulations lined up inside a glovebox, seen through the glovebox window — This fall’s formulations inside the glovebox, shot through the window.

Three labeled coin cells on a white bench — Coin cells for my newest formulation, labeled and ready for testing.

Glass vials of polymer electrolyte solutions and plasticizers with handwritten labels — Polymer electrolyte solutions from the summer study.

Crimped coin cells on a black bench surrounded by cut separator discs — Summer coin cells beside separator discs cut for the next batch.

Three small bags on a lab bench, each holding a coin cell labeled with its formulation — Tested cells, bagged and labeled by formulation.

A sealed bag of finished pouch cells on a desk — A finished batch of pouch cells.

Background

Where I’ve worked

Jun 2026 – now

Undergraduate Researcher

Functional Macromolecular Laboratory · University of Maryland

Lead a low-temperature electrolyte project: 17 electrolytes and 700+ impedance spectra so far, tested from 40 °C down to −40 °C, with a progress update at every weekly group meeting.
Developed a thermally stable liquid polymer electrolyte for batteries running up to 75 °C.
Handle the full cell workflow: electrode and separator prep, glovebox assembly and maintenance, testing and analysis.
Designed and built FML Plot, which automates the lab’s battery and dielectric data analysis.
Designing an autonomous data pipeline for the lab (in development).

Aug 2024 – Dec 2025

Undergraduate Researcher, Gene Silencing

FIRE (First-year Innovation & Research Experience) · University of Maryland · Mentor: Dr. Mary Chey

Joined a research team in my first semester to study how DNA regulatory sequences control heritable, mating-induced RNA silencing, where a gene can stay switched off for hundreds of generations.
Worked with CRISPR/Cas9-edited C. elegans strains in which histone (his-64) regulatory sequences were swapped into a fluorescent mCherry reporter.
Genotyped edited worm lines by lysis, PCR and gel electrophoresis; prepared samples for Sanger sequencing and analyzed the alignments in ApE.
Maintained worm strains and controls with sterile technique, compiled the team’s full-semester gel report, and presented our work in a research video and peer Q&A sessions.

Agarose gel image with labeled lanes for C. elegans isolates, controls and a DNA ladder — Single-worm genotyping gel from October 2025: PCR products from edited isolates, run next to wild-type and reporter controls.

Jun 2022 – Aug 2024

Dental Assistant

Carroll Periodontics & Implant Dentistry

Started as an observer (2022), returned as an intern (2023) and then as a dental assistant (2024).
Chairside and four-handed assistance during procedures; instrument sterilization under infection-control and HIPAA protocols.

Education

University of Maryland, College ParkB.S. Chemical Engineering, expected May 2028
HonorsASPIRE Scholar · Dean’s List
Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community Day SchoolNational Honor Society · President, DJ Club and VR Club

Leadership & service

Philanthropy & Community Service ChairZeta Beta Tau · raised $1,500+ for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
Sexual Assault Prevention ChairZeta Beta Tau · consent and bystander-intervention training
Co-Founder, Cat’s Closet & Liz’s Locker2023 – 2024 · fundraising for children in foster care
Treasurer, East Asian Media Appreciation Club2024 – 2025

Skills

Battery labGlovebox work and maintenance, electrode and separator prep, coin and pouch cells, electrolyte formulation
CharacterizationEIS, cycling and rate capability, DSC
BiologyCRISPR/Cas9 strain work, PCR, gel electrophoresis, Sanger sequencing analysis
SoftwarePython (pandas, NumPy, matplotlib, Tkinter)
LanguagesEnglish (native), Hebrew (professional)