Study level

  • PhD
  • Master of Philosophy
  • Honours
  • Vacation research experience scheme

Faculty/School

Faculty of Science

School of Chemistry and Physics

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Centre for Materials Science

Supervisors

Professor Deepak Dubal
Position
Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science
Distinguished Professor Dmitri Golberg
Position
Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science
Dr David Pham
Position
Division / Faculty

Overview

Electrolytes play a significant role in determining the performance of energy storage devices. In general, different types of liquid electrolytes have been investigated so far including organic liquids, ionic liquids, and aqueous. Among them, organic liquid electrolytes are highly flammable and volatile, while aqueous electrolytes suffer from a narrow working voltage window. IL liquid showed a promise to circumvent these challenges, however, their practical applications are plagued by the high cost, difficulty in preparation, and toxicity.

This project will develop low-cost electrolytes with low flammability, high ionic conductivity, and good thermal stability (to operate in wide temperature range) for various batteries. These cheap and green electrolytes are expected to overcome severe safety concerns such as fire and explosion risks under abusive conditions (e.g., impact, overheating, and overcharging), opening new avenues for high performance and safe energy storage systems.

Research activities

This project will develop cheap and non-toxic electrolytes for safe and high-performance energy storage technologies such as batteries and supercapacitors with superior safety and longer life spans.

Research activities can include:

  • synthesis of novel green electrolytes
  • preparation of battery electrodes
  • structural and compositional study
  • fabrication of real-world coin cells
  • electrochemical testing using cyclic voltammetry charge/discharge techniques and data analysis
  • elucidating the electrochemical energy storage mechanism.

The supervisory team has a strong track record and a wide range of expertise in chemistry, materials science, energy storage technologies such as batteries and supercapacitors. This is symbiotic opportunity to work with a well-established, highly collaborative research group environment using cutting-edge instruments at the Central Analytical Research Facility (CARF). This will provide you with an effective and rich learning experience.

Outcomes

The project will provide an advanced understanding of non-flammable and safe electrolytes for various batteries and supercapacitors, with a potential breakthrough in the creation of high-performance, safe and cheap energy storage devices for automotive and space applications.

The technological applications of this research will bring opportunities to work with local and international industries.

The best results of this research are expected to be published in high impact journals, and presented in the national and international conferences.

Skills and experience

The candidate is expected to have a strong background in:

  • chemistry
  • materials science
  • physics
  • engineering.

Research experience in electrochemistry, materials chemistry or energy-oriented fields will be positively considered.

The research group is well-equipped and has all the required facilities.

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information.