Xiaoting Zhai

Dr. Xiaoting Zhai


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

1Year (2026-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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19 May 2026 in Buildings
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
XZXiaoting Zhai
Xiaoting Zhai
Junxue ZhangJunxue Zhang
Junxue Zhang
AAAshish T. Asutosh
Ashish T. Asutosh
WWWeidong Wu
Weidong Wu
The frequent occurrence of extreme climate events poses a severe challenge to the reliability of building energy systems. Hydrogen energy, with its long-term storage capacity, has become a key technology carrier for enhancing building resilience. This study constructs a resilience–environment–economy co-optimization framework that couples dynamic simulation and emergy analysis. Through a five-in-one approach of physical modeling, climate scenario generation, resilience quantification, emergy accounting, and multi-objective optimization, the resilience performance of building hydrogen energy systems under the scenario of extreme heat waves combined with grid failure is evaluated. The results show that the thermal time constant deviation of the electrolyzer is 4.06%, the correlation coefficient between the generated heat wave scenario sequence and the historical measured data is 0.94, the prediction deviation of the once-in-a-century extreme temperature is 0.5%, the environmental load rate is 4.33, the Pareto front contains 127 non-dominated solutions, and the comprehensive performance of the co-optimal solution is improved by 42% to 88%. Engineering suggestions: For public buildings in hot summer and cold winter regions, the hydrogen energy system should adopt a configuration of 50–60 kW electrolyzers and 50–70 kg hydrogen storage tanks, with a key load guarantee rate of no less than 95%, and the ecological cost is 35% lower than that of diesel backup. This study provides a quantitative decision-making tool for the resilience planning of building hydrogen energy systems under extreme climate conditions and can be extended to other high climate risk areas.

Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Junxue ZhangJunxue Zhang
Junxue Zhang
YGYan Gong
Yan Gong
HWHairuo Wang
Hairuo Wang
AAAshish T. Asutosh
Ashish T. Asutosh
GSGe Song
Ge Song
XZXiaoting Zhai
Xiaoting Zhai
This study develops an integrated framework combining emergy analysis, carbon footprint accounting, and long short-term memory neural network modeling to investigate the effects of nature-based solutions on coastal ecosystem services and blue carbon functions from the perspective of river–coast connectivity. Three transects along a connectivity gradient were established in the Yellow River Delta, a typical large river delta in temperate China, covering riparian zones, estuarine transition areas, intertidal wetlands, and seagrass beds, with multi-source data collected over three consecutive hydrological years. Emergy–carbon coupling analysis based on this case study indicates that the high-connectivity transect shows a higher emergy yield ratio and net carbon sink compared to the low-connectivity transect, with salt marshes being most sensitive to connectivity change. Threshold analysis, specific to this delta, identifies a three-phase response pattern of carbon burial rate with increasing sediment connectivity, and reveals that wave attenuation efficiency declines notably when hydrological connectivity falls below approximately 0.5, although this value may vary across different coastal settings. A higher sea level rise rate raises the critical connectivity level required to maintain carbon sink function. The long short-term memory neural network trained on observational data achieves better prediction accuracy for blue carbon accumulation rates than traditional statistical methods, and SHAP value analysis suggests the possible existence of synergistic effects among connectivity dimensions. Based on these findings, three optimization strategies including tiered restoration, a dynamic pathway, and spatial configuration are proposed as case-specific recommendations for the Yellow River Delta. Framework-based simulations indicate the potential for connectivity-informed strategy adjustments to improve restoration efficiency under local conditions. This study concludes that river–coast connectivity represents an important lever regulating the ecological benefits of nature-based solutions, but emphasizes that all quantitative thresholds and benefit magnitudes reported here are case-specific estimates that require recalibration when applied to other coastal systems.

25 June 2026 in Energies
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
LZLijia Zhang
Lijia Zhang
Junxue ZhangJunxue Zhang
Junxue Zhang
HWHairuo Wang
Hairuo Wang
AAAshish T. Asutosh
Ashish T. Asutosh
GSGe Song
Ge Song
XZXiaoting Zhai
Xiaoting Zhai
Against the background of climate change intensifying extreme hail events, the photovoltaic module industry faces a critical trade-off between improving hail resistance and maintaining environmental sustainability. This study establishes an emergy–life cycle coupling assessment framework to systematically evaluate the environmental sustainability of six typical hail resistance enhancement designs across four hail risk scenarios in China. Five hierarchical hypotheses are proposed and validated through quantitative analysis. The optimal design point occurs at 30 mm hail resistance using 3.2 mm tempered glass, achieving a minimum unit environmental impact per impact resistance UEIC of 9.63 × 1012 sej/mm. The ranking divergence index SDR between coupled emergy–LCA and conventional LCA methods is 0.267, with ecosystem service dependence ESD reaching 0.241 for composite backsheet designs, revealing natural capital overlooked by traditional methods. A complete ranking reversal occurs at a threshold hail frequency of 1.3 events per year, above which the 3.2 mm glass design outperforms standard modules with life cycle emergy input LCEA of 3.20 × 1014 sej versus 3.41 × 1014 sej under high-risk scenarios. Material type dominates environmental impact over structural parameters by a factor of 2.32, with recycled aluminum frames reducing ELCI by 12.4%. The dual-optimum design is identified as the 3.2 mm tempered glass scheme, achieving a combined sustainability score CSS of 0.782 and emergy yield ratio EYR of 3.86, outperforming the industry average of 3.61. Multi-objective optimization using NSGA-II yields a Pareto front of 12 non-dominated solutions, with the 3.2 mm glass design maintaining Pareto optimal status in 72% of Monte Carlo iterations. This research provides a quantitative decision-making framework recommending standard modules for regions below one annual hail event, the 3.2 mm glass design for regions between one and four annual events, and steel frame combinations above four annual events, demonstrating that moderate enhancement achieves the optimal balance between hail protection and environmental sustainability.

Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Junxue ZhangJunxue Zhang
Junxue Zhang
UKUsman Khan
Usman Khan
XZXiaoting Zhai
Xiaoting Zhai
YGYan Gong
Yan Gong
AAAshish T. Asutosh
Ashish T. Asutosh
GSGe Song
Ge Song
A comprehensive emergy-based evaluation framework was developed for coastal engineering–wetland coupled systems to quantitatively assess the carbon efficiency and sustainability of three representative engineering models: traditional hard engineering (Scenario A), ecological restoration engineering (Scenario B), and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) engineering (Scenario C). Through field investigations, engineering records, and remote sensing interpretation, key indicators including emergy-based carbon efficiency, Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI), spatial coupling degree, and path dependence coefficients were calculated, combined with system dynamics modeling. The results showed that the NbS model achieved the highest emergy-based carbon efficiency (0.547), which was 2.0 times that of Scenario B (0.271) and 260 times that of Scenario A (0.0021), with ESI values of 2.79, 0.814, and 0.084, respectively. A phased nonlinear relationship was identified between intervention intensity and system benefits, with a synergy–trade-off transition threshold of γ1 = 0.58 and a high-input dependency trap threshold of γ2 = 0.78. Spatial coupling degree was identified as the most critical mediating variable, with optimal configuration parameters of spatial coupling degree 0.68–0.75, engineering–wetland distance 12–18 m, and hydrological connectivity 0.65–0.75. Path dependence analysis revealed that the initial renewable emergy proportion significantly influenced later-stage ESI (α1 = 1.86, p = 0.004), with trap-type sample points showing 5–18% declines. System dynamics modeling demonstrated that the moderate-input scenario achieved optimal long-term performance, surpassing the high-input scenario in carbon sequestration after year 20, and under the RCP8.5 climate scenario, the ecology-priority restoration strategy maintained a carbon pool retention rate of 85%. Based on these findings, a three-level hierarchical retrofitting strategy for traditional embankments and a full lifecycle emergy management system were proposed, providing a quantitative scientific basis for engineering model selection, intervention intensity control, spatial configuration optimization, and long-term planning in coastal blue carbon restoration projects.