Publications

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Featured Publications

Organic materials for lithium-ion batteries

While commercial batteries still rely on inorganic materials, there are many studies using organic compounds as promising electrode materials of the future. Department of Electrochemistry of SPbU is no exception to such attempts. We try to make use of polymeric salen-type metals complexes both as standalone materials, and as constituents of organic radical batteries with TEMPO.
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Lithium-ion batteries safety

The media sometimes portray lithium-ion batteries as unsafe devices capable of inflaming or exploding at the slightest whim. While there are indeed cases of combustion, these power sources are generally quite safe (if properly manufactured, of course). Still, they can be made even safer, and some of our studies are focused on exactly that. One of the ways to increase safety is to prevent overcharging. Applying a thin potentioresistive polymer layer may be a key to solving the problem.
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Aqueous rechargeable batteries

Research into new materials for aqueous batteries, including zinc-ion and magnesium-ion batteries, is promising for energy storage. Such materials are an attractive alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries due to their safety and availability of material components. Aqueous electrolytes in batteries eliminate the risk of ignition associated with organic solvents in lithium-ion systems, contributing to safer battery operation. In addition, zinc and magnesium are geographically much more common than lithium, potentially reducing battery manufacturing costs and environmental impact. Further research into these materials is therefore crucial for the development of sustainable and safe next-generation batteries.
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Fundamental studies of conducting polymers

The conducting polymers science is mature enough to apply them in various areas and devices: batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, catalysts, photovoltaics, bioelectrochemistry. All this would not be possible if some fundamental properties of the polymers were not studied previously. And there is still much to study: from the charge transfer processes inside polymers to their interactions within various electrochemical systems.
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Electrochemical processes modelling

Trying to set up an experiment to empirically study the properties of the polymer one has at hand is a fool-proof way to discover new effects and possible applications. However, once you have enough observations, a model capable of predicting the properties of new materials is due. Describing charge transfer in conducting polymers is a subject of various model approaches throughout several decades. The work of the Department of Electrochemistry of SPbU has also made significant contributions.
In addition to conducting polymers, we also model electrode processes occurring with other objects, such as intercalation in composite electrode materials.
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Conductive binders for electrode materialss

Currently, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a binder of choice in commercially produced batteries. While it gets its job of holding the material together done, there are some concerns regarding its use. When it comes to specific power, and energy, density of the cell, the 10-20% content of non-conductive binder does not allow for full utilization of mass and volume of the material. Moreover, the process of electrodes preparation with PVDF requires N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which is a volatile organic solvent. To mitigate these problems, we can use alternative binders, such as PEDOT:PSS. This compound both has intrinsic conductivity and capacity, and allows to prepare water-based compositions for electrodes.
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Inorganic electrode materials

In use for over three decades already, inorganic materials firmly hold their place as the main component of modern lithium-ion batteries. Despite significant push in the direction of organic materials, it is still hard to replace such materials as lithium iron phosphate, lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt-oxide, or lithium manganese oxide. Yet, the existing materials may be modified, and new inorganic compounds can be created for use in metal-ion batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells, and other electrochemical devices.
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Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors are a type of electrochemical storage devices with high capacity and high power density, exceeding those of electrolytic capacitors. The materials for supercapacitors should be capable of fast reversible recharging. The research groups of our Department are working on synthesis and study of such materials.
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Fuel cells and catalysts

Various organic and inorganic materials may be used in electrochemical catalysis. The applications vary a lot: from catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells to optimisation of vital industrial processes, such as hydrogen peroxide production.
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Materials characterization and collaborations

There are plenty of research areas, which are not our direct focus, such as biochemical research. There are even more areas, where collaboration is necessary for comprehensive study of compounds, materials and systems. This section highlights our recent works, where electrochemical studies provided valuable input into collaborative works with other research groups.
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Reviews

Our research areas are well-developed and diverse, and thus require summaries to understand current trends better. Presented here are the most recent reviews of electrochemical systems studied at Department of Electrochemistry.
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Patents

The results of our research that produced an invention are listed here.
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V.V. Kondratiev, S.N. Eliseeva, E.G. Tolstopyatova, A.O. Nizhegorodova, Electrochemical cell for synthesis of nanocomposite materials // Patent of Russian Federation № 149730, 2015.
V.V. Kondratiev, S.N. Eliseeva, E.G. Tolstopyatova, A.O. Nizhegorodova, Method of nanocomposite materials production and device for its implementation // Patent of Russian Federation № 2568807, 2015.
V.V. Kondratiev, O.V. Levin, E.G. Tolstopyatova, S.N. Eliseeva, E.V. Alekseeva, Composite cathode material for Li-ion batteries // Patent of Russian Federation № 2584678, 2016.
O.V. Levin, M.V. Novozhilova, E.V. Alekseeva, M.S. Verjuzhskij, A.A. Vereshchagin, A method of determining amines in non-aqueous media // Patent of Russian Federation № 2613880, 2017.

Awards and achievements

Whenever the members or students earn a reward for their work at Department of Electorchemistry of SPbU, it is a great honour for everyone involved. Here we present our achievements of recent years.
  • 2022: PhD student Alexey Volkov – awarded the diploma for the best poster at the XVII International Conference "Current Problems of Energy Conversion in Lithium Electrochemical Systems".
  • 2021: PhD student Anatoliy Vereshchagin – awarded the G-RISC Young Scientist Award 2021 Diploma (Best Project in Materials Sciences)
  • 2021: PhD student Anatoliy Vereshchagin – awarded the A. N. Frumkin Prize for Published Articles by Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students
  • 2020: PhD student Anatoliy Vereshchagin – awarded the Russian Federation President scholarship for young scientists and PhD students
  • 2019: Graduate student Mikhail Kamenskii – Diploma of International science conference "Lomonosov-2019"
  • 2018: Graduate student Tatiana Stelmashuk – Diploma of XXVII Mendeleev Competition for Chemistry Students
  • 2016: Graduate student Anatoliy Vereshchagin – awarded the special SPbU Rector Scholarship
  • 2016: Graduate student Anatoliy Vereshchagin – Диплом 25 Менделеевского конкурса на лучшую научно - исследовательскую работу студентов-химиков
  • 2015: Undergraduate student Alexey Volkov — Diploma for the best poster presentation at the IX International Conference of Young Scientists in Chemistry "Mendeleev-2015" in Section 2 - Polymeric materials: methods of production and processing
  • 2015: Undergraduate student Alexey Volkov — Diploma for the best report in a sectional session at the IX All-Russian Forum of Students, Postgraduates and Young Scientists "Science and Innovation in Technical Universities"
  • 2015: PhD student Maria Novozhilova – Winner of the UMNIK program
  • 2015: PhD student Alekseeva Elena – awarded the special SPbU Rector Scholarship & Russian Government Scholarship
  • 2014: PhD students Alekseeva Elena and Maria Novozhilova – A. N. Frumkin Prize for the published works of students and graduate students
  • 2013: PhD student Maria Novozhilova – Diploma of the 23rd Mendeleev Competition for the best research work of chemistry students
  • 2012: PhD student Maria Novozhilova – Diploma for the best poster presentation at the all-Russian conference with international participation "Mendeleev-2012"