Geaney Research Group
Materials for Energy Storage
Recent Publication Highlights






Examination of the impact of electrolyte composition on high and low temperature performance of Ge/LCO full cells. Benchmarking vs graphite containing full-cells shows significant performance enhancement. Mechanistic insight into low temperature evolution of the Ge anodes was also provided.
Examination of the performance of colloidal WSe2 nanocrystals as anodes for lithium-ion batteries. Demonstrating the role of crystal phase and morphology in determining performance. Collaboration with UGhent
The study examines Cu15Si4 nanowires as a conductive scaffold/host for amorphous Si active material. The anode architecture allows for long term cycling stability by accommodating structural changes in the active Si.
Report examining the use of lignin derived carbon nanofibers as Li-ion battery anodes. The role of the biopolymer used in determining porosity and Li-ion storage capacity was details. Collaboration with Dr Maurice Collins.
Using a textured Cu foil for direct growth of Ge nanowires leads to significant performance enhancement compared to planar stainless steel current collectors. The areal capacity and cycling stability are dramatically enhanced and linked to increased stability of the active material during cycling.
Full cell testing of Ge nanowire anodes shows the impact of cell preconditioning, voltage windows and cathode capacity excess. The findings also demonstrate that half-cells may underestimate the rate performance of promising anode materials.
In her recent J. Phys. Chem. C paper @SarahfoleyJ showed that three different anode materials can be formed from the same starting material, sql-1-Cu-SNIFSIX. #battchat #batterytwitter
@nanoresearchul @BernalNews @ChemicalSciUL
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c06395
Gearoid's latest paper in ACS Applied Energy Materials shows that Ge nanowire anodes outperform graphite at low & high temperatures☃️🥵🔋⚡️🔋🥵☃️
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.0c02928
@nanoresearchul @ChemicalSciUL @BernalNews @naturalsci_ul @UL_Research @scienceirel
#battchat #batterytwitter
Long Cycle Life, Highly Ordered SnO2/GeO2 Nanocomposite Inverse Opal Anode Materials for Li‐Ion Batteries
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adfm.202005073#.X-MSpthiUIY.twitter
@drdavidmcnulty @SuperSTEM_UK @hughgeaney @uccchemistry
Germanium nanowires grown on stainless steel as anodes for Li-ion batteries. 🔋⚡️
This study was a collaboration between the @appliednano and @mcag_ucc groups in @uccchemistry and was recently published in @ACS_AEM with funding support from @scienceirel
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsaem.0c01977

Funding for this research comes from Science Foundation Ireland under a Starting Investigator Research Grant (SIRG).