As "lithium and sodium in parallel, solid and liquid advancing together" becomes the new consensus in energy storage, an industry summit bringing together materials scientists and intelligent equipment engineers is moving from the agenda to the industrial site. Tang Yougen, Grade II professor at the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Central South University, Director of its Institute of Chemical Power Sources and Materials and President of the Hunan Battery Industry Association, has confirmed his attendance at the 2026 New Energy and New Materials Industry Development Forum and INFOR Hubei Industrial Park Opening Ceremony, where he will give a talk titled "Exploring Sodium Solid-State: R&D and Pathways for Sodium Solid-State Batteries in Energy Storage".
An energy storage specialist who put sodium-ion and solid-state batteries on the industry map
Tang Yougen is a Grade II professor and doctoral supervisor at Central South University, Director of the Institute of Chemical Power Sources and Materials and of the Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Power Sources, Counsellor to the Hunan Provincial People's Government, President of the Hunan Battery Industry Association, Chairman of the Hunan Battery Materials and Battery Industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance, and Executive Deputy Director and Secretary-General of the China Committee on Energy Storage and Power Sources and Materials.
He has long worked on advanced batteries, new energy materials and applied electrochemistry, including sodium-ion batteries, solid-state batteries, hard carbon anodes and new electrolytes. He has been a visiting researcher at the University of Göttingen in Germany, the University of St Andrews in the UK and the University of Queensland in Australia; has led more than 20 projects including national 863 Program, National Natural Science Foundation and major corporate technology projects, with research funding of more than RMB 30 million; has published more than 300 papers in journals including Nature Communications, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Energy & Environmental Science, Advanced Materials and Advanced Energy Materials; and has received 12 provincial and ministerial science and technology progress awards, more than 20 national invention patents and published 5 monographs and textbooks.
He is also a hands-on champion of turning research into industry. As chief scientist of Hunan Naco New Materials, he has taken bamboo-based hard carbon anodes from the laboratory to a thousand-tonne production line, firmly linking sodium-ion anodes and green resources into the supply chain.
Sodium solid-state batteries: a safe foundation and an energy leap for next-generation storage
After lithium-ion, the industry is asking the next question: can there be a battery that keeps sodium's resource and cost advantages while offering the safety and long life of a solid-state system?
Prof. Tang's view is clear, sodium solid-state batteries are a key variable on this path:
• Rebuilding safety: replacing flammable organic electrolytes with solid electrolytes improves thermal stability and significantly reduces the risk of thermal runaway;
• Interface challenges: sodium dendrites, solid-solid contact resistance and anode/electrolyte interface degradation are three hurdles that must be overcome;
• Material coupling: hard carbon/alloy anodes, polyanion/layered cathodes and oxide/sulfide/polymer electrolytes need to be recombined;
• Engineering delivery: from coin cells to pouch cell validation and pilot lines, equipment, processes and materials must iterate together.
As he often stresses: "Sodium-ion is not a stand-in for lithium-ion, and solid-state is not marketing packaging; the real difficulty is putting materials, interfaces and production lines into the same coordinate system and doing the maths."
Closely aligned with the forum's new energy materials theme
Prof. Tang's talk will address three clear questions for the forum:
• The state of sodium solid-state: is it at proof of concept or at the threshold of pilot production?
• Technical bottlenecks: which will break through first, electrolyte ionic conductivity, interface resistance, anode expansion or large-scale manufacturing?
• Industrialization path: from laboratory pouch cells to storage cabinets, low-speed vehicles and backup power systems, when will the turning point come?
This also fits the positioning of INFOR's new industrial park, not only making grinding and dispersion equipment but taking part in the collaborative space of new energy materials, cell manufacturing and intelligent equipment.
This November in Gucheng, the door to sodium solid-state opens at INFOR's new park
From interface modification in the laboratory to electrolyte film formation on pilot lines and equipment validation at INFOR's new industrial park, Prof. Tang's more than thirty years of energy storage research are turning sodium solid-state batteries from papers in top journals into process parameters ready for mass production. This time he brings a systematic assessment of the sodium solid-state technology route to Gucheng to meet intelligent equipment engineers face to face and discuss how material genetics and manufacturing equipment can truly be coupled.
2026 New Energy and New Materials Industry Development Forum and INFOR Hubei Industrial Park Opening Ceremony
Date: 16-17 November 2026 | Venue: Gucheng, Xiangyang, Hubei, China
Speaker: Prof. Tang Yougen (Grade II Professor, Central South University; Director, Institute of Chemical Power Sources and Materials; President, Hunan Battery Industry Association)
Topic: Exploring Sodium Solid-State: R&D and Pathways for Sodium Solid-State Batteries in Energy Storage
Host: Guangdong INFOR Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.
Co-host: Shanghai Metals Market (SMM)
Co-organizer: Central South University
Supported by: Gucheng County People's Government
