Dr. Daniela Alburquenque Munoz, a CEDENNA researcher and member of Universidad Mayor’s Center for Applied Nanotechnology, will lead a cross-university project alongside Dr. Chandra Kumar (from the same university’s School of Engineering) aimed at developing materials that improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors.
The initiative was selected in the fourth edition of the Inter-University Associative Research Initiation Competition, a call that received 27 applications and funded six projects for a total of $90 million pesos. The network behind the competition brings together eight Chilean universities and seeks to promote research carried out by teams from different institutions.
The project, titled “Experimental and Theoretical Studies of Spinel/MoS2 Heterostructures to Improve Electrochemical Kinetics and Conductivity in Electrodes for Supercapacitors and Lithium-Ion Batteries,” will be carried out by specialists from Universidad Mayor, Universidad San Sebastian, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, and Universidad Autonoma de Chile.
The research will study heterostructures that combine spinel-type metal oxides with 1T-MoS2, a two-dimensional material made up of extremely thin layers. The combination aims to facilitate the movement of ions and electrons within the electrodes, one of the factors that determines storage capacity, charge and discharge speed, and device stability.
The team will tackle the problem through the synthesis and characterization of new materials, electrochemical testing, and theoretical calculations based on Density Functional Theory (DFT). These tools will be complemented with the use of artificial intelligence to analyze and relate the structural, electronic, and electrochemical properties of the materials studied.
According to Dr. Alburquenque, the goal is to harness the complementary properties of both materials to improve charge transport and boost the performance of batteries and supercapacitors. The researcher also highlighted the value of the scientific networks generated by this type of project, which, in her words, “go beyond the project itself.”
Lithium-ion batteries store energy by moving ions between their electrodes and are used in cell phones, computers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. Supercapacitors, meanwhile, can deliver and absorb energy quickly, which is why they are used in applications that require frequent charge and discharge cycles.
The project will seek to advance materials that combine greater storage capacity with faster charging and improved stability over time. These challenges are part of current research into energy storage, especially as technologies that require more efficient, longer-lasting devices continue to grow.
The research is directly linked to the work Daniela Alburquenque carries out at CEDENNA. She specializes in solid-state physical chemistry, and in the synthesis and electrochemical characterization of nanostructured cathode materials and materials for lithium-ion batteries.
The award will bring together experimental and theoretical capabilities from four universities and advance research that connects nanoscience, materials science, electrochemistry, computational modeling, and artificial intelligence.
For CEDENNA, having one of its researchers take part in this initiative also strengthens collaborative work with other scientific groups across the country and contributes to developing knowledge and materials applicable to new energy storage technologies.
