Team
Academic leads
Patrick Unwin, FRS, Professor and Director of HCEFTLink opens in a new window
Patrick is internationally renowned for creating unprecedented nanoscopic views of structure-activity in electrochemistry. His strategy is now being used by upwards of 50 research groups across the globe.
Melanie Loveridge, Associate Professor of Electrochemical Materials, WMGLink opens in a new window
Melanie’s research spans materials discovery and characterisation techniques, as well as understanding mechanisms of degradation and battery forensics.
Julie Macpherson, Professor of ChemistryLink opens in a new window
Julie has developed a range of electrochemical and microscopy techniques to enable accelerated testing of electrocatalysts under stop-start and long-term cycling conditions.
Louis Piper, Professor of Battery Innovation, WMG
Louis is interested in employing novel methods for studying real-format batteries to improve performance by connecting new materials, pilot line cell manufacturing and advanced characterisation.
Shanwen Tao, Professor of Chemical Engineering & Sustainable ProcessesLink opens in a new window
Shanwen has been active in developing new ionic/electronic materials for electrochemical devices such as fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors.
Chemical Engineering | School of Engineering | University of Warwick
Richard Walton, Professor of ChemistryLink opens in a new window
Richard’s research focuses on solid-state inorganic materials chemistry and has considerable experience in materials synthesis and characterisation and the application of materials in a variety of electrochemical energy devices.
Post-doctorate Research Fellows
Lachlan Gaudin
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Craig Hiley
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Dan Houghton
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Ashok Menon
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Xuelei Pan
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Subjarit Sarkar
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Blesson Sunny
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Hwee Jien Tan
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Xiang Wang
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Xiangdong Xu
Xiangdong is currently a Research Fellow with Prof. Patrick Unwin and Prof. Julie Macpherson (Principal Investigators of the Warwick Electrochemistry & Interfaces Group) in the Hartnoll Centre for Experimental Fuel Technologies at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick, as well as a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering and Technology from the China University of Petroleum (East China), China. He works on nanoscale electrochemical imaging, focusing on understanding the structure–activity relationships among materials for electrocatalysis and energy conversion and storage by combining scanning electrochemical cell microscopy with complementary microscopy and spectroscopy techniques.
PhD Students
Fatma Altug
Fatma's research focuses on understanding the fundamental electrochemical processes that govern aqueous batteries and on developing strategies to overcome their current limitations. She employs multi-electrochemical and correlative multi-microscopy techniques to investigate energy materials across different length scales.
Harry Brain
Harry is a PhD researcher in the Walton Group. He completed his MChem degree at Warwick, graduating in July 2025.
Thesis title: New iron oxides with high oxidation states for energy materials applications.
Project description:
Synthesis of new materials with iron in unusually high oxidation states (higher than +3), where they will be characterised using diffraction and a range of spectroscopic techniques. Measurements will initially be ex-situ but will move on to operando studies, where changes in local structure will be examined when the batteries are charged/discharged.
Rahim Hussain
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Koushik Kumar Nachimuthu
Koushik holds a B.Tech. in Chemical and Electrochemical Engineering from the CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute, India and an MSc in Electrochemistry and Battery Technologies from the University of Southampton. His current research is centered on developing next generation Li-ion batteries using advanced electrode formulation and fabrication technologies, and operando characterization methods.
Stark Lin
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Syam Syamaidzar
Syam is a PhD student in the Chemistry Department whose research focuses on materials chemistry with interests that include the discovery, characterisation, and determination of properties of metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) and their applications.
Thesis title: Synthesis, Characterisation, and Electrocatalytic Evaluation of MOF-Carbon Composites for Energy Applications
James Tofts
James is a PhD student under Prof. Patrick Unwin's and Prof. Julie Macpherson's supervision. He has a first class MChem degree from the University of Warwick, where his master's project was development of program synthesis to solve the electronic Schrödinger Equation, with Prof. Scott Habershon. He is interested in electrochemistry, computational chemistry, equipment design, modelling, programming and 3D printing.
Thesis title: Finite Element Modelling of Electrochemical Systems
Project description: Using finite element modelling, more specifically COMSOL Multiphysics, I will be modelling different electrochemical systems to allow for further understanding of the specifics of those systems, and to simulate situations that might not be able to be run physically.
Tenzing Whitley
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Pinki Yadav
Pinki has a research background in solid-state and composite battery materials. Her work spans the synthesis and microstructural optimization of ceramic electrolytes.
In her newest role at Warwick Manufacturing Group(WMG), she is developing solid-polymer and composite batteries with biopolymers and novel electrolytes to enhance electrochemical performance.
Centre Management
Clare Roberts
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