Wayne State UniversityJames and Patricia AndersonCollege of Engineering
Mechanical Engineeringwayne.edu
Arava Research GroupElectrochemistry · Nanomaterials · Energy Storage
Home / Research

Research

We study the fundamental electrochemistry of energy-storage materials and turn it into safer, longer-lasting and more sustainable batteries and energy devices: cells that survive 125 °C, cathodes without nickel or cobalt, lithium–sulfur and solid-state chemistries, bio-derived electrodes, proton-conducting ceramics for hydrogen, and in situ tools that let us watch interfaces form inside working cells.

Core research area

Safer, high-energy batteries

Battery chemistries that survive heat, avoid scarce metals and store more energy.

Current focus

High-temperature and non-flammable Li-ion batteries

Batteries for electric vehicles, aerospace, oil-and-gas and defense must survive heat that destroys conventional cells. We design electrolytes and electrode–electrolyte interphases that keep Li-ion chemistry stable up to 100–150 °C, using ionic liquids, nitrile-based single-solvent electrolytes and engineered cathode electrolyte interphases (CEI), and we track how those interfaces evolve with synchrotron X-ray spectroscopy.

Key papers

IP: Patent applications: US 19/072,090 (electrolyte composition for high-temperature Li-ion cells), US 18/238,648 (high-temperature Li-ion battery).

Non-flammable Li-ion batteries operating up to 125 °C (Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2025)
Depth-dependent CEI chemistry at extreme temperature (Chem. Mater. 2022)
A millimeter-scale battery from our lab that operates up to 125 °C
Current focus

Nickel- and cobalt-free cathodes and anion redox

Cobalt and nickel are costly and supply-limited. We develop chalcogen-based cathodes in which both cations and anions store charge (mixed cationic–anionic redox), and we show how anion redox enables fast charging without Ni or Co, combining electrochemistry, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and first-principles modeling.

Key papers

IP: Patent application: US 18/636,627 (stabilized cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries). Supported by NSF award #2127519.

Mixed cationic and anionic redox in Ni- and Co-free cathodes (JACS 2021)
Fast charging through anion redox in Ni- and Co-free cathodes (Chem. Mater. 2024)
Current focus

Lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium–sulfur cells can store several times the energy of Li-ion, but dissolved polysulfides shuttle between the electrodes. We regulate the shuttle with anion receptors and electrolyte additives, and we accelerate polysulfide conversion with electrocatalytic 2D materials such as 1T′-MoSe₂ and engineered transition-metal dichalcogenides, aiming at high-loading cells under lean-electrolyte conditions. Our carbon-free cell design uses the current collector itself as the catalytic electrode.

Key papers

IP: US Patent 11,075,399 (ionic receptors to regulate the polysulfide shuttle).

Carbon-free Li–S cell: a 3D current collector converts polysulfides directly (Scientific Reports, 2015)
1T′-MoSe₂ electrocatalysis of polysulfide conversion (ACS AMI 2022)
Engineered TMDs for polysulfide adsorption and conversion (ACS AMI 2020)
Current focus

Solid-state batteries and lithium-metal anodes

All-solid-state batteries and lithium-metal anodes promise safety and energy density, but only if lithium moves evenly across interfaces. We make garnet-type solid electrolytes moisture-stable and dendrite-free, tailor them with surface chemistry and atomic-layer-deposited interlayers, and use ultrathin molecular (carbon nanomembrane) layers and liquid-crystalline electrolytes to regulate Li-ion transport and suppress dendrite growth.

Key papers

IP: US Patent 12,700,644 (carbon nanomembrane against Li dendrites); US Patent 12,525,639 (ALD-stabilized garnet electrolytes).

Dendrite-free lithium metal through regulated cation transport in an ultrathin membrane (Adv. Energy Mater. 2021)
Tailored electrode–electrolyte interface for all-solid-state batteries (Chem. Mater. 2021)
Ultrathin molecular membrane for all-solid-state batteries (Small 2023)
Emerging research area

Sustainable energy materials

Battery and hydrogen materials made from abundant, nature-derived and ceramic building blocks.

Sustainable materials

Bio-derived and light-assisted batteries

Nature makes redox-active molecules that can store charge. We turn plant-derived quinones, such as the molecule behind henna, into fast-charging, recyclable cathodes for lithium- and sodium-ion batteries, explain how the ions bind inside these molecular crystals, and, with collaborators, build light-assisted rechargeable lithium batteries in which organic molecules harvest and store energy at the same time.

Key papers

Light-assisted rechargeable lithium batteries with organic molecules (Nano Letters 2021)
Fast-charging, recyclable cathode made from henna (ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2019)
Sustainable materials

Proton-conducting ceramics and hydrogen

Intermediate-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells can make hydrogen from steam efficiently, if the electrolyte conducts protons well and survives the operating environment. We design tri-doped perovskite electrolytes (BaCeO₃–BaZrO₃ and Y, Gd, Pr co-doped compositions) with high proton conductivity, better sinterability and chemical stability, and we develop 2D electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. This work grew from a project with Idaho National Laboratory on hydrogen generation at intermediate temperatures.

Key papers

Tri-doped BaCeO₃–BaZrO₃ proton-conducting electrolyte for solid oxide electrolysis cells (ACS AMI 2020)
Y, Gd and Pr tri-doped perovskite proton conductors (J. Alloys Compd. 2021)
Enabling methods & platforms

Tools, devices and foundations

The methods, devices and nanomaterials that the rest of our work is built on.

Methods

In situ and operando characterization

We watch electrochemistry as it happens. Our in situ scanning electrochemical microscopy coupled with Raman spectroscopy (SECM-Raman) and AFM-SECM map reaction pathways at the nanoscale, and synchrotron techniques (HAXPES, XAS) with collaborators at national laboratories reveal how interphases form and evolve inside working cells.

Key papers

In situ SECM-Raman setup
Scanning electrochemical microscope in the lab
In situ electrochemical mapping of Li–S interfaces with AFM-SECM (Nano Letters 2019)
Materials & devices

2D materials, sensors and micro-power

We grow MoS₂, WS₂, MoSe₂ and WSe₂ (triangles and nanoflowers) by chemical vapor deposition and build suspended monolayer devices on nano-gap electrodes for highly sensitive biosensors and field-effect transistors. The same wafer-scale nano-gap and micro-fabrication processes produce millimeter-scale batteries that power autonomous micro-sensors, such as the award-winning Micro Buoy for real-time water-quality monitoring.

Key papers

IP: US Patents 11,784,227 and 12,507,454 (wafer-scale nano-gap electrodes), 12,062,799 (micro/millimeter-scale power sources). ErieHack 2017 grand prize (Micro Buoy).

CVD-grown MoS₂ triangles and MoSe₂ nanoflowers with EDAX maps
Suspended monolayer MoS₂ biosensor on gold nano-gap electrodes
Materials & devices

Battery safety and thermo-mechanics

We study how mechanical abuse, deformation and heat trigger internal short circuits and thermal runaway, and we use electrochemical impedance spectroscopy to detect damage early, which guides safer cell design for vehicles.

Key papers

Thermo-mechanical properties of batteries
Foundations

Nanostructured materials, supercapacitors and flexible devices

Low-dimensional materials (graphene, carbon nanotubes, Si nanowires, 3D Si–Ni nanostructures and 2D layers made by CVD, exfoliation, hydrothermal, sol-gel and electropolymerization) underpin our devices. We use them to build flexible, stretchable and ultrathin energy devices, including biomechanical energy harvesters, wearable batteries and lightweight nanocomposites for soft assistive technologies, and we study how water-in-salt electrolytes behave inside porous electrodes to make better supercapacitors.

Key papers

3D Si–Ni nanostructured electrode imaged by SEM in our lab
2D atomic layers, CNT–graphene hybrids and aligned nanotubes
Flexible Li-ion battery and flexible energy devices

Collaborations and user facilities

Our in situ and synchrotron studies are carried out with collaborators and user facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratory (CFN), Argonne National Laboratory (APS), NIST, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Molecular Foundry), and with partners in industry including Analog Devices. See sponsors & partners.

Browse all publications Our facilities