PhD in Material Science

Current position: Assistant Professor at Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland

Research focus: energy storage devices

Today, the world is progressively moving toward electrification of fossil fuel-powered systems. Recently, the minutes of the April 2022 European Green Deal Council meeting stated that various climate-friendly practices such as carbon farming, reducing deforestation, and building sustainable batteries will be implemented to reduce carbon emissions by 55 percent by 2030. An obvious solution is the use of clean fuels such as electric vehicles and the use of renewable energy sources (wind and solar). However, all of these technologies are hindered by the lack of efficient energy storage device. The minimum requirements for energy storage devices are high energy density (long-lasting, even if they are the size of a matchbox) and high power density (recharged in a very short time).

Vishal’s current study addresses this need by focussing on building battery-supercapacitor hybrid systems with fast charging and high storage capacity. He has developed a series of hybrid nanostructures that outperform commercially available energy storage technologies. The high performance of the hybrid nanostructures is due to the integration of battery- and capacitor-like characteristics in a single material. The next step in his research is to work on the design, i.e. using a hybrid configured device with a battery-like electrode and a capacitor-like electrode to further push the limits of energy storage and power capacity.

Currently, the energy storage market is dominated by lithium-ion batteries (containing oxides and graphite). In contrast, Vishal’s current research focuses on such hybrid nanostructured materials that are inexpensive, easy to handle, synthesised through a sustainable chemical approach, and most importantly, have minimal impact on the ecosystem. To this end, he has fabricated carbon hybrids with oxides/sulfides that have strong redox activity (like batteries) and high charge adsorption capability (like supercapacitors), which is the first requirement of electric vehicles.

With his work, Vishal is addressing several UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy).

The jury valued Vishal’s approach, which is completely interdisciplinary and requires knowledge of both scientific and engineering platforms. In addition, his research benefits greatly from discussions with geophysicists, biotechnologists, and climatologists. The jury saw high potential in this candidate for the development of promising solutions for electrical energy storage.

The research of Vishal mainly contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals 7, 11:

Take a look at this video that briefly introduces Vishal and his research: