From 2011 to 1014, I studied under Dr. Zuzanna Siwy. One of the Siwy Group’s goals is to study the electrical (and quantum) interactions that take place inside lithium-ion batteries.

How is this done? Nanopores are used to . . .

Wait, what’s a nanopore? Think of it as a plastic, empty, nano-sized, sock with a small hole near the big toe.

Okay, so why nanopores? Their small size is such that individual atoms/ions often have trouble squeezing through them. This allows us to study the interactions between an ion called lithium and a material called manganese oxide – both of which are found in your phone battery.

• Plett, T., Gamble, T., Gillette, E., Lee, S., & Siwy, Z. (2015). Ionic Conductivity of a Single Porous Mesorod at Controlled Oxidation States. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2015,3, 12858-12863 doi:10.1039/C5TA03196F.

• Gamble, T et al., (2014). Probing Porous Structure of Single Manganese Oxide Mesorods with Ionic Current. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 118(18), 9809–9819. doi:10.1021/jp501492g

• Gamble, T et al., (2013). Rectification of Ion Current Nanopores Depends on the Type of Monovalent Cations – Experiments and Modeling. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 117(47), 24836–24842. doi:10.1021/jp408107z .