FUTURECAT - Key Persons
Previously, Adam obtained his integrated masters degree in chemistry from the University of Durham (2014-2018). His current area of interest is the fabrication of vertically aligned nanocomposite thin films to probe lithium diffusion through the electrode/electrolyte interface, and exploring their potential applications within the solid-state thin film battery industry. Specifically, he is interested in the development of 3D nanostructured materials with interdigitated solid-state electrolytes and electrodes. Adam's PhD is under supervision by Professor Judith Driscoll.
Benjamin Denison received his MSci in chemistry from the University of Nottingham, where he worked on organic redox active additives for LiS batteries during his fourth year project. He now continues to research battery technology within the Nottingham Applied Materials and Interfaces group, with his PhD research focusing on electrolyte development for Li based batteries. He is part of the Faraday Institution PhD enriched programme (Cohort 6).
Beth Murdock obtained her MChem at Lancaster University. She is now at Imperial College London where she continues her work as a Postgraduate Researcher under the supervision of Dr Nuria Tapia-Ruiz. Her PhD will focus on investigating high-voltage spinel cathodes for Li-ion batteries, using local order techniques (PDF). Alongside her PhD, Beth works part-time for Exawatt as a research analyst, conducting techno-economic and supply chain analysis of battery technologies.
Chirag is a PhD student in the department of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Sheffield. He is part of Alisyn Nedoma's group, he is working on nanostructured conductive polymers as cathode binders. He completed his MChem at the University of Liverpool, including a semester abroad and a year in industry at a specialty chemicals company.
Chris studied for his MChem at Lancaster University, where he continues to work under the supervision of Dr John Griffin and Dr Nuria Tapia Ruiz in collaboration with Prof. Rob Short. His project is looking at plasma polymer coatings for extending the life of battery electrodes.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Alex Squires is a PDRA in the Department of Chemistry at UCL. His work involves the characterisation of local atomic structure in disordered Li-ion cathode materials, and its implications for electrochemical performance using computational modelling techniques.
Dr Alisyn Nedoma is an early-career lecturer in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Her research applies thermodynamic and kinetics models to fabricate and characterise functional polymeric nanomaterials.
Dr Anita Blakeston is an experienced project manager. She has worked in a range of roles from electronics manufacturing to medical technology and data analytics research. She is a qualified chartered accountant and has a PhD in biomimetic nanotechnology.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution & WMG Research Fellow
- Research Fellow in the Electrochemical Materials Group at WMG
Dr Ashok S. Menon is a Research fellow in the Electrochemical Materials group at WMG, University of Warwick. He is working on understanding the degradation and oxygen-redox mechanisms of Ni-rich cathode materials using X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic techniques. In July 2023, Ashok became the FutureCat EDI Champion.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Beth is a PDRA in the Department of Materials Science Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Her work involves the synthesis and characterisation of higher energy density electrode materials for Li-ion batteries with a focus on nickel-rich "beyond NMC-811" layered transition metal oxide compositions for high capacity cathodes.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
In May 2019 Dr Chris Thomas started work at Sheffield on Faraday institution projects. First on SOLBAT working on solid thiophosphate electrolytes before moving onto the NEXGENNA project working on sodium phosphate and fluoride cathodes. Chris started with working with FutureCat in October 2023 investigating oxalate and other complex anions for lithium cathodes.
Dr Darren A. Walsh obtained his PhD from Dublin City University (Ireland) in 2002 followed by a postdoctoral position at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently a Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Nottingham. His research interests include the development and applications of electrochemical methods, with particular emphasis on the development of electrocatalysts and electrolytes for electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Within the FutureCat program, he will understand electro-oxidation of electrolyte solutions at highly positive potentials.
Job Titles:
- Researcher
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Gabriel Pérez is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Crystallography Group at ISIS. He specialises in neutron scattering techniques for the characterisation of energy materials. His current research focuses on the design and commissioning of new devices for in-situ neutron and muon battery studies as well as the development of new data analysis methods.
Graham N. Newton obtained his PhD from the University of Glasgow (UK) in 2009. After a period on a JSPS postdoctoral research fellowship and as Assistant Professor at the University of Tsukuba (Japan), he moved to the University of Nottingham (UK) in 2015 where he is now Associate Professor. He is Co-I on the LiSTAR and FutureCat projects and his research interests include the synthesis and characterisation of organic-inorganic hybrid molecular materials, the fabrication of redox-active nanomaterials, and the development of electrolytes and additives for next-generation battery technologies. His focus on the FutureCat project will be on electrolyte development.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
- Research Fellow
Dr Hekang Zhu obtained his Ph.D. from the City University of Hong Kong in 2021. His research focuses on the relationship among synthesis parameters, structure and electrochemical performance of Ni-rich cathode materials for Li-ion batteries. He worked as an ITF postdoc fellow at the City University of Hong Hong and an engineer at Tinci Company after graduation, where he continued to study Ni-rich materials and expanded his research to the high voltage Li-ion batteries system, eg. spinel high voltage LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 cathode materials and high voltage electrolytes for dual-ion batteries. He joined Xiao Hua's group as a Senior Research Associate at Lancaster University in Nov. 2023, to work on the Faraday Institution's FutureCat project, where he will carry out in-situ PDF/XRD experiments on the high-Ni cathode materials.
Job Titles:
- Project Leader
- Project Leader, Co - Lead Work Package 2
Dr Innes McClelland (Project Leader, and Work Package 2 Co-Lead) is an early career researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. He is working on understanding structure-property relationships in battery materials using emerging methods such as operando muon spectroscopy.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Joe is a PDRA in the Micromechanics Centre at Cambridge University Engineering Department. He specialises in materials characterisation and linking the macroscopic behaviour of materials to their microstructure. His current research focus is the development of novel cathode technologies as part of the FutureCat initiative. He obtained his PhD degree from Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Norman Fleck FRS, studying the mechanics and processing of direct-spun carbon nanotube mats.
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Kieran D. Jones is working as a postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) at the University of Nottingham as a member of the Nottingham Applied Material Interface (NAMI) group. Kieran is a synthetic organic chemist who completed his PhD at the University of Western Australia (2020) developing transition metal mediated methodologies for the synthesis of important and unique structures. From 2021-2023 Kieran worked as a PDRA at the University of Nottingham with Prof. Hon Wai Lam and Assoc. Prof. Graham Newton working across multiple areas including redox active materials, energy storage, and bridged or caged polycyclic hydrocarbons. His focus on the FutureCat project will be on electrolyte development.
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Kumar Raju is a Research Associate in the Institute of Manufacturing (IfM) at the University of Cambridge. His work involves the processing of advanced cathode materials, including the development of novel methods to structure cathode materials and to study their processing into advanced electrodes.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Laura Wheatcroft is a PDRA in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Her background is in advanced electron microscopy characterisation methods for lithium-ion battery materials. Her current research focus is on the characterisation and development of new electrode microstructures for future cathode materials.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Laurie Middlemiss is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Sheffield. His PhD focused on the performance optimisation of sodium-ion batteries. He has since worked on improving the manufacturing of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries through better understanding electrode microstructures. He is currently researching conductive binders for Li-ion electrodes.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Nottingham
- Co - Investigator
Dr Lee R. Johnson is an Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Nottingham with 11 years' experience developing next-generation batteries. He is a Co-I on the LiSTAR, FutureCat and Degradation projects and led a FI seed project on the lithium-air battery. His research interests are focused on electrolyte solution properties and interfacial electrochemistry which will be used to identify stable electrolyte formulations within the FutureCat project.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institute Research Fellow
Li Zhang obtained her Ph.D. from the Technische Universität Berlin (Germany). Her project consisted of exploring low-cost cathodes for Na-ion batteries, with special focus on their local structures. Part of her project was carried out at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and the Helmholtz-Institut Münster (Germany). She joined the Tapia-Ruiz's group as Research Associate of Lancaster University in June 2020, to work in the Faraday Institution's FutureCat project, where she will investigate novel spinel cathodes used in Li-ion batteries using local order techniques (EXAFS and PDF). Li has recently moved to Imperial College London, continuing as part of Nuria Tapia-Ruiz group.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
- Postdoctoral Research Associate
- Research Fellow
Dr Mirtunjay Kumar currently serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) in the Department of Materials Science at the University of Sheffield. Prior to this, he was affiliated with the University of Manchester and earned a joint M.Tech-PhD degree from IIT Kanpur in India. Specializing in the mechanical properties and deformation behavior of materials, Dr Kumar employs a multi-scale crystal plasticity simulation approach in his research. He is presently engaged with FutureCat, where his work focuses on the analysis of complex metal oxide battery materials. Leveraging advanced microscopy methods and mechanical testing, he assesses 3D electrode microstructures, defect content, and mechanical resilience across various cathode materials. His expertise in micromechanical testing, electron microscopy, and X-ray tomography significantly enhances his current research endeavors.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Nicola Kelly is a PDRA in the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford. She has research experience in the synthesis and characterisation of various solid-state materials including lanthanide ceramics, layered oxychalcogenides, and intercalation compounds. Her project with FutureCat aims to develop synthetic routes towards computationally predicted polyanion compounds as possible cathode materials.
Dr Nuria Tapia-Ruiz (co-Investigator) is a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at Imperial College London and project leader of NEXGENNA (Faraday Institution Na-ion battery project). She is a member of the Alistore European battery and STFC battery networks. Her work focuses on developing novel and improved electrode oxide materials for Li- and Na-ion batteries and probing the underlying structure-property relationships that govern their performance.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Dr Peter Gross is working at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. His PhD project at the University of Augsburg (Germany) focussed on synthesis and characterisation of solid-state materials for optical applications. Subsequently, he worked on the Faraday Institution's NEXGENNa project developing both new anode and cathode materials for sodium ion battery applications. His research for FutureCat studies disordered rock salts as future cathode materials for lithium ion batteries.
Dr Phil Chater obtained his MSci degree in Chemistry and PhD on hydrogen storage materials from the University of Birmingham (U.K.). He worked as post-doc at the University of Birmingham and the University of Liverpool before joining Diamond Light Source in 2013. Phil is now the Principal Beamline Scientist for the I15-1 X-ray Pair Distribution Function beamline. The main theme underlying their research is the structural determination of energy materials using local structure and powder diffraction methods. As part of the FutureCat project, Phil will be working on the study of cathode structure through X-ray diffraction computed tomography.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
- Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Industrial Research Fellow
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
- Post Doctoral Research Associate
Dr Tobias Bird is a Post Doctoral Research Associate on the I15-1 beamline at Diamond Light Source. His previous work mainly focuses on understanding the structure-property relationship from a local structure perspective, and he has developed a method to classify and quantify local structural deviations from the average. His work with the Faraday Institution involves applying advanced analysis techniques to large datasets, in particular diffraction tomography.
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Industrial Research Fellow
I am a Faraday Institution Industrial Fellow working at the University of Sheffield alongside our industrial partner Exawatt. My work focuses on techno-economic evaluation of cathode active material manufacturing through process modelling, scale up and translation.
I have recently completed my PhD at the University of Sheffield (2017 - 2021) within the Energy 2050 group where my research involved a techno-economic evaluation study on a Biomass Chemical Looping Gasification (BCLG) technology for power generation. This research included process modelling, scale up and optimization. Prior to my PhD, I completed my MEng in Chemical Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2017.
As part of my Industrial Fellowship, I will be applying my previous experience in techno-economic evaluation coupled with the expertise from our industrial partner (Exawatt) in economic forecasting to build the blueprints for the next generation of cathode manufacturing plants here in the UK.
Job Titles:
- Lecturer
- Co - Investigator
Dr Xiao Hua is a Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, Lancaster University. His research focuses on elucidating the role of complex structures on the functional response of
Job Titles:
- Faraday Institution Research Fellow
- Researcher With Norman Fleck
Dr. Ashley Roach began working as a postdoctoral researcher with Norman Fleck in September 2023 at University of Cambridge. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of New Mexico, and a PhD in Materials Science from University of California Santa Barbara. She has worked on metal powder bed additive manufacturing, small scale mechanical tests and in-situ electron imaging, and Phase Field Dislocation Dynamics (PFDD) modeling. For her work with the FutureCat project she will be studying dendrite formation in Li ion batteries, and the electro-mechanical performance of future cathode materials.
Dr. Helen Playford (co-Investigator) is an Instrument Scientist on POLARIS at ISIS. Her research focuses on the characterisation of structure and disorder in oxides using neutron diffraction.
Hannah received her MChem degree from Lancaster University. In November 2022 she began her PhD at Imperial College London focusing on disordered rock-salt cathode materials for Li-ion batteries under the supervision of Nuria Tapia Ruiz.
Heather Grievson joined the project in 2021 as a laboratory technician in the University of Sheffield's chemical and biological engineering department. She first started at the university in 2014 in the chemistry department as a technician in the polymer research cluster and part of the departmental analytical service. In the FutureCat project, she assists researchers in the day-to-day running of the labs, updating the materials library and cycling new cathode materials.
James Nohl gained his MEng in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Sheffield and is continuing in Dr Cornelia Rodenburg's group as a Postgraduate Researcher. His research is concerned with applying low-voltage SEM secondary electron hyperspectral imaging (LV-SEM SEHI) to the characterisation of cathode materials and composites in order to obtain new perspectives on cathode morphology and chemistry.
Jiayi Cen completed her MChem in Chemistry with Industrial Experience at the University of Manchester. She joined Scanlon Materials Theory Group at University College London in Sep 2020. Her research focus is on the computational modelling of high-voltage spinel cathode materials for Li-ion batteries.
My background is in laboratory technical support with Sheffield's Chemical and Biological Engineering department where I joined 5 years ago as a trainee technician. Since then I've spent most of my time supporting lab-based research as the technical contact for 4 labs covering a range of areas from batteries to biofuels. My work with FutureCat is focussed on curating the materials library, ongoing testing of new materials and providing hands-on support in our laboratories at Sheffield.
Katja obtained her B.Eng. in Materials Engineering at TH Nuremberg in
Job Titles:
- Co - Lead Principal Investigator, Co - Lead Work Package 2