In this work, we report a family of Li-rich double perovskites where Li-ions are present in both A- and B-sites enabling their ionic conduction and function as battery materials. Tailoring their chemical composition affords both a redox-active anode using W6+ cations and a solid-state electrolyte with high electrochemical stability and compatibility with metallic Li by introducing Te6+. Sharing crystal structure results also in good inter-compatibility! The work has involved a wide range of characterisation techniques including electrochemistry, x-ray and neutron diffraction, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, muon spin relaxation and DFT calculations to shed light into the intercalation mechanism and electronic structures. Full text here (open access).
Thanks to Yashiro Highschool in Nagano for their invitation to give an outreach talk as part of the JSPS Science Dialogue program. I had a great time talking about batteries and chemistry, and we even managed to power some LEDs and calculators with lemons!
In this work, freeze casting technique was employed to obtain 3D porous LLZO solid-electrolyte scaffolds that were infiltrated with NMC-622 cathode material to form thick composite electrodes for all-solid-state batteries. Full text here.
All-solid-state batteries face several issues which need to be tackled before they can be economically viable. In this perspective article, we revise the role of solid-electrolyte in electrolyte-electrode composites required to achieve high energy densities. We also report our preliminary studies on the use of freeze tape casting technique to prepare LLZO solid electrolyte-NMC cathode composites. Full text accessible here.
A review paper with the team at NPL has been recently published as Open Access in the journal Batteries. The work summarises past and recent advances in the field of reference electrodes for LiB exploring the advantages, disadvantages and future prospects for their implementation on commercial batteries. The work can be freely accessed here.
I've joined the group of Prof Nishihara at The University of Tokyo to work on 2D materials for energy storage applications in collaboration with Dr Sakaushi at NIMS.
This October and November I passed my PhD viva and graduated from the University of Glasgow at the winter ceremony!
Complete cover here. Post image reproduced with permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry.
My latest work on a novel Na-rich double pervovskite has been accepted for publication in Chem. Comm. This work comprises the synthesis and characterisation of a novel Na-rich double perovskite with the formula Na1.5La1.5TeO6 with Na ions in both A- and B-sites. The presence of Na ions on both sites enables lower energy barriers for Na-ions diffusion as demonstrated by electrochemical impedance and muon-spin relaxation spectroscopies. Go check it, it is published as Open Access!
Starting from May 2018, I'm a Higher Research Scientist in the electrochemistry group at the UK National Physical Laboratory to work in metrology and diagnostic tools for Li-ion batteries.
This February I've given a talk at the Gordon Research Seminar in Batteries in Ventura (CA) and also presented a poster on the synthesis and advanced characterisation of novel Li-rich complex oxides for all-solid-state batteries.