David's research group work on understanding the behaviour of materials under extreme environments, such as radiation damage, high temperatures or high stresses. By developing an understanding of the mechanical behaviour and defects which control materials behaviour we then try and develop materials better able to operate under extreme conditions. We are now working to take technqiues we have developed for traditional engineering materials and apply them to questions in other areas such as solid state batteries for energy storage and geological materials.

John's research interests cover a broad range inorganic materials chemistry including multiferroics, materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), materials for energy applications, superconductors and lead free ferroelectrics, high-pressure phases. In addition to conventional Bragg powder diffraction he is also interested in the application of higher dimensional crystallography, maximum entropy and total scattering techniques to understanding structure property relationships in functional materials.

Research in the Cussen group focuses on the design, synthesis and full characterisation of functional nanomaterials whose applications include insertion electrodes for energy storage, biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics and electronically responsive materials.  Using a variety of synthetic approaches and a range of characterisation techniques spanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, physical property measurements and local structure probes, we are particularly interested in understanding the intimate structure-property interplay in functional nanomaterials.

Matthew's current research is centered on the simulation and understanding of scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) images, scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) and inelastic tunnelling spectroscopy (IETS).

Matthew is particularly interested in the behaviour of fairly large organic molecules (e.g. porphyrins, PTCDA, pentacene) adsorbed on metal surfaces and on insulating thin films. These materials are felt to be promising candidates for various applications in nanotechnology, including memory storage, nanoelectronics and nanomechanics.

Chris Grovenor has interests in the application of advanced analytical techniques to understanding the relationship between chemistry and microstructure and the properties of functional materials.

Peter's research centres on the applications and development of high-resolution electron microscope techniques, in particular scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), including atomic resolution Z-contrast imaging, electron energy-loss spectroscopy and applications of spherical aberration correctors. Our technique development work includes methods for the three-dimensional imaging and spectroscopy of materials, and methods to allow high resolution imaging and spectroscopy of radiation sensitive materials.  Always we aim to use microscopy data in a quantitative way to make measurements of the atomic and electronic structure of materials.

Prof Paul Shearing is the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Battery Technologies for Next Generation Energy Storage, based in Dept. Chemical Engineering at University College London. He is a co-director of the Electrochemical Innovation Lab and from 2012-16 he was a holder of a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship.

His research interests cover a broad range of electrochemical engineering themes with a particular interest in the relationship between performance and microstructure for energy materials: an area in which he has published more than 190 papers.

He is a pioneer of ‘4-D Tomography’ and has used most of the world's major synchrotron light sources; at UCL he has established a leading facility for multi-scale X-ray imaging.

He leads the UK’s STFC Global Challenge Network in Batteries and Electrochemical Devices, which brings together leading international researchers from industry and academia. 

In 2006 he graduated from Birmingham with the top first in Chemical Engineering, and in 2009 he took a PhD from Imperial College. He is the recipient of the Salter’s Graduate Prize and the Janet Watson memorial prize for research excellence. In 2014 he was named the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Young Chemical Engineer of the Year in Academia and in 2016 the RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year.

Lukasz has led microscale chemo-mechanical modelling activities for Li-ion batteries in multiple-partner consortia since 2016. This includes EU H2020 projects on silicon-based battery anodes (SINTBAT and ECO2LIB) led by VARTA Microbattery and Innovate UK (MOSESS) (Faraday Challenge R2) consortium on solid-state battery cathodes led by McLaren Automotive. The modelling activities led by Lukasz the SINTBAT project were selected for EU Innovation Radar Platform in ‘Novel numerical methods for volume change lithiation in batteries. He brings his extensive experience in collaborating with experimentalists, other modellers and theoreticians, and industry.