David is part of the newly formed Energy Materials group, moving from Electrochemical Energy Materials within the Energy Innovation Centre (EIC) at WMG. Prior to this he was in the Chemistry Department of the University of Warwick, undertaking masters, doctorate and postdoctoral work under Professor Richard Walton. His research over the last 7 years was primarily focused on the synthesis and characterisation of mixed metal oxides, metal organic frameworks and co-ordination polymers, for use in PEM fuel cells and Biomass conversion. Before transitioning into battery research, with focus on electrode formulation and the production of demonstrator cells, working on several innovate projects, most recently the SCALE-UP project, aiming to produce both high power/high energy Li-ion cells. Now working on the CatMat project for the Faraday institution, with the aim of scaling up the synthesis of high energy density cathode materials for lithium ion batteries.
Lin Chen received her Ph.D. degree in Chemistry and Materials from Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Genova, Italy). She is currently holding a research fellow position on NATIVE project in Energy Materials Group in School of Metallurgy and Materials, conducting research on the development of materials and electrolytes for Na ion batteries.
Yongxiu Chen obtained his PhD degree in Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Science in June 2019 and the research in his PhD focused on the inhibition of lithium dendrites in rechargeable batteries. Then, he gained the postdoc research fellow position for the Multi-Scale Modelling (MSM) project in the Energy Materials Group. Now, he is incorporating the parameters from experiments into simulation to establish reliable models for LIBs.
As a new Research Fellow in The Energy Materials Group, Stavros is working on the IDMBAT-HESTIA project, which aims to successfully design a database for battery manufacturing, combining information from electrode manufacturing to electrochemical testing. Such database will result to more efficient battery design under the scope of industrial and academic environments.
Dominika obtained her PhD in microengineering at Cranfield University. She gained a postdoctoral experience at Poznan University of Technology, working on energy storage devices, i.e. electrochemical, hybrid and micro-capacitors.
Then, she joined the Electrochemical Materials and Battery Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick to work on digital deposition of battery electrodes.
Currently, Dominika is working on recycling and remanufacturing of batteries from electric vehicles at the University of Birmingham. Dominika’s research interests include: development of new processing routes for sustainable energy devices, microfabrication and 3D imaging techniques.
Azarmidokht Gholamipour-Shirazi
Azar carried out her undergraduate qualification Bachelor (Hons) and first postgraduate qualification Master (research) in Chemical Engineering. She went on to complete her PhD in organic and macromolecular chemistry at the University of Lille, France. Since then, Azar has worked as a postdoctoral /research fellow in a wide range of research laboratories in France, Brazil, Norway, China, and the UK. In 2017, she joined the University of Birmingham, to take up a Research Fellow position funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in the school of Chemical Engineering. This project was a collaboration between the Universities of Birmingham, Nottingham (Centre for Additive Manufacturing) and Reading, and industries. Recently, Azar has joined the School of Metallurgy & Materials as a Research Fellow in the Energy Materials Group. She is working on battery manufacturing and developing processes and data.
Scott Gorman
Scott is a Research Fellow in the Energy Materials Group at the University of Birmingham. His research interests are focused on the development and scale-up of new materials, manufacturing processes, and testing of energy storage/conversion technologies. Scott received his PhD from the University of Southampton, in electrochemical engineering developing electrically rechargeable zinc-air flow battery technology. Since 2015 he has contributed toward projects on energy storage technologies spanning from micro-batteries to automotive with a variety of chemistries. This included projects at WMG (University of Warwick) as well as at the spin-out company Ilika Technologies Ltd. He is currently working in the area of all-solid-state lithium-ion battery materials and manufacturing aiming to produce solid-state batteries via scalable manufacturing processes.
Sam Hare
Sam received his PhD in chemistry from the University of Bristol, as part of the Soft Matter Group. His work focused on the stability of colloid-polymer gels, used in personal care and agrochemical products. Studying the effect of temperature on both the dynamics and rheological properties of these complex colloidal systems. Sam splits his time between the Energy Materials Group, and the Mixing and Multiphase Group in Chemical Engineering as part of the NEXTRODE project, focusing on the mixing and rheological properties of electrode inks. Utilising techniques such as Particle Imaging Velocimetry and Positron Emission Particle Tracking, to better understand how mixing can affect final cell performance, as well as impact other processes in battery electrode manufacture.
Julian Key
Julian is a Research Fellow in the Energy Materials Group at the University of Birmingham. He is currently a member of the Multi-Scale Modelling (MSM) team investigating Li-ion battery parameterization and in situ reference electrode development. His PhD thesis research at the University of Western Cape (Cape Town) focussed on the development of aqueous hybrid batteries. Following his PhD, his research on Li-ion and Na-ion batteries and supercapacitors continued at various universities in China.
Brij Kishore
Brij Kishore received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. He joined as a research fellow in the Energy Materials Group. He is currently working on the NATIVE Innovate UK project which looks into Na-ion batteries for automotive power applications. His research interests are development of novel electrode materials, electrolyte additives, and formation methodologies for Na-ion batteries.
Yazid Lakhdar
Yazid obtained a Master’s Degree in Materials Science in 2014 from Polytech Lille in France, which included several academic and industrial placements on the themes of polymer composites and fibre reinforcements. In 2015, he joined the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Additive Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham to do a PhD on 3D Printing of Advanced Ceramics. Yazid joined the Energy Materials Group as a Research Fellow in November 2019 to work on the UKRI SUPErB project, investigating novel electrode materials and conditioning procedures for ultra-power lithium-ion batteries.
Email:y.lakhdar@bham.ac.uk
Carl Reynolds
Carl is from Great Bridge in the West Midlands and studied Chemistry at Durham University from 2010-2014. He completed a masters (MChem) including an industrial placement at Unilever working on the physical chemistry underpinning laundry detergency. He returned to Durham to complete a PhD in the group of Dr Richard Thompson, with Michelin, on the link between polymer structure and rheological properties in tyre rubbers. In 2018, he moved back to the West Midlands to start a postdoc at the University of Birmingham with Prof Rachel O’Reilly and BP, on the porous flow of polymer particles for enhanced oil recovery. He joined the Energy Materials Group in February 2020 to work on the rheology and coating of electrode slurries for the Nextrode project.
His interests include experimental rheology (shear, extension, MAOS/LAOS), polymeric materials, high weight-solid slurries, film coating and electrode manufacturing.
Rob Sommerville
Rob studied Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, gaining Masters Degrees in 2011 and 2012, and a PhD in 2017 on the Utilisation of fly ash in the manufacture of zeolites. Continuing with the theme of reuse of waste, Rob worked at the University of Warwick for a year on Lithium-ion battery recycling under Emma Kendrick, before returning to Birmingham to join the ReLiB project.
PhD students
Chris Constable
Christopher joined the Energy Materials Group in partnership with Faradion to pursue his Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in October 2018 at WMG, University of Warwick. Christopher’s current work is looking into innovative processes to improve the energy density of the sodium ion battery through the cell manufacturing process. A particular aspect of his current work is the investigation of sustainable battery systems and their effect on energy density and therefore financial viability upon scale-up.
Christopher received his degree in Chemical Engineering (MEng) from the University of Surrey in July 2018. His work in electrochemical systems and manufacturing has been further shaped by his placement in industry, working in the Fuel Cell Development team at Ceres Power for one year. His dissertation topic was on the use of aqueous binders in the formulation of cathode slurries for lithium ion batteries.
Joanna Galantowicz
Joanna joined the Energy Materials Group in partnership with Lubrizol company to pursue her Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in September 2020 under Professor Emma Kendrick and Professor Mark Simmons supervision. Her work will consist of research into the effect of additives for the ink formulations and their influence on the final microstructure and performance of the electrodes.
Joanna received her degree in Material Science (MEng) and Biotechnology (BEng) from the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. She gained experience in lithium-ion batteries field during her placement in the industry working as Senior Development Engineer for LG Chem.
Giar Halsofi
Giar joined the Energy Materials Group as a new PhD student in September 2020 under the supervision of Professor Emma Kendrick, Mr. Daniel Thomas Reed, and Dr Phoebe Allan. Currently he started working on the NEXTRODE project which aims to develop knowledge into next generation electrodes for lithium ion batteries. Giar will be part of the WP2 group that investigates electrode manufacturing processes, new electrode processing methods and developing metrology tools.
Giar completed his masters in Material Science and Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington; where he fabricated and assembled a standard Lithium battery with the aim of improving its energy storage capacity.
Halima Khanom
Halima has recently joined the Energy Materials Group as a new PhD student in September 2020. She is currently working with the Faraday Institution on Nextrode. The aims of the project is to research new and innovative methods for the manufacture of next generation electrodes for Li-ion batteries.
Halima completed her degree in Chemistry (MSci) at the University of Birmingham, where she also worked alongside two other research groups in the School of Chemistry. For a summer project she investigated the use of hydrogels, as a sensing application for wound dressings. Whilst, for her final year project she looked at a DNA Primer Exchange Reaction, to create a highly fluorescence DNA detection system. After graduation, she then spent a year as an Associate Technologist, developing speciality construction materials.
Keiron Noble-Vickrage
Keiron joined the Energy Materials Group as a PhD student in October 2017 under the supervision of Professor Emma Kendrick, Professor Richard Walton (University of Warwick), and Dr. Claire Dancer (WMG – University of Warwick). His current project consists of work on hybrid sodium-potassium battery materials, primarily looking at sulphates and mixed polyanion compounds. The aim of the project is to explore the relationship of two different intercalating ions and the effect on the material’s voltage. The project hopes to produce novel high voltage materials for the purpose of grid storage while also demonstrating the first hybrid-ion battery.
Keiron started his research career initially investigating novel perovskite and pyrochlore nickel-based materials for the dry reforming of syn-gas into stable chemical feedstocks. This research was carried out during his undergraduate master’s (MChem) at Keele University under the supervision of Dr. Richard Darton. However, previous projects he has undertaken have included investigation of methane reforming catalysts and the biosynthesis of cuticular hydrocarbons in Formica lugubris and Myrimca ribra via synthesising deuterium labelled substrates.
Kieran O’Regan
Kieran joined the Energy Materials Group as a new PhD student in October 2018. He is currently working under the Faraday Institution on the Multi-Scale Modelling fast-start project. He is looking into the effect of electrode manufacturing on model parameters, specifically, the effect of calendaringon electrode microstructure and its influence on battery performance – the projects aim is to determine a structure-property relationship for electrodes.
Kieran has been researching energy materials and devices for the past three years at Nottingham University, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Southampton University, Johnson Matthey, and the Research Complex at Harwell. He completed a degree in Natural Sciences (MSci) and a dissertation on ‘developing novel ionic liquid electrolytes for thermoelectrochemical cells’, afterwards spending a year studying advanced characterisation (X-rays, neutrons, and muons) of lithium-ion battery materials.
Samuel Roberts
Samuel joined the Energy Materials Group as a new PhD student in October 2017. He is currently undertaking a joint PhD with WMG, at the University of Warwick, and the University of Birmingham. His research is focused on the manufacture of electrodes for Na-ion batteries.
Samuel completed his integrated masters in Chemical Engineering at the University of Birmingham; where he researched zeolite materials for thermochemical energy storage, focused on improvements to thermal conductivity.
Ethan Williams
Ethan completed a degree in Chemistry (MChem) at Durham University, in which his final year was undertaken in industry at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). During this placement, he completed a master’s project on the ‘green production of Li-ion batteries using alternative solvent and binder systems’, whilst also investigating the role of graphene as a conductive additive.
He has recently joined the University of Birmingham as a PhD student in September 2020, where he will be working on the Faraday Institution’s CATMAT project, developing next generation cathode materials for lithium ion batteries. The research will investigate new synthesis methodologies for high voltage stabilised cathode materials, as well evaluating their power, performance, and lifetime capabilities.
Technician
Ben Pye
Ben graduated with a Batchelor's Degree in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham in 2010. After a brief time working for the UAE education authority's school inspection system, he joined a secondary school as the lead science technician.
Ben joined the Energy Materials group in 2019 supporting the ReLiB and R2LiB recycling projects as a technician, and supported the group in a variety of other aspects. In 2020, Ben joined the Nextrode project, providing technical assistance in coating and printing.
Support
Zahira Latif
Zahira joined the Energy Materials Group in July 2019, and provides research support to the group. Zahira graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science/Software Engineering with Business Studies from the University of Birmingham. She worked as a Software Developer with a leading Public Sector organisation. She later completed a Master’s Degree in Economic Development (Research and Policy) from the University of Birmingham. Prior to joining the group, she worked as a researcher at King’s College London, specialising in researching the healthcare needs of black minority ethnic populations.
Former Group members
Tanveer Pathan (Research Fellow, March 2018 - March 2020)
Chenghui Chen (Research Fellow, July 2018 - May 2019)