Biography

Research Project: Battery Materials Investigated by Atomic-scale Cryogenic Microscopy Characterisation
Supervisors: Prof Finn Giuliani (ICL), Dr Shelly Conroy (ICL)

Rahil graduated from the University of Warwick with a Masters in Physics. In the summer of 2021, he spent his time working with the Surface Physics department under supervision of Dr Gavin Bell at the University of Warwick to develop both thin film and bulk InBi for use in spintronic applications. The thin films were developed using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and the bulk samples were made through using a horizontal bridgemen technique. He then spent time abroad at the ATTOLab in Université Paris-Saclay studying the samples made by performing in situ ARPES and XPS measurements. In the summer of 2022, he then spent the summer working with Dr Tara Schiller at the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) to develop inhouse methods of testing if hydrophobic car coatings could be used for use on photovoltaics. Lastly in 2023, Rahil’s masters project involved studying the effects of paramagnetic ions on porous frameworks, in particular mesoporous silica structures and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). He did this working under supervision of Dr Dominik Kubicki in the ssNMR group.

For his PhD project, Rahil will be taking advantage of the new cryo-microscopy facilities at Imperial Collage London to investigate and develop new battery materials. In particular, he will study the use of nitrides as an electrode material and the effect of degradation at electrode-electrolyte interface through use of Atom Probe Tomography.

Nadir Basma

What differentiates the CDT ACM is the increased familiarity with facilities, techniques, and academic groups gained from working between the two partner universities.