Sustainable Energy Materials

A field of wind turbines and solar panels

51福利 us

At 51福利, our Sustainable Energy Materials research is driving the development of next-generation materials to support cleaner, more efficient, and scalable energy solutions. By harnessing breakthroughs in novel energy materials synthesis, advanced characterization techniques, computational modelling and quantum transport, our work tackles key challenges in renewable energy, energy storage, and waste heat recovery.

Our interdisciplinary team is at the forefront of organic thermoelectrics, enabling the conversion of waste heat into usable energy, and that advance green chemical processes. We are also pioneering energy materials for . Beyond materials innovation, our research explores sustainable supply chains and materials chemistry to develop grid-scale long-duration energy storage solutions, including flow batteries and post lithium-ion batteries—critical technologies for the transition to a low-carbon future.

Our history in Material Social Futures also manifests as active projects exploring the end-of-life and cradle-to-cradle approach to sustainability in energy materials.

Theme Lead

Professor Kathryn Toghill

Professor in Sustainable Electrochemistry and Energy Materials

Renewable energy sources have advanced tremendously in the past 20 years, but these developments are fundamentally limited by a lack of suitable long-duration energy storage systems. My research aims to further harness intermittent wind and solar generation by developing flexible, low-cost electrochemical energy storage systems (i.e. redox flow batteries) and explore electrochemically generated "green" fuels (hydrogen, CO2 reduction). My focus is on creating sustainable versions of these technologies, using low cost, environmentally friendly and abundant materials that have long-term potential as viable energy carriers in the future global energy network. Beyond energy I also look at transformative electrochemical health care platforms, looking to advance disease diagnostics.

Professor Kathryn Toghill

Projects

MXene

International collaborations

Lancaster’s sustainable energy materials research is a rapidly expanding field within the Faculty of Science and Technology, bringing together expertise from multiple disciplines in the inherently cross disciplinary field With collaborations across our campuses through active research partnerships, we continue to develop affordable, scalable, and mindfully sourced materials that support sustainable economic growth and a clean energy transition in developing regions.

By combining cutting-edge materials science with a strong emphasis on real-world impact, we are shaping the future of energy.