Prof Venkataraman Thangadurai
Chair in Energy
Biography
Prof. Venkataraman Thangadurai is a professor and Chair in Energy at the School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, Scotland. He is the inaugural Faraday Institution Adjunct Professor at the School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews. He obtained his BSc degree in chemistry from Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur, affiliated with the University of Madras, in 1989; MSc degree in Chemistry from Muthurangam Government Arts College, Vellore, affiliated to the University of Madras, in 1991. He did his Ph.D. in Solid State Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, in 1999. He did his PDF at the University of Kiel, Germany. He received a prestigious PDF fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany. In 2004, Prof. Thangadurai received his Habilitation degree from the University of Kiel. In 2005, he moved to Canada to join the University of Calgary, where he served until June 2024. He has received the Keith Laidler Award (2016) and Research Excellence in Materials Chemistry Award (2021) from Canadian Society of Chemistry (CSC). He was elected fellow of The Electrochemical Society (USA) (2020), Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) (2014), and Royal Society of Canada (2023).
Teaching
CH4442-CH5441 Honours Projects
CH4431 Scientific Writing
Research areas
My research interests are the clean energy conversion and storage technologies, including solid oxide fuel cells, all-solid-state metal batteries, Li-S battery, redox flow batteries, and electrochemical methods for carbon removal and storage, and fundamental understanding of structure-composition-property relationship in solids. My current work involves design, synthesis and characterization of novel solid-state membranes, mixed ionic and electronic conductors, and metal electrodes for advanced solid state ionic devices. Some examples of area of work are:
- CO2 and humidity-resistant solid-state ceramic proton conductors, fast oxide ion electrolytes, and mixed conductors based on perovskite and related structures for solid oxide fuel cells and electrolysis cells for hydrogen and ammonia production.
- Ceramic alkali ion conducting membranes for safe, robust and high energy density batteries and extreme weather conditions, inspired by Li-stuffed garnet electrolytes, to supersede conventional organic electrolyte-based batteries.
- Localized high concentration electrolytes for ultra long-life lithium metal and anode free batteries.
- Aqueous and gel-type electrolytes for cost effective redox flow batteries
- Electrocatalysts to enhance the electrode kinetics of Li-S batteries using experimental and theoretical modeling techniques.
Advanced electrochemical methods to remove CO2 from atmosphere and safe storage in ocean.
PhD Supervision (U Calgary)
Subhajit Sarkar (U Calgary)
Abinaya Sivakumaran (U Calgary)
Thilini Boteju (U Calgary)
Amanda Ndubuisi (U Calgary)
Aroosa Javed (U Calgary)
FeiFei Lu (St Andrews, Starting September 2024)
MSc Supervision (U Calgary)
Daniel Sikstrom (U Calgary)
Selected publications
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Open access
A tutorial review on solid oxide fuel cells: fundamentals, materials, and applications
Sikstrom, D. & Thangadurai, V., 7 Oct 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Ionics. 26 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
Advances in redox flow batteries – a comprehensive review on inorganic and organic electrolytes and engineering perspectives
Shoaib, M., Vallayil, P., Jaiswal, N., Iyapazham Vaigunda Suba, P., Sankararaman, S., Ramanujam, K. & Thangadurai, V., 18 Jun 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Advanced Energy Materials. Early View, 2400721.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
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Open access
All-gel Proton-conducting batteries with BiOCl and VOSO4 as active materials
Iyapazham Vaigunda Suba, P., Shoaib, M., Hoang Nguyen, O., Karan, K., Larter, S. R. & Thangadurai, V., 20 Feb 2024, In: Batteries and Supercaps. 7, 2, e202300451.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Diamino-substituted quinones as cathodes for lithium-ion batteries
Hiltermann, T. W., Sarkar, S., Thangadurai, V. & Sutherland, T. C., 21 Feb 2024, In: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. 16, 7, p. 8580-8588 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Enhancing specific energy in sodium-ion hybrid capacitors via quasi-anodeless configuration
Surendran, V. & Thangadurai, V., 11 Mar 2024, In: ACS Applied Energy Materials. 7, 5, p. 1873-1881 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Experimental and computational study of Mg and Ta-doped Li7La3Zr2O12 garnet-type solid electrolytes for all-solid-state lithium batteries
Ma, K., Chen, B., Li, C. X. & Thangadurai, V., 20 Jun 2024, In: Advanced Sustainable Systems. 8, 6, 2300656.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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MXenes as effective sulfur hosts and electrocatalysts to suppress lithium polysulfide shuttling: a computational study
Boteju, T., Ponnurangam, S. & Thangadurai, V., 7 Mar 2024, In: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 128, 9, p. 3652-3661 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Probing alkaline-earth-doped garnet-type Li7La2.75A0.25Zr1.75M0.25O12 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba; M = Nb, Ta) electrolytes for all-solid-state Li metal batteries
Sarkar, S., Santos, C., Glenneberg, J., Bardenhagen, I., Schwenzel, J. & Thangadurai, V., 26 Mar 2024, In: Chemistry of Materials. 36, 6, p. 2685-2697 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Substitutional Cu doping at Ca and Nb Sites in Ba3CaNb2O9 toward improved photoactivity-a first-principles HSE06 study
Ghosh, S., Garcia, J., Selvakumar, B., Ndubuisi, A., Shankar, K., Thangadurai, V. & Salahub, D. R., 23 May 2024, In: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 128, 20, p. 8169-8180 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Pseudocapacitive Materials for 3D Printed Supercapacitors
Gopalakrishnan, A., Surendran, V., Thangadurai, V. & Tutolo, B., 2024, Engineering Materials. Springer Science and Business Media, p. 237-256 20 p. (Engineering Materials; vol. Part F1837).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter