Speaker: Dr. Farshid Ramezanipour, University of Louisville

Speaker Dr. Farshid Ramezanipour, University of Louisville

Title Material Design for Energy Conversion and Storage: Impact of Structure-Property Relationships

Designing active materials for renewable energy applications requires an intimate knowledge of the atomic arrangement and structural properties. The functional properties of materials are a consequence of their structure. Hence, controlling the structural order in the material network is an effective tool for rational design of compounds for energy conversion and storage. Our research group focuses on multi-metal oxide materials and investigates the fundamental structure-property relationships that can be used to control their functional properties. We use chemical design principles and various synthetic strategies to modify the structural order to enhance several important properties, including charge transport, lithium ion conductivity, magnetism, and electrocatalytic hydrogen generation. Our research group has demonstrated some of the first examples of achieving very high electrocatalytic activity by rational design of structurally ordered oxide materials. In addition, the correlations between electrocatalytic and charge transport properties have been shown. Furthermore, proof of concept studies indicate several methods of enhancing the lithium-ion conductivity in layered oxides, supported by both computational and experimental approaches. These studies underline the importance of structural features of materials, and the effectiveness of material design approaches that rely on structure-property relationships in energy research.  

Farshid Ramezanipour is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Louisville and an Associated Faculty with the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research at the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. He started his independent career as an Assistant Professor in 2015. He is a recent recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2020-2025), a Scialog Fellow in Advanced Energy Storage, and a recipient of the Victor Olorunsola Endowed Research Award. He received his Ph.D. from McMaster University in Canada (2011), followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Calgary (2011-2013) and the University of California, Berkeley (2013-2015).

His work on materials for renewable energy has so far resulted in 63 publications, including 29 papers and 1 patent from his independent research (2015 – present) and 33 papers prior to starting his independent career. In the past 5 year, he and his research group have also given 42 conference presentations. Since 2015, he has mentored 7 Ph.D. students, 1 postdoc, and 6 undergraduate researchers. His research focuses on rational design of materials for renewable energy. The main topics include the utilization of material-design principles to control the electronic/ionic charge transport, electrocatalytic activity for water splitting, lithium ion transport in solids, and energy storage. More information on his research can be found at his group’s website.