Doctoral candidates

DC1

Marie completed her studies in Process Engineering with a specialization in Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. In 2023, she was awarded an ERASMUS+ scholarship to write her thesis at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. For this, she investigated and optimized the electrolyte composition in lithium-sulfur batteries, especially with regard to the influence of lithium nitrate. As part of the eNargiZinc DN, she is covering the position DC 1 at Imperial College London to investigate biomass-derived carbons with improved properties for use in post-lithium batteries such as sodium-ion batteries and aqueous zinc hybrid supercapacitors.

DC2

Densa Ann Shaj completed her bachelor’s in Chemistry Honors from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, India, in 2022. During her bachelor’s study, she had course work focusing on organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry, with additional electives in mathematics, analytical chemistry, and polymer chemistry. Densa joined the EMJMD program Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion (MESC+) for her Master (2022–2024), which gave her a robust foundation in material chemistry, advanced electrochemistry, and energy storage. The program included mobility across various universities: Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), University Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier (France), and the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia). Her master thesis was conducted at Umicore (Belgium), where she worked on the development of surface coatings in cathodes of solid-state batteries. She is the doctoral candidate for the DC 2 position enrolled at the University of Zaragoza to work with advanced biomass-derived activated carbons, and their hybrids, to be used as electrodes in aqueous zinc hybrid supercapacitors.

DC3

Shivam graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Amity University Kolkata, India, in 2022. He subsequently pursued a Master degree in Materials Science as an EMJMD scholar within the program Master in Materials Science powEred by Large Scale Facilities (MaMaSELF). He spent his first year jointly at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Technical University of Munich in Germany, followed by the third semester at the University of Rennes in France. For his master’s thesis, he conducted research at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, focusing on Fluoride-based materials used as cathodes for Na-ion batteries. Currently, he is a part of the eNargiZinc DN project, working as DC 3 at Imperial College London. His work involves developing novel composite materials composed of micro- or nanosized redox-active compounds embedded in biomass-derived carbons for sodium- and zinc-ion batteries.

DC4

Zhaoyang completed both her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree at Jiangsu University in China. Her undergraduate study was focused on material shaping and control engineering, then she changed the research topic into oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts in fuel cell during postgraduate study. The research was regarding synthesis and characterization of transition metal nanoparticles embedded in porous carbon electrocatalysts, and the reaction mechanism of oxygen reduction reaction. In the framework of eNargiZinc as DC 4, she is hosted at INSTM (University of Camerino) to work on the topic of synthesis and development of bi-functional electrocatalysts for zinc-air batteries using electrospun carbon nanofibres as support.

DC5

José Enrique earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Madrid, fulfilling his Bachelor’s thesis in the Applied Physical Chemistry Department of the same university. After graduating, he obtained his Master’s degree in the interuniversity master’s program in Electrochemistry at the University of Alicante, Autonomous University of Madrid and University of Barcelona. For his master’s thesis, he studied lignin as an additive for PEM-type cells to enhance hydtrogen production by partially substituting the OER reaction in water electrolysis. As part of the eNargiZinc DN, he is holding the position DC 5, working on new materials for cathodes and solid-state electrolytes for next-generation Na-ion batteries at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

DC6

Arianna earned her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry at Sapienza University of Rome, with a thesis on the electrodeposition of lithium metal on lithiumless electrodes for lithium metal batteries. Then, she moved to Bologna to attend the Master’s degree in Photochemistry and Molecular Materials. She graduated with a thesis regarding the influence of inorganic additives on the performances of non-woven type separators for lithium-ion batteries. She has been selected as DC 6 within the eNargiZinc Doctoral Network. She is employed at KIT and Varta and her research deals with developing advanced artificial interphases for negative electrodes with anodeless configuration in sodium-ion batteries.

DC7

Nikhil completed his bachelor’s degree in Polymer Science and Engineering from Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, where he focused on synthesizing materials for lithium-ion batteries and viscoelastic materials used in avionics packaging. After graduating, he worked at CEAT Limited as a Graduate Engineering Trainee for a year. In 2022, he pursued a Double Master’s in Polymer Science through a joint program between the University of the Basque Country, Spain, and the University of Bordeaux, France. At POLYMAT in Spain, he worked on developing novel molecular graphene nanoribbons. For his master’s thesis at LCPO (Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques), his research centered on bio-sourced conjugated polymers for photovoltaic applications. Currently, as part of the eNargiZinc Doctoral Network, Nikhil is a Doctoral Candidate (DC 7) at IMDEA Energy, working under the supervision of Dr. Rebeca Marcilla and Dr. Nagaraj Patil. His research is focused on synthesizing versatile redox-active polymers for post-lithium electrochemical energy storage devices.

DC8

Javearia completed her bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering from the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan, where she focused on the synthesis, characterization, and testing of battery materials. In 2022, following her research on transition metal layered oxides for energy storage applications, she joined the Erasmus Mundus Master’s program in Energy Storage and Conversion. Her master’s thesis involves high-temperature testing and characterization of NASICON-based sodium all-solid-state batteries. Within the eNargiZinc DN, she is joining the University of Warwick (WMG) as DC 8. With the supervision of Dr. Ivana Hasa, Javearia aims to design optimal synthesis methods to mitigate moisture sensitivity for layered oxide cathode materials for applications in sodium-ion batteries. The second phase of this project would involve the design of strategies to enable aqueous processing of the developed cathode for final integration into industrially relevant cell prototypes.

DC9

Barbara did her double bachelor’s degree in chemistry and in biotechnology at the University of Warsaw in Poland. In her bachelor’s thesis in chemistry she studied an enzymatic methylation mechanism using computational chemistry methods. In 2021 she joined Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree SERP+ at University Paris-Saclay and University of Porto. In her master’s thesis Barbara studied zinc oxide nanowires for piezoelectric nanogenerators applications. Within the eNargiZinc DN, she is covering the position DC9 to develop sustainable and high performing zinc-air secondary batteries based on gel-biopolymer electrolytes at CIC energiGUNE.

DC10

Hiba did her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the Lebanese American University in Lebanon, with a minor in mathematics and emphasis on physical chemistry. In 2022,  she joined the Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree Program in Advanced Spectroscopy in Chemistry (ASC) at the University of Lille and University of Bologna. In her master thesis, Hiba studied Prussian Blue Analogue as cathode material for multivalent post-Lithium-ion Batteries. Within the eNargiZinc DN, she is covering the position DC10 to work on the development and integration of gel-polymer electrolytes for zinc-based batteries and hybrid supercapacitors, at PoliTO.

DC11

Ali Raza completed his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with a specialization in Analytical Chemistry from Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology (KFUEIT), Pakistan. In 2022, he joined the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Material Science and Electrochemistry – MESC+ (Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion) at the University of Picardie Jules Verne in France. During his master’s degree, he studied at four different institutions over the course of two years: Warsaw University of Technology (Poland), University of Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier (France), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Umicore (Belgium); where he completed his master’s thesis focusing on sulfide-based composite electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. In eNargiZinc Project, he is taking the role of DC11 and working on “Development and Integration of Composite Electrolytes for Sodium Ion Batteries” at University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB), Italy.