People
PhD Students
FeiFei Lu
I am Feifei Lu from China, currently a joint PhD student at the University of St Andrews. I am pursuing my PhD at Xi’an Jiaotong University and joined St Andrews in 2024 as part of my research collaboration.
My work focuses on solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs), with an emphasis on developing and studying high-performance oxygen electrode materials for intermediate-to-low temperature operation.My goal is to contribute to the advancement of efficient and sustainable electrochemical energy technologies.
Email: [email protected]
Treesa Johns
I earned my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from St. Joseph’s College, Moolamattom (2018), and my master’s degree in Analytical Chemistry from St. Berchmans College, Changanassery (2020), both affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India. Before joining St. Andrews University, I worked as a Project Associate at Hindustan Petroleum Green R&D Center from 2021 to 2024,
where I specialized in the synthesis and scale-up of cathode materials for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries, as well as on lithium-sulfur batteries to reduce polysulfide shuttling. Additionally, I gained valuable experience during my internship at the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI) in Punjab in 2020, where I contributed to the development of bionanoplatform-based ultrasensitive sensors for detecting food contaminants. My current research focuses on the development of solid electrolytes for sodium-ion batteries.
LinkedIn: Treesa Johns
Email: [email protected]
Ishant Kushwaha
I am a PhD candidate in Thangadurai’s group. I am working on LLZO garnets based on solid-state electrolyte material for ASSB’s.I completed my B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Delhi in 2021. I worked with Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai as an intern. I worked on “palladium extraction from spent glucometer using solvent extraction technique “.I pursued a second master’s in advanced energy materials from the University of Aberdeen in 2022.In my master’s thesis, I worked on the ” Electrodeposition of tungsten oxide and characterisation of tungsten oxide for battery application using a potentiostat”.
I have gained industrial experience by working as an associate battery scientist at Echion Technologies & Superdielectrics. My work focused entirely on coin/pouch cell fabrication and its electrochemical analysis.
LinkedIn: Ishant Kushwaha
Email: [email protected]
Postdoctoral researchers
Manoj Gautam
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews (since May 2025), where my research focuses on garnet-based solid electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries. I am also involved in scaling up material synthesis and developing processes for pouch cell fabrication.
Previously, I worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at IIT Bombay (Jan–Dec 2024), contributing to the development of silicon-composite/graphite and NMC-based lithium-ion batteries, along with sodium-ion and solid-state systems. From Jan to April 2025, I continued as a Research Associate at IIT Bombay in the same field. My expertise includes material synthesis, slurry rheology, electrode design, and pilot-scale fabrication of pouch and cylindrical cells. I received my Ph.D. in Energy Science and Engineering from IIT Bombay, focusing on challenges in silicon-based anode development such as first-cycle loss and full-cell stability. I also hold an M.Tech from Thapar University and a B.Tech from Rajasthan Technical University.
Email: [email protected].
Undergraduate students
Aidana Assylbek
I am an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry, currently doing my project on Solid-State Electrolyte in sodium batteries and the effects of polymers on performance, safety and structural integrity.
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: Aidana Assylbek
Olly Baxter
I am currently studying at the University of St Andrews working towards my undergraduate in Chemistry. For my final year project, I am part of the VT group working on solid state electrolytes for next generation sodium ion batteries. Particularly the modification of NASICON by substituting at the zirconium site.
Email: [email protected]
Alex Garner
I am an integrated masters with placement student. With previous experience in cylindrical Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC-H) cathode layer performance, I am now currently doing my project on Solid state electrolytes in lithium-ion batteries.
Email: [email protected]
Bleddyn Davis
I’m currently working towards my undergraduate degree, BSc Chemistry and Mathematics. My current research with the VT group is about dopant mechanisms of different types of high performance lithium-ion electrolytes, while my other research is about approximate analytic solutions and numerical modelling of particle motion in the Earth’s magnetosphere.
Email: [email protected]
Max Ivers
I’m Max, I like to play golf and football, and I love it at St Andrews. I am researching LLZO Garnets
Email: [email protected]
Akuil Saju
My Name is Akuil Saju, I’m currently an MRes Student studying with the Thangadurai Group, my research is mainly focused on Interface Modification in Garnet-type electrolytes. I just finished my Undergraduate where my dissertation was also with the Thangadurai group for which I was focused on dopant effects on Garnet electrolytes.
Email: [email protected]
Visiting Scholar
Dr Cairong Jiang
Dr Cairong Jiang is from Sichuan University of Science and Engineering. She received her Ph. D degree from the University of Science and Technology of China. After that, she spent some time at Seoul National University and Nanyang Technological University. She joined Professor John Irvine’s group as a research fellow for a couple of years. She is a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews, working with Prof. Venkataraman Thangadurai. Her research interests focus on the synthetic science of inorganic non-metallic materials, exploring novel materials for clean energy and environmental engineering applications while investigating the relationship between material structure and properties.
Previous students
Heather Ritchie
I was an undergraduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in Materials Chemistry (MChem), with a strong academic focus on solid electrolyte materials for lithium-ion batteries. My research was centered on the development of innovative solid electrolytes, which were key components for improving the performance, safety, and sustainability of lithium-ion battery technology.
LinkedIn: Heather Ritchie
Email: [email protected]