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Rao LabDepartment of Chemistry · Deccan Institute of Science

Research

03 / 11

Four connected themes, from new chemistry to the instruments that let us watch it happen.

  1. 01

    Sodium-ion batteries

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

    Sodium is a thousand times more abundant than lithium. We design layered and polyanionic cathodes that make sodium-ion cells competitive for grid storage.

    • Layered oxides that resist moisture and phase changes
    • Hard-carbon anodes from agricultural waste
    • Electrolytes that stay stable to 4.3 V
  2. 02

    Solid-state electrolytes

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

    We study how ions hop through crystal lattices and how interfaces between solids degrade, so that solid-state cells can charge fast without growing dendrites.

  3. 03

    Watching batteries work

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

    Our custom cells fit synchrotron beamlines and lab-based instruments. They show where lithium plates, how cathodes crack and which reactions consume the electrolyte.

  4. 04

    Batteries that last

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

    Combining physics with machine learning, we forecast ageing and design charging protocols that double the life of a cell.