Energy materials are promising for facing the energy crisis. However, sustainability must extend through the material’s stability and reliability, from early degradation to end-of-use.

Our lab’s vision is to uncover fundamental mechanisms of material instability, develop separation processes to recover valuable materials, and establish structure-property-performance relationships

Research workflow (current research advancements, challenges, and our vision)

Energy materials research (e.g., new semiconductors for photovoltaics or optoelectronic devices) has primarily focused on advancing synthesis methods, discovering high-performance materials, improving device technologies, and developing new materials approaches for energy conversion and storage. However, when these materials reach end-of-use, they are often discarded. Our lab’s vision is to understand what happens when they degrade, why they become nonfunctional, and to develop strategies to reverse degradation or recover raw materials to ultimately restore functionality.

Our first area of focus is understanding instability and degradation mechanisms: why materials degrade and lose functionality under external stimuli such as humidity, oxygen, temperature, and light. We develop and use advanced in situ structure-property characterization techniques to unravel these mechanisms and processes. By unraveling these degradation pathways, we aim to develop strategies to improve stability or to use that knowledge to reverse the undesired equilibrium.

Our second focus is on understanding and developing separation processes for these nonfunctional materials, which can be toxic and hazardous, and can also disrupt the supply chain, particularly for critical minerals. In particular, we focus on aqueous separation methods and solid-state separation methods.

Ultimately, we provide proof of principle for our degradation and recovery methods in functional energy devices such as solar cells. We are open to collaborating with researchers in other energy device fields, understanding other materials systems, and exploring diverse applications. We are developing a methodological approach, connecting fundamental materials science with the development and performance of next-generation energy materials.

Research approach

  • Perovskites

    Our group currently investigates perovskite-type materials for energy conversion and storage. Perovskites have the chemical formula ABM3, where M is a halide (e.g., I, Br, Cl) or oxygen. They form a 3D corner-sharing, cubic octahedral structure (see figure below).

    Perovskites are emerging materials with excellent and tunable properties. They can function as electronic, ionic, or mixed ionic-electronic conductors, advantageous for many energy-related applications.

    Halide perovskites have shown great potential for use in solar cells, light-emitting diodes, or X-ray detectors, among others. Additionally, perovskite oxides have been used as electrodes in solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells, as well as electrolytes in solid-state batteries.

  • Energy conversion

    We are an experimental wet lab focused on synthesizing functional materials and devices. Particularly, solar cells and solid oxide electrochemical cells.

    A central part of our work involves depositing and analyzing thin films to understand their fundamental properties and to optimize them for practical applications. In thin films, surfaces and interfaces play a critical role in determining the overall material and device performance.

  • Stability

    How can we extend the lifetime of energy materials?

    We study the chemical and structural degradation mechanisms that limit material stability, aiming to identify their root causes. This knowledge enables us to rationally design materials with improved long-term stability.

    We use advanced characterization techniques to analyze degradation processes under external stimuli. We conduct these studies in situ and operando, using high-throughput approaches to accelerate understanding and discovery.

  • Separation processes

    How to manage undesired mixed solids?

    When an energy material reaches its end of use, we focus on experimentally treating the resulting undesired material to either re-synthesize it or repurpose it for new applications.

    Our research centers on understanding and developing the underlying separation processes, chemistry, and structural phase transformations involved in these pathways. We use both solution-based and solid-state separation techniques, combined with synchrotron-based characterization, to bridge fundamental insights with practical strategies for closing the materials loop.