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Rao LabDeccan Institute of Science

Better batteries, from the atom up

Ananya Rao1, Daniel Okafor1, Lena Fischer1, Arjun Mehta1, Priya Natarajan1, Sam Kowalski1, Mei Chen1, Ravi Iyer1, Fatima Al-Sayed1, Jonah Brooks1, Ana Souza1, Kiran Desai1

1 Department of Chemistry · Deccan Institute of Science

Safer, longer-lasting energy storage built from abundant elements.

Our researchJoin the lab

1Introduction

We are chemists, physicists and engineers working on the materials that will store the world’s clean energy. Our batteries use cheap, abundant elements, survive thousands of cycles and fail safely.

We build our own instruments to watch batteries while they work, and we share our data and code openly.

2Research

  • Sodium-ion batteries

    Cathodes and electrolytes that replace scarce lithium and cobalt with sodium, iron and manganese.

  • Solid-state electrolytes

    Ceramic and polymer electrolytes that make batteries that cannot catch fire.

  • Watching batteries work

    Operando X-ray and spectroscopy methods that follow a battery’s chemistry while it charges.

  • Batteries that last

    Data-driven models that predict how long a cell will live from its first hundred cycles.

3Results

  1. Moisture-proof layered oxide cathodes for long-life sodium-ion batteries Nature Energy (2026)
  2. Predicting battery lifetime from the first hundred cycles Joule (2026)
  3. Operando imaging of lithium plating in fast-charging cells Joule (2025)

4People

5News

6Join us

  • PhD positions in sodium-ion batteries
  • Postdoctoral researcher: operando X-ray methods
  • Summer research internships
Open positions

7Acknowledgements

Supported by National Research Foundation, Clean Energy Mission, Deccan Institute of Science, Open Battery Consortium, Materials Innovation Fund.