Arumugam Manthiram

Research Group Website

Research Presentation for Prospective Graduate Students

Educational Qualifications

Ph.D.,Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India (1980)
M.S.,Chemistry, Madurai University, Madurai, India (1976)
B.S.,Chemistry, Madurai University, Madurai, India (1974)

Focus

Development of low-cost, efficient, durable materials for batteries and a fundamental understanding of their structure-property-performance relationships

Research

The primary focus of our research is the design and development of efficient, affordable materials that can facilitate widespread commercialization of electrical energy storage (battery) technologies. Our research encompasses a broad range of activities, including design of new materials based on basic chemistry and physics concepts, novel chemical synthesis and processing, advanced materials characterization, physical and chemical property measurements, fabrication and evaluation of prototype devices, and a fundamental understanding of the structure-property-performance relationships of materials. Some of the current research areas are listed below.

Lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, sodium-sulfur batteries, all-solid-state batteries. Some key aspects are elimination of expensive and scarcely available cobalt and nickel in batteries, scale-up synthesis and processing, replacement of expensive metal oxide cathodes in batteries with sulfur cathodes, development of safe, dense nanocomposite foil anodes, in-depth bulk and surface characterization after extensive charge-discharge cycling of batteries, fundamental understanding of degradation mechanisms, and overcoming the challenges of degradation.

Awards & Honors

• Olin Palladium Award, Electrochemical Society, 2025
• Faraday Lecture Award from the Central Electrochemical Research Institute in India, 2025
• Yeager Award for Lifetime Achievement, International Battery Materials Association, 2024
• Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, 2023
• Inaugural John B. Goodenough Award, The Electrochemical Society, 2023
• Battery Division Technology Award, Electrochemical Society, 2021
• Academician, World Academy of Ceramics, 2020
• International Battery Association Research Award, 2020
• Delivered Chemistry Nobel Prize Lecture on behalf of Professor John Goodenough, 2019
• Honorary Mechanical Engineer, ME Academy of Distinguished Alumni, UT Austin, 2019
• Billy and Claude R. Hocott Distinguished Centennial Engineering Research Award, 2016
• Fellow, Materials Research Society, 2016
• Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, 2015
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2015
• Battery Division Research Award, Electrochemical Society, 2014
• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award (one university-wide award/year), UT Austin, 2012
• Fellow, Electrochemical Society, 2011
• Outstanding Teaching Award, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin, 2011
• Fellow, American Ceramic Society, 2004
• Mechanical Engineering Faculty Leadership Award, College of Engineering, UT Austin, 1996
• Faculty Excellence Award, Halliburton Foundation, College of Engineering, UT Austin, 1994

Selected Publications

• Yao, W., M. Pai, and A. Manthiram, “Inner-Outer Sheath Synergistic Shielding of Polysulfides in Asymmetric Solvent-based Electrolytes for Stable Sodium-Sulfur Batteries," Journal of the American Chemical Society 147, 12061-12074 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c18374
• Cui, Z., C. Liu, F. Wang, and A. Manthiram, “Navigating Thermal-Stability Intricacies of High-Nickel Cathodes for High-Energy Lithium Batteries,” Nature Energy 10, 490-501 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-025-01731-x
• Liu, C., A. Dolocan, Z. Cui, and A. Manthiram, “Multi-Dimensional, Multi-Scale Analysis of Interphase Chemistry for Enhanced Fast-Charging of Lithium-Ion Batteries with Ion Mass Spectrometry,” Journal of the American Chemical Society (2025) https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c16561
• He, J., A. Bhargav, J. Okasinski, and A. Manthiram, “A Class of Sodium Transition-metal Sulfide Cathodes with Anion Redox,” Advanced Materials 36, 2403521 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202403521
• He, J., A. Bhargav, L. Su, H. Charalambous, and A. Manthiram, “Intercalation-type Catalyst for Non-aqueous Room-temperature Sodium-sulfur Batteries,” Nature Communications 14, 6568 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42383-3
• He, J., A. Bhargav, and A. Manthiram, “Stable, Dendrite-free Sodium-sulfur Batteries Enabled by a Solvated Ionic-liquid Electrolyte,” Journal of the American Chemical Society 143, 20241- 20248 (2021) 10.1021/jacs.1c08851
• Manthiram, A., “A Reflection on Lithium-ion Battery Cathode Chemistry,” Nature Communications 11, 1550 (2020) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15355-0
• Li, W., E. M. Erickson, and A. Manthiram, “High-nickel Layered Oxide Cathodes for Lithium-based Automotive Batteries,” Nature Energy 5, 26-34 (2020) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0513-0
• Li, W., S. Lee, and A. Manthiram, “High-nickel NMA: A Cobalt-free Alternative to NMC and NCA Cathodes for Lithium-ion Batteries,” Advanced Materials, 2002718: 1-6 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202002718
• H. Yaghoobnejad Asl and A. Manthiram, “Reigning in Dissolved Transition Metal Ions” Science 369, 140-141 (2020) https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abc5454