Abstract: Efficient and sustainable energy storage technologies will form a core element in decarbonising our energy system and batteries are one of those technologies which will enable that transition. Central to this is the development of new materials solutions which, for example, enable stable interfaces to improve power densities or mitigate degradation processes to improve energy densities. In this talk, Serena will discuss her group's latest efforts in the design and synthesis of new battery electrodes and solid electrolytes for next generation batteries, as well as recently development methods for assessing ion diffusion.
Biography: Serena Cussen is Chair of Functional Nanomaterials at the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Recipient of the RSC Journal of Materials Chemistry lectureship in 2017, her research focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of functional nanomaterials in particular for applications in energy storage and the environment, with an emphasis on understanding their intimate structure-property interplay. She leads multiple multi-institutional, interdisciplinary research activities, including the UK Faraday Institution project on Next Generation Cathodes for Li-ion batteries (FutureCat). She is deeply committed to early career researcher mentoring, the promotion of women in science and engineering and public outreach activities, sitting on the Faraday Institution Diversity Panel, EPSRC’s Advanced Materials Working Group and RSC’s Equity in Publishing group. She is associate editor of IOP Progress in Energy, editorial board member of J. Mater. Chem. A, Nanoscale, and Chemistry of Materials and sits on multiple beamtime access panels in the UK and EU.