Dr. Mengzheng Ouyang
Dr Mengzheng Ouyang is a Chinese-born materials scientist and engineer, and the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of M-Spin, an Imperial College London spinout developing ultra-high surface area metallic mat materials for electrochemical applications including hydrogen electrolysers, fuel cells, and batteries. The lead inventor of M-Spin's core technology, Ouyang conceived and developed the electrospinning-based process that enables the manufacture of nanoporous metallic mats with up to 1,000 times the surface area of conventional electrode materials — a breakthrough that originated during his doctoral research at Imperial.
Ouyang completed his PhD research in the group of Professor Nigel Brandon at Imperial College London's Department of Earth Science and Engineering, specialising in electrode design and manufacture for electrochemical applications. During his PhD work, he developed the novel combination of solution recipe, post-treatment processes, and fabrication methodology that allowed electrospinning — a technique previously used only with carbon and polymer fibres — to be applied to metals for the first time, producing robust nanoporous metal sheets with exceptional performance across a range of electrochemical devices. He went on to work as an Associate Researcher at Imperial, building a research profile of 57 publications and over 900 citations in the fields of materials synthesis, nanomaterials, and electrochemical systems.
Recognising the commercial significance of the materials platform he had developed, Ouyang co-founded M-Spin alongside Dr Robin Francis and Professor Nigel Brandon to commercialise the technology. As CTO, he leads the technical development of M-Spin's metallic and ceramic mat products, directing the company's work to expand the range of metal species the process can handle, demonstrate long-term stability under commercial electrolysis conditions, and scale production while maintaining precise control of the nanoscale microstructures that give the materials their exceptional properties.
M-Spin raised £1.2 million from Parkwalk Advisors and the Imperial College Enterprise Fund in late 2024, and operates from the Imperial Incubator at White City Campus. In water electrolysis trials, M-Spin's materials have demonstrated up to fivefold increases in hydrogen production rate and around 10% higher efficiency compared to conventional electrode substrates, projecting potential cost reductions of up to 30% in green hydrogen generation.
