Research

Electrode materials, from the mine to the module

01 · Sodium-ion

Hard-carbon anodes for Na-ion batteries

  • High-energy spherical hard carbon (HC)
  • High-power, composite-like HCs

Hard carbon is the anode that makes sodium-ion batteries practical, but its performance is dictated by feedstock and heat treatment far more than by post-processing. We develop hard carbons from inexpensive precursors using scalable, simple synthesis and control the solvent- versus anion-derived SEI to push both capacity and rate.

  • High-performance HC from low-cost feedstock
  • Scalable and simple synthetic routes
  • Composite-like HCs for extremely low-temperature SIB operation
Na-ionHard carbonSEI designLow temperature

Related papers

  • In preparation (2026)
Spherical hard carbon for sodium-ion anodes: SEI structure and heating-stage micrographs of the synthesis
Spherical HC · surface (solvent-derived) vs. core (anion-derived) SEI · heated-stage synthesis
02 · Lithium-ion

Si-based anodes

  • CVD-based Si/C composite anodes
  • Electrode design for Si-containing anodes

Silicon promises the biggest jump in energy density for lithium-ion cells, yet most laboratory innovations never survive densification and long-term cycling. Our sub-nano Si work — grown by chemical vapor deposition with crystal-growth inhibition — was demonstrated all the way to a prototype battery pack. We continue to map the failure mechanisms of Si and to design electrodes and cells that either maximise energy or maximise power.

  • Scalable synthesis of advanced Si anodes by CVD
  • Implementation in commercial cell formats
  • Failure-mechanism analysis of Si-based systems
  • Electrode-level optimisation and high-energy / high-power cell design
CVDSub-nano SiSi/graphiteFast charging

Related papers

Sub-nano silicon in a carbon-based inactive matrix: Si–C bonds stop silicon size growth
CSi layer of sub-nano Si in a carbon matrix — Si–C bonds stop Si growth (Nature Energy 2021)
03 · Resources

Raw materials for lithium-ion batteries

  • Low-temperature Li extraction from hard-rock
  • Electro-mining of metallic Li from mineral

Conventional lithium refining roasts spodumene above 1000 °C, leaches it in acid and grinds it at every step. We are building a route that does none of that: a low-temperature, acid-free extraction that skips energy-intensive milling and mixing, and a continuous electro-mining process that turns lithium-bearing mineral directly into Li-metal anodes. This is the core of our NRF Outstanding Young Scientist project (2024–2029).

  • Low-temperature, acid-free extraction
  • Scalable extraction without expensive milling or mixing
  • Continuous electro-mining of Li-metal anodes from mineral sources
SpodumeneElectro-miningLi metalProcess

Related papers

  • In preparation (2026)
Lithium extraction from hard-rock: salt and mineral mixture before and after reaction, with electrode samples
Hard-rock + salt → reacted mineral · lithium recovered as electrodes
04 · Lithium-ion

Ni-rich cathodes

  • Controlling residual-Li compounds
  • Tuning Li-site defect chemistry

Residual lithium compounds on Ni-rich cathodes cause gas evolution, slurry gelation and pH drift, and the washing used to remove them damages the surface. We suppress their formation, remove them selectively to engineer the cathode–electrolyte interface, block Li⁺/H⁺ exchange, and watch the consequences directly with our in-operando gas-evolution analysis — for both liquid and all-solid-state cells.

  • Suppressing residual-Li formation
  • Interface control through selective compound removal
  • Preventing Li⁺/H⁺ exchange
  • In-operando gas-evolution analysis
NCM / NCAResidual LiWashingOperando gas

Related papers

Strategies for reducing residual Li in high-Ni cathodes, with TEM images of the particle surface
Residual-Li strategies: washing & annealing, TM-dissolved washing, coating, one-body structure · TEM of surface layers
05 · Next generation

Beyond the Li-ion battery

  • All-solid-state Li-metal batteries
  • Long-life, high-energy Li-metal batteries

Lithium metal is the ultimate anode, if it can be hosted and interfaced properly. We showed that carbide-mediated catalytic hydrogenolysis creates defect-rich graphene hosts that work in both liquid and sulfide all-solid-state cells, and we design alloy anodes whose pulverisation is governed by electrolyte interfacial reactivity. The same toolkit — failure analysis, materials design, electrolyte design — is now aimed at lean- and Li-free electrodes and at high-energy sodium-ion systems.

  • Failure analysis and materials design for advanced alloy anodes
  • Electrolyte design for high-energy sodium-ion systems
  • Metallic-Li hosting materials
  • Lean- or Li-free electrode strategies
Li metalSulfide ASSBAlloy anodesNa-ion electrolyte

Related papers

All-solid-state cell stack: NCM811 cathode composite, Li6PS5Cl solid electrolyte and Li-metal anode, with capacity comparison
Sulfide all-solid-state stack: NCM811 composite / Li₆PS₅Cl / 50 µm Li metal
06 · Electrode processing

High-energy dry-electrode processing

  • Solvent-free PTFE-bound electrodes
  • Carbon-anode interface design

Dry (solvent-free) electrode processing removes the solvent, drying and recovery steps of slurry coating and allows thick, high-loading electrodes. Its PTFE binder, however, is reductively decomposed on carbon anodes at low potential, consuming lithium and degrading the electrode. We design the carbon-anode interface so that this decomposition is suppressed and the process can be used for high-energy cells.

  • Carbon-anode interface design that suppresses reductive decomposition of PTFE
  • Thick, high-loading dry electrodes for high-energy cells
Dry electrodePTFE binderCarbon anodeInterface
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