Here you will find information on our research, group members and alumni, links to pertinent software downloads and some recent activities within our group.

Our research

  • We chemically tune the atomic arrangement (crystal structure) of solid state materials to enhance their physical properties such as energy storage capacity, ionic conductivity or thermal expansion.
  • We use a combination of techniques to characterise our materials, including but not limited to X-ray and neutron diffraction (at the Australian Synchrotron and ANSTO), solid state NMR, electrochemical and impedance analysis, and electron microscopy.
  • Our goal is to fully characterise materials, place them into real-world devices such as batteries and solid oxide fuel cells, and then characterise how they work in these devices.

Research highlights

Congrats to Emily and Jenny for submitting their theses for examination.

Also to Junnan who is now a Dr!

A big congratulations to Damian Goonetilleke (currently at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT (jointly with BASF)) who has just won the Australian Neutron Beam Users Group (ANBUG) Outstanding PhD Award for 2020. Congrats Damian!

Radio interviews

How far away are batteries that last forever?

John Stanley speaks with UNSW chemist Neeraj Sharma about developing smaller, safer and longer-lasting batteries for renewable-energy storage, electric vehicles and space applications.

2GB / Nine Radio, Nights with John Stanley, 2021.

Next-generation sodium-ion batteries

Dr Neeraj Sharma, then a Senior Lecturer in the UNSW School of Chemistry, speaks with Beyond Zero – Science and Solutions about the development of next-generation sodium-ion batteries and their potential as an energy-storage technology.

3CR Community Radio, Beyond Zero – Science and Solutions, 2017.

Crystallography an ‘Australian science’

ABC Radio National presenter Ann Jones speaks with UNSW researcher Neeraj Sharma about how X-ray crystallography reveals atomic structures and underpins developments in medicines, DNA research, electronics and energy materials.

ABC Radio National, Off Track, 2014.

Group leader