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Ultra-Battery: From Research to Application

A overview of Ultra-Battery Research and how it can be applied for modern day use.

Ultra-Batteries: Welcome

Researchers

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Dr Robert Kerr

Throughout high school I was always mostly interested in physics, chemistry, and science in general. Being a very visual person, I think the fascination came with how many of the concepts in the physical sciences are visualised and then reduced to the core principles. This led me to a science/engineering double degree at Monash, where by my final year I had narrowed my interests to research into energy, materials, and electrochemistry. After completing a PhD thesis on conducting polymer catalysts for fuel cells, I worked at a Danish fuel cell start-up company, Danish Power Systems, for 2 years before returning to Deakin in 2015 and continuing to follow my career of research into new energy materials and technologies. For me personally, doing research in such an innovative and hot-button area provides me with great satisfaction in knowing that our work is held in high regard by society as a whole. But more than this, my hope is that our incredible knowledge and expertise is translated into things like technologies, jobs, and industry solutions which benefit the wider community.

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Mojtaba Eftekharnia

As a mechanical engineer, Mojtaba (Mo) has always been interested in energy-related research projects, particularly when it comes to applied research.
When he moved to Australia, he joined Deakin University as a research assistant to study the behaviour of Silicon, which is a promising high energy density anode material for lithium-ion batteries, in ionic liquid electrolytes. Energy materials research was a completely new area to him and soon he developed a great interest in it because of its importance in harnessing renewable energy and reducing human footprint on environment.
He then started a research engineer role at Battery Technology Research & Innovation (BatTRI) Hub to employ his mechanical engineering skills and knowledge in Lithium metal battery prototyping where he contributed to the concept and design of a specialized robotic stacker for Li-metal and Na-metal battery stack creation.
Currently, while he is a Research Engineer at ARC Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies (StorEnergy), he is conducting his PhD within the centre investigating and optimizing the manufacturing process of Lithium metal batteries in ionic liquid electrolytes with the aid of machine learning. Since various factors affect the performance of an energy storage system, a large number of experiments are required to find the best performing combination of materials and conditions. Mo is hoping to accelerate the process of Lithium metal battery prototyping by developing and training a machine learning model that predicts the performance of Lithium metal batteries under certain material combinations and/or operating conditions.

Ultra-Batteries: Team Members

Symposium Presentation

This symposium was held on the 4th of May 2020. Dr Robert Kerr and PHD student Mojtaba Efiekharnia further explain their area of research and future possibilities for application.

Ultra-Batteries: Video

Published Work

Years of Research

August 26, 2019

Eftekharnia, M., Hasanpoor, M., Forsyth, M., Kerr, R. and Howlett, P.C., 2019. Toward Practical Li Metal Batteries: Importance of Separator Compatibility Using Ionic Liquid Electrolytes. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 2(9), pp.6655-6663.

Ultra-Batteries: Publications
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BatTRI-Hub

About

The Battery Technology Research and Innovation Hub (BatTRI-Hub) is a unique, world class research and innovation centre focused on advanced battery prototyping and the commercialisation of energy storage technologies. 

The collaboration between Deakin University research areas in energy materials through the leading expertiese of the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) in key energy technologies and advanced polymer materials, creates the ideal platform for optimum design and operational flexibility.

This will enable the tailoring of research programs to meet specific industry needs and consumer demands as batteries continue to evolve from small personal use items, to powering our modes of transport and our electricity supply. 

Ultra-Batteries: About Me
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