Energy Conversion Materials and Systems

• Understanding transport phenomenon of electrons and phonons
• Tuning physical properties for high energy conversion performance and improving mechanical properties for thermal stability
• Studying device-level characteristics: various design factors, thermal/electric contacts, physical/chemical bondings, thermal stability, compatibility, system reliability
• Bridging the gap between materials and device technologies

System Integration & Manufacturing

• Designing thermal energy storage systems, passive cooling systems, and biocompatible power management systems
• Printing technology

Instrumentation

• Thermal and electric characterization
• Device assembly for thermoelectric modules
• Power and efficiency measurement
• Thermal stability test of materials and devices

Soft Electronics

• Wearable bioelectronics for human health monitoring
• Human-Machine Interfaces via smart machine learning
• Multiscale sensing and disease diagnostics

 

 

Principal Investigator

Dr. Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Alabama. He was formerly a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston (mentored by Prof. Zhifeng Ren). His research interests are in advanced energy conversion and storage systems from materials to devices. He received his B.S. and M.S. in School of Mechanical Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in Korea (advised by Prof. Ja Choon Koo), followed by Ph.D. in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington (advised by Prof. Minoru Taya).

Email  | CV  |  Google Scholar  |  ResearchGate

Undergraduate Students

Prior Graduate Students

Prior Undergraduate Research Students

 

Peer-reviewed Publications

1. “Breathable, large-area epidermal electronic systems for recording electromyographic activity during operant conditioning of H-reflex,
   Y. Kwon, J. Norton, A. Cutrone, H. Lim, S. Kwon, J. Choi, H. S. Kim, Y. Jang, J. Wolpaw, and W.-H. Yeo,
   Biosensors and Bioelectronics 112404, 2020.
2. Fully integrated, stretchable, wireless skin-conformal bioelectronics for continuous stress monitoring in daily life,
   H. Kim, Y. S. Kim, M. Mahmood, S. Kwon, N. Zavanelli, H. S. Kim, Y. S. Rim, F. Epps, and W.-H. Yeo,
   Advanced Science 2000810, 2020.
3. Advanced soft materials, sensor integrations, and applications of wearable flexible hybrid electronics in healthcare, energy, and environment,
   H.-R Lim, H. S. Kim, R. Qazi, Y.-T Kwon, J.-W Jeong, and W.-H. Yeo,
   Advanced Materials 1901924, 2019.
4. A rapid method to extract Seebeck coefficient under a large temperature difference,
   Q. Zhu, H. S. Kim, and Z. F. Ren,
   Review of Scientific Instruments 88(9):094902, 2017.
5. Bridge between materials and devices of thermoelectric power generators,
   H. S. Kim, W. Liu, and Z. F. Ren,
   Energy and Environmental Science 10:69-85, 2017.
6. Achieving high power factor and output power density in p-type half-Heuslers Nb_1-xTi_xFeSb,
   R. He, D. Kraemer, J. Mao, L. Zeng, Q. Jie, Y. Lan, C. Li, J. Shuai, H. S. Kim, Y. Liu, D. Broido, C.-W. Chu, G. Chen, and Z. F. Ren,
   PNAS 113(48):13576-13581, 2016.
7. Transport and mechanical properties of double filled p-type skutterudites La_0.68Ce_0.22Fe_4-xCo_xSb₁₂,
   T. Dahal, H. S. Kim, S. Gahlawat, Q. Jie, K. Dahal, W. Liu, Y. Lan, K. White, and Z. F. Ren,
   Acta Materialia 117:13-27, 2016.
8. Thermoelectric Properties of Zintl Compound Ca_1-xNa_xMg₂Bi_1.98,
   J. Shuai, H. S. Kim, Z. Liu, R. He, J. Sui, and Z. F. Ren,
   Applied Physics Letters 108:183901, 2016.
9. Enhancement of thermoelectric performance of phase pure Zintl compounds Ca_1-xYb_xZn₂Sb₂, Ca_1-xEu_xZn₂Sb₂, and Eu_1-xYb_xZn₂Sb₂ by mechanical alloying and hot pressing,
   J. Shuai, Y. Wang, Z. Liu, H. S. Kim, J. Mao, J. Sui, and Z. F. Ren,
   Nano Energy 25:136-144, 2016.
10. Engineering thermal conductivity for balancing between reliability and performance of bulk thermoelectric generators,
    H. S. Kim, T. Wang, W. Liu, and Z. F. Ren,
    Advanced Functional Materials 26(21):3678-3686, 2016.
11. High thermoelectric performance of n-type PbTe_1-yS_y due to deep lying states induced by Indium doping and spinodal decomposition,
    Q. Zhang, E. K. Chere, Y. Wang, H. S. Kim, R. He, F. Cao, K. Dahal, D. Broido, G. Chen, and Z. F. Ren,
    Nano Energy 22:572-582, 2016.
12. Thermoelectric properties of Bi-based Zintl compounds Ca_1-xYb_xMg₂Bi₂,
    J. Shuai, Z. Liu, H. S. Kim, Y. Wang, J. Mao, R. He, J. Sui, and Z. F. Ren,
    Journal of Materials Chemistry A 4(11):4312-4320, 2016.
13. New insight into the material parameter B to understand the enhanced thermoelectric performance of Mg_2+δSn_1-x-yGe_xSb_y,
    W. Liu, J. Zhou, Q. Jie, Y. Li, H. S. Kim, J. Bao, G. Chen and Z. F. Ren,
    Energy and Environmental Science 9:530-539, 2016.
14. Thermoelectric properties of materials near the band crossing line in Mg₂Sn-Mg₂Ge-Mg₂Si system,
    J. Mao, H. S. Kim, S. Jing, Z. Liu, U. Saparamadu, R. He, F. Tian, W. Liu, and Z. F. Ren,
    Acta Materialia 103:633-642, 2016.
15. Importance of high power factor in thermoelectric materials for power generation application: a perspective,
    W. Liu^§, H. S. Kim^§, Q. Jie, and Z. F. Ren,  ^§Equal contribution
    Scripta materialia 111:3-9, 2016.
16. Efficiency and output power of thermoelectric module by taking into account corrected Joule and Thomson heat,
    H. S. Kim, W. Liu, and Z. F. Ren,
    Journal of Applied Physics 118(11):115103, 2015.
17. High thermoelectric power factor in Cu-Ni alloy by potential barrier scattering of twin boundaries,
    J. Mao, Y. Wang, H. S. Kim, Z. Liu, U. Saparamadu, F. Tian, K. Dahal, J. Sun, S. Chen, W. Liu, and Z. F. Ren,
    Nano Energy 17:279-289, 2015.
18. Relationship between thermoelectric figure of merit and energy conversion efficiency,
    H. S. Kim, W. Liu, G. Chen, C.-W. Chu, and Z. F. Ren,
    PNAS 112(27):8205-8210, 2015.
19. Thermoelectric properties of Na-doped Zintl compound: Mg_3-xNa_xS₂,
    J. Shuai, Y. Wang, H. S. Kim, Z. Liu, J. Sun, S. Chen, J. Sui, and Z. F. Ren,
    Acta Materialia 93:187-193, 2015.
20. Current progress and future challenges in thermoelectric power generation: From materials to devices,
    W. Liu, Q. Jie, H. S. Kim, and Z. F. Ren,
    Acta Materialia 87:357-376, 2015.
21. n-type thermoelectric material Mg₂Sn_0.75Ge_0.25 for high power generation,
    W. Liu, H. S. Kim, S. Chen, Q. Jie, B. Lv, M. Yao, Z. Ren, C. P. Opeil, S. Wilson, C.-W. Chu, and Z. F. Ren,
    PNAS 112(11):3269-3274, 2015.
22. Study on thermoelectric performance by Na doping in nanostructured Mg_1-xNa_xAg_0.97Sb_0.99,
    J. Shuai, H. S. Kim, Y. Lan, S. Chen, Y. Liu, H. Zhao, J. Sui, and Z. F. Ren,
    Nano Energy 11:640-646, 2015.
23. Investigating the thermoelectric properties of p-type half-Heusler Hf_x(ZrTi)_1-xCoSb_0.8Sn_0.2 by reducing Hf concentration for power generation,
    R. He, H. S. Kim, Y. Lan, D. Wang, S. Chen, and Z. F. Ren,
    RSC Advances 4(110):64711-64716, 2014.
24. Design of linear shaped thermoelectric generator and self-integration using shape memory alloy,
    H. S. Kim, T. Itoh, T. Iida, M. Taya, and K. Kikuchi,
    Materials Science Engineering: B 183:61-68, 2014.
25. Design of segmented thermoelectric generator based on cost-effective and light-weight thermoelectric alloys,
    H. S. Kim, K. Kikuchi, T. Itoh, T. Iida, and M. Taya,
    Materials Science Engineering: B 185:45-52, 2014.
26. Application of discrete Hamilton’s equation for parallel processing of impact problems,
    J. C. Koo, H. S. Kim, J. B. Choi, and Y. J. Kim,
    Key Engineering Materials 298:716, 2005.

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Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of South Alabama

Shelby Hall 3125 (Office)
Shelby Hall 3316 (Lab)
150 Jaguar Drive
Mobile, AL 36688

Office: (251) 460-7706
Email