Research
Materials and Cell Architectures for Safe, Sustainable and High-Performance Energy Storage
Research focused on understanding and engineering the relationships among material structure, surface chemistry, electrochemical interfaces, ion transport and cell-level performance.
Themes
Six research themes
- 01
Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
Cathode architecture, polysulfide regulation and cell design for sulfur-based lithium cells.
- 02
Sodium-Sulfur and Sodium-Ion Batteries
Earth-abundant sodium chemistries, cathode materials and interfaces for lower-cost storage.
- 03
Porous and Biomass-Derived Carbon
Conductive, ion-accessible carbon frameworks obtained from sustainable precursors.
- 04
Functional Separators and Interlayers
Thin functional layers that adsorb, convert and regulate soluble intermediates.
- 05
Solid-State and Quasi-Solid-State Systems
An emerging direction, building on solid-state component work rather than an established programme.
- 06
Battery Sustainability and Circularity
A long-term pillar linking material sourcing, synthesis and end-of-life recovery.
Theme 01
Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
Cathode architecture, polysulfide regulation and cell design for sulfur-based lithium cells.
Scientific challenges
- Poor electrical conductivity of sulfur
- Polysulfide dissolution
- Shuttle effect
- Slow conversion kinetics
- Electrode-volume changes
- Capacity degradation
- Limited practical sulfur loading
Scientific Problem
Sulfur is electronically insulating, its intermediates dissolve into the electrolyte, and conversion kinetics are slow. Together these produce shuttle losses, electrode-volume changes and capacity decay that worsen as practical sulfur loading increases.
Current Research Foundation
Doctoral work at IIT Roorkee produced hierarchical porous carbon hosts, nano-TiO₂-grafted carbon interlayers and MoS₂-functionalised separators, each evaluated in coin cells with post-mortem structural and chemical analysis.
Proposed Research Direction
Extend adsorption-plus-catalysis designs to higher sulfur loading and reduced electrolyte-to-sulfur ratios, and correlate interfacial chemistry with cell-level behaviour rather than coin-cell capacity alone.
Methods and Tools
- Hierarchical porous carbon hosts
- Functional interlayers
- Polar metal oxides
- Transition-metal sulfides
- Separator modification
- Chemical anchoring
- Catalytic polysulfide conversion
- Cell-architecture optimisation
Expected Scientific Contribution
A clearer link between host porosity, interfacial catalysis and the durability of sulfur cathodes under practical operating constraints.
Theme 02
Sodium-Sulfur and Sodium-Ion Batteries
Earth-abundant sodium chemistries, cathode materials and interfaces for lower-cost storage.
Scientific Problem
Sodium chemistries offer resource advantages, but larger ionic radius, structural instability during cycling and less stable interfaces limit rate capability and cycle life.
Current Research Foundation
Completed work includes polysulfide-regulation studies extended to Na-S systems within submitted manuscripts, and contribution to cathode-material and solid-state electrolyte-component development for sodium-ion systems during the Project Scientist role at IIT Kanpur (August–November 2025).
Proposed Research Direction
Planned work targets sodium-ion cathode compositions with improved structural reversibility, and systematic study of sodium-ion transport across engineered electrode-electrolyte interfaces. This direction is proposed rather than completed.
Methods and Tools
- Cathode materials
- Sodium-ion transport analysis
- Structural stability studies
- Electrochemical interfaces
- Solid-state electrolyte components
- Rate capability
- Long-term cycling
Expected Scientific Contribution
Transfer of sulfur-cathode design principles into sodium chemistries, with an explicit separation between demonstrated results and proposed work.
Theme 03
Porous and Biomass-Derived Carbon
Conductive, ion-accessible carbon frameworks obtained from sustainable precursors.
Scientific Problem
Carbon hosts must simultaneously provide electronic conduction, sulfur confinement and open ion pathways. Pore architectures optimised for one function frequently compromise another.
Current Research Foundation
Orange-peel-derived hierarchical porous carbon was synthesised, characterised by BET, XRD, Raman and electron microscopy, and evaluated as a sulfur host in Li-S cells.
Proposed Research Direction
Heteroatom doping and controlled pore hierarchies are being pursued to combine chemical affinity for polysulfides with unobstructed ion access.
Methods and Tools
- Hierarchical porous structures
- Heteroatom-doped carbons
- Biowaste-derived carbon
- Sulfur encapsulation
- Ion-accessible pore networks
- Conductive frameworks
- Sustainable precursor utilisation
Expected Scientific Contribution
Design rules relating precursor chemistry and activation conditions to electrochemically useful pore architectures.
Theme 04
Functional Separators and Interlayers
Thin functional layers that adsorb, convert and regulate soluble intermediates.
Relevant materials
- Nano-TiO₂-grafted carbon sheets
- rGO/MgO composite coatings
- 2D-MoS₂ nanoflakes
- Polar catalytic compounds
- Carbon-based interlayers
Scientific Problem
A conventional separator is electrochemically passive. It permits intermediate migration and offers no route to accelerate the redox conversion of trapped species.
Current Research Foundation
Nano-TiO₂-grafted carbon sheets, rGO/MgO composite coatings and 2D-MoS₂ nanoflakes have been prepared and evaluated as interlayers or separator coatings, with post-mortem analysis of the recovered components.
Proposed Research Direction
Combining adsorptive and catalytic functions within a single low-mass coating, so that regulation is achieved without penalising cell energy density.
Methods and Tools
- Polysulfide adsorption
- Shuttle-effect suppression
- Catalytic conversion
- Ion transport
- Redox regulation
- Interface stabilisation
Expected Scientific Contribution
Quantitative understanding of how coating composition and thickness trade against transport resistance and practical cell metrics.
Theme 05
Solid-State and Quasi-Solid-State Systems
An emerging direction, building on solid-state component work rather than an established programme.
Scientific Problem
Solid electrolytes promise improved safety, but interfacial resistance, chemical incompatibility, dendrite penetration and mechanical integrity remain unresolved at the cell level.
Current Research Foundation
Initial exposure comes from solid-state electrolyte-component development for sodium-ion systems during the Project Scientist role at IIT Kanpur. This is early-stage experience, not an independent research programme.
Proposed Research Direction
Study of electrode-electrolyte compatibility and interfacial resistance in quasi-solid-state configurations, approached incrementally alongside established liquid-electrolyte work.
Methods and Tools
- Sulfide solid electrolytes
- Oxide solid electrolytes
- Electrode-electrolyte compatibility
- Interfacial resistance analysis
- Dendrite mitigation
- Chemical stability
- Mechanical integrity
Expected Scientific Contribution
Interface-level insight that connects solid-electrolyte chemistry with measurable cell impedance and stability.
Theme 06
Battery Sustainability and Circularity
A long-term pillar linking material sourcing, synthesis and end-of-life recovery.
Scientific Problem
Energy-storage research often optimises performance in isolation from precursor availability, synthesis burden and the recovery of materials from spent cells.
Current Research Foundation
Biowaste-derived carbon work established that low-value agricultural residue can yield functional battery materials through comparatively simple processing.
Proposed Research Direction
Extending sustainable sourcing to earth-abundant electrode compounds, and developing recovery routes that return active materials to useful electrochemical service.
Methods and Tools
- Biowaste-derived functional materials
- Earth-abundant electrode compounds
- Environmentally responsible synthesis
- Battery-material recovery
- Recycling of spent cells
- Reuse of recovered active materials
- Circular battery-material pathways
Expected Scientific Contribution
Evidence on whether recovered and biowaste-derived materials can meet the electrochemical requirements of practical cells.
Method
Research workflow
A consistent experimental sequence applied across themes, from material choice to mechanism and optimisation.
- 01Material Selection
- 02Synthesis and Processing
- 03Structural and Surface Characterisation
- 04Electrode and Cell Fabrication
- 05Electrochemical Evaluation
- 06Post-Mortem Analysis
- 07Mechanism Understanding
- 08Performance Optimisation
Research Vision
From Functional Materials to Sustainable Cell-Level Energy Storage
A staged programme that begins with materials already demonstrated in doctoral work and widens, over time, towards interface-engineered full cells and circular battery materials.
- 01
Immediate Research Programme
First 1–3 years
- Functional sulfur hosts
- Advanced separators and interlayers
- Sodium-ion cathode materials
- Electrochemical mechanism studies
- High-loading electrode evaluation
- Reduced-electrolyte cell configurations
- 02
Medium-Term Programme
Approximately 3–5 years
- Solid-state and quasi-solid-state systems
- Interface-engineered full cells
- Integrated materials and cell-design strategies
- Collaborative characterisation and modelling
- Scalable synthesis approaches
- 03
Long-Term Programme
Beyond five years
- Sustainable battery-material systems
- Battery recycling and resource recovery
- Interdisciplinary research group development
- Academic and industrial partnerships
- Translation from materials discovery to cell validation