Honoring Professor Wilkinson's Electrochemical Legacy at UBC

💡 Advancing Next Gen Battery Tech 🔋 We are delighted to share that Dr Stuart Robertson has secured a fully funded four-year PhD project supported by The Faraday Institution, focusing on magnesium battery electrolytes.⚡ This award strengthens our research in energy materials and contributes to the development of next generation battery technologies, addressing key global challenges in energy storage and sustainability. 🌱 Congratulations to Stuart on this excellent achievement 👏 🔗 More information on the project including how to apply can be found here: https://lnkd.in/eTAexcEy University of Strathclyde Strathclyde Faculty of Science #EnergyMaterials #BatteryResearch #PhDResearch #FaradayInstitution #PureAndAppliedChemistry #UniversityOfStrathclyde

Batteries are no longer a marginal technology, they are a platform upon which the UK & many other nations are betting their industrial strategies & net‑zero commitments. The Faraday Institution is inviting undergraduate students to join the next generation of battery researchers: #SponsoredPost #Batteries #Research #Opportunity #Sustainable #Energy #NetZero Royal Society of Chemistry https://lnkd.in/eSYMi8_S

Did you know that Canada produced the world’s first commercial rechargeable lithium battery in the 1980s? Battery innovation is not new to us. Today, researchers across Canada are pushing the boundaries of what’s next in the global energy transition. Leading the charge is the Ontario Battery & Electrochemistry Research Centre (OBEC) at the University of Waterloo. “OBEC is building a state-of-the-art facility for next-generation battery technologies, with a focus on solid-state batteries and beyond-lithium chemistries,” says Dr. Michael Pope, Associate Professor Department of Chemical Engineering. “We’re helping bridge the gap between academic research and large-scale industry.” Read our profile on OBEC with Dr. Pope and Dr. Linda Nazar, Canada Research Chair in Solid State Energy Materials and Professor in the Department of Chemistry: https://hubs.ly/Q04ff_9y0 Photo: University of Waterloo

In recognition of his research impact at the University of Illinois, MechSE graduate student Beomhui Lee has been awarded a competitive TechnipFMC Fellowship for the 2026-27 academic year. A mechanical engineering doctoral student who is advised by MechSE assistant professor Lili Cai and teaching assistant professor Jiajun He, Lee earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Korea University. His research at Illinois is focused on the electrochemical conversion of natural gas (methane) to make value added products, and the evaluation of environmental impacts and economic feasibility of natural gas storage systems. Lee said the award will enable him to “devote more time to delving into nanopore-confined catalyst research related to oil and gas industry, and to utilize both experimental and simulation-based methodologies to achieve more profound insights.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gwsNbHSa

I first learned about this project when I met Prof. Brian Seger at the ACS Spring 2023 meeting in Indianapolis, and found it very interesting. Intermediate temperatures (~200 °C) remain largely underexplored in electrochemical systems. As an initial step, we investigated CO electrolysis on cobalt at elevated temperatures up to 80 °C. We observed the formation of long-chain hydrocarbons via a Fischer–Tropsch like mechanism, with an ASF chain growth probability of 0.55. This is my primary postdoctoral work and the most passionate work of mine so far. It represents the first phase of a broader effort that is now being continued by excellent Ph.D. students. I am super grateful to the CAPeX – Pioneer Center for Accelerating P2X Materials Discovery. 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤: https://lnkd.in/eqbKNydV For those who do not have access to RSC journals, we have a preprint version before the final submission to EES on ChemRxiv (https://lnkd.in/egaEXr3A). There are no significant changes in comparison to the published version. Over the past six months, I have developed a deeper appreciation for the role of preprints in enhancing accessibility. Check below for a technical summary and the broader context of our work.

Hey there again, I read a post from an esteemed University ETH Zurich :)🫡 They were showing their results of producing energy without electricity by guiding mechanical waves But I had a doubt such an energy superposed from parts would be again a mechanical wave, strength kind of potential energy if targeted on a point, right?.. Electricity is generated through potentials so only if that strength dislocates atoms of a material there will be an energy to use as electricity, piezoelectric.... right? Is that the need or have I misunderstood? Aren't mechanical waves hard to generate, especially pin pointing and guiding them; Is it efficient, worth the energy? ETH Zürich Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Oxford Indian Institute of Science (IISc) I know I've missed many other top universities, I didn't mean it - I know y'all too and you aren't any less, of course :) But didn't want to make it seem flashy Thank you🫡🤝

Designing Atomic Architectures for Global Energy Sustainability Establishing a robust environment for open discussion among researchers from diverse geographical locations is fundamental to the advancement of modern chemistry and physics. Our philosophy regarding scientific communication centers on the implementation of open online talks that are accessible to the entire international academic landscape. We are pleased to host a distinguished session of the Computational Materials Design Talks featuring Doctor Shivani Viswanathan. As a postdoctoral fellow, she specializes in the atomistic design and characterization of materials for next-generation energy storage. Her research focuses on the transition toward sustainable alternatives to traditional battery systems, which is essential as the demand for efficient energy solutions grows. The upcoming discussion will highlight her investigations into the development of innovative anode materials for sodium-ion batteries. Sodium-ion batteries represent a promising alternative to lithium-based technologies due to the natural abundance and cost-effectiveness of sodium resources. While lithium-ion systems currently dominate the market, the geographic concentration of lithium creates significant economic hurdles for the expansion of grid-scale storage. However, sodium ions possess a larger atomic radius compared to lithium ions, which introduces complex structural challenges within the internal framework of the battery. When these larger ions enter the host material during charge cycles, they cause significant mechanical strain and volume expansion, often leading to structural degradation.  To mitigate these issues, researchers utilize Density Functional Theory to model material behavior at the quantum level. This approach allows for the prediction of electronic properties and ion diffusion pathways before the physical synthesis of any material. By identifying the most stable atomic arrangements, we can design frameworks that accommodate sodium ions without experiencing catastrophic mechanical failure. Doctor Shivani Viswanathan has previously explored these phenomena in her research, including findings on the electronic properties of functional surfaces documented in the journal of the American Chemical Society Langmuir. #MaterialsScience #EnergyStorage #ComputationalPhysics #Sustainability #Chemistry #ScienceCommunication #SodiumIonBatteries

In thermoelectrics, people often focus on improving the material: higher electrical conductivity, lower thermal conductivity, better Seebeck coefficient, and ultimately higher zT. But an equally important challenge is: Can we locally connect these transport properties (from a single technique) and better understand where the performance actually comes from? In our recent paper published in @PRB as a letter, we tried to answer some of these questions by showing how micro four-point probe microscopy — M4PP — can serve as a platform for local thermoelectric characterization, enabling complete microscale evaluation of properties relevant to zT. For me, this work is not only about thermoelectric materials. It is also about showing how versatile M4PP can be as a materials characterization technique. Even more than two years after my PhD, I still find it exciting how much this technique can do. With one microscale probing platform, M4PP can help investigate local electrical transport, thermal transport, anisotropy, microstructural variations, and their connection to thermoelectric performance. I am glad to be part of developing this technique and excited about the possibilities it opens for material characterization. Thanks to the co-authors Braulio Beltr��n-Pitarch Dirch Hjorth Petersen Nini Pryds Paper link: https://lnkd.in/eRB5CAxw Capres A/S, a KLA Company ,DTU - Technical University of Denmark DTU Energy Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) #M4PP #MicroFourPointProbe #Thermoelectrics #ZT #MaterialsCharacterization #ThermalTransport #ElectricalTransport #MaterialsScience #EnergyMaterials #Research #PRB

This excellent work by Forhad, completed as part of his PhD, reflects the value of combining academic depth with applied research capability, developed in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Nottingham and CSIRO, is now published in Applied Thermal Engineering (Q1). Microwave-plasma technologies, when built on rigorous science, deep materials understanding, and a robust supply chain, can unlock new possibilities across energy, chemical industries, and advanced manufacturing. Microwave plasma, when deployed in the right industrial settings and operating environments, can enable products, processes, and efficiencies at an industrial scale that conventional technologies often cannot replicate.

I'm proud to share one of my latest articles written for the Advanced Grid Institute! This article covers some of the current research on grid reliability being conducted by researchers from Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Check it out! https://lnkd.in/gJtUw4KE