Balaya Palani
Faculty & Department
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Hyderabad Central University, India
Bachelor of Science, University of Madras, India
Bio
Just after graduating from University of Hyderabad, India (1993) in the area of Solid-State Ionics, Dr. Palani Balaya joined IISc, Bangalore as a Research Associate (1994-1996) and worked on thermal properties of insulating materials. He later joined the Inter University Consortium Mumbai, as a Scientist (1996-2001) before moving to Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart as a Guest Scientist (2001-2006) to work in the area of Nano-ionics. He joined Department of Mechanical Engineering at College of Design and Engineering, NUS as an Assistant Professor in 2007. Since 2014, he works as an Associate Professor at NUS. His research area includes developing safer high-power lithium-ion battery and sodium-ion battery. He served as a Topical (Battery, Fuel Cell, Capacitor) Editor for Journal of Solid-State Electrochemistry (2013-2017). Since 2022, he serves as Associate Editor for the International Journal of Applied Ceramic Technology (Wiley), Editorial Board Member of Ceramics International (Elsevier, since 2022) and for journal, Batteries (MDPI, since 2022). Elected as an Academician by the World Academy of Ceramics, Italy (2019) and elected as a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (FACerS) in 2019. He served in Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change as a Co-ordinating Lead Author for preparing a Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation, in 2011. He served as the Chair of the Engineering Ceramic Division of ACerS (2022-23). Delivered more than 155 talks (Plenary/Keynote/Invited) at international conferences/meetings. Published 120 articles with h-index of 51 and citations of 11450 (GS; 6th Nov. 2024). Co-founder of SgNaPlus in 2021 at Singapore.
Contact Information
Our research programme on energy storage and battery devices at NUS spans from fundamentals to outcome based activities. At one hand, we focus on fundamental research developing novel concepts and electrode materials for lithium-ion battery and sodium-ion battery, and the other hand we focus extensively on translational research developing proto-types of various battery cells close to industry standards without compromising impactful publications. At CDE, we took lead to set-up (i) a kilo-scale laboratory for production of electrode materials @ 4-5kg/batch and (ii) a state-of-the-art pilot line for fabrication of commercial type (18650, 21700 and pouch) cells, with an aim to develop capabilities for prototyping high performance lithium-ion batteries and sodium-ion batteries. We also analyse various mechanisms for heat generation in battery cells causing thermal runaway and tailor associated engineering approaches for cell fabrication using the pilot line to overcome those losses.
One who has specific interest in the above topics, is most welcome to contact me (mpepb@nus.edu.sg).
Cathode, anode and electrolyte for Li-ion battery and Na-ion battery
Safety aspects of Li-ion and Na-ion batteries
Heat generation and related mechanisms in Li-ion and Na-ion batteries
Solid state Na-ion battery.
Safe high-power Li-ion battery Technology
Funded by Underwriters Laboratories, USA we developed innovative safe high power Li-ion battery (18650, commercial type) using LiMnFeMgPO4 (LMFMP) cathode and Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) anode that could be charged and discharged within 15 min.
Achieved energy density of our battery technology is 73.5Wh/kg higher than reported energy density of 49.5Wh/kg for LiFePO4 vs Li4Ti5O12.
Technology Readiness Level: 4-5
Non-flammable Na-ion battery
Commercial type Na-ion battery (18650 format) is developed using in-house modified Na3V2(PO4)3 cathode and Hard carbon anode using non-flammable glyme based electrolyte. Generation 1 has energy density of 60Wh/kg which can be dicharge at 5C 912 min) with long cycle life of 1000 retaining aboyut 77% capacity.
Generation 2 non-flammable Na-ion cells has energy density in the range 90-100Wh/kg.
Technology Readiness Level: 5
Funding agency: NRF managed by EMA.
Spin-off company: SgNaPlus.Pte.Ltd
My Mentoring Style
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Selecting Research Topics?
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Setbacks / Challenges
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Feedback
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Consultation Frequency
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