Robert House

Research Interest

The development of compact, rechargeable Li-ion batteries revolutionised our lives with portable electronic devices and now this technology is set to bring us EVs and grid-scale storage for renewables. However, despite the indisputable successes of the Li-ion battery, there are growing concerns about the financial and environmental costs of this technology, particularly surrounding the sourcing of critically constrained elements Li, Ni and Co upon which state-of-the-art Li-ion batteries are heavily dependent. 

I am interested in investigating new energy storage chemistries based on earth-abundant elements, such as Na, Mn, Mg and Fe, which could provide a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to the current Li-ion. My research focuses on employing novel synthesis methods to make new materials for next-generation Li-ion and beyond Li batteries, and understanding the fundamental charge storage processes, structural transitions and ion transport mechanisms which underpin their operation.

Profile

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Materials and hold a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship. From 2020-22, I held a Junior Research Fellowship position at Linacre college and was a Faraday Institution Research Fellow in the CATMAT project working on high energy density Li-rich cathodes. I completed a Materials DPhil in the department in 2020 under the supervision of Prof Sir Peter Bruce on oxygen redox chemistry and, prior to this, obtained a first degree in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge.