Renate Baarslag
PhD candidate
Supervisor:
Promotor:
Employed:
dr. Peter Ngene
prof. dr. Petra de Jongh
July 2025 – present
Email:
Room:
r.j.baarslag@uu.nl
DDW 4th floor Open area
Interface-engineered ionic conductors for electrochemical energy storage and conversion
A leap in electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies is crucial for achieving the desired energy and environmental sustainability, as this is essential for electric vehicles and the storage of intermittent electricity from renewable resources. Ion conduction through electrolytes is the bedrock of several electrochemical devices such as batteries and fuel cells, which are also vital to modern society. In comparison to traditional liquid electrolytes in batteries, solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) could offer improved energy density, stability and safety1.
High conductivity is crucial for the application of electrochemical devices, and increasing the intrinsically low conductivity of SSEs has been of enormous technological interest. The discovery that the conductivity of SSEs can increase or decrease by orders of magnitude at the interface between an ion conductor and a non-conductor (e.g., oxides) has led to much interest in utilizing interface engineering to design SSEs with improved conductivity and performance in electrochemical devices2. In this project, we will unravel the fundamental mechanisms that govern interface ion conductivity by preparing model nanocomposite solid electrolytes with tunable interfaces, and using advanced techniques such as XPS, XRS, HR-TEM/EDX, and NMR to study the interface compositions
References
[1] Janek, J. & Zeier, W. G. Nature Energy, 2016, 1, 1–4.
[2] De Kort, L. M., Gulino, V., de Jongh, P. E., Ngene, P. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2022, 901, 163474.
C.V.
July 2025-Present
PhD candidate in the Materials Chemistry and Catalysis group at Utrecht University under the supervision of dr. Peter Ngene
2023 – 2025
MSc Nanomaterials Science at Utrecht University
Thesis: Mechano-catalytic conversion of polyolefins. Supervised by Adrian Hergesell, Dr. Ina Vollmer and Dr. Eline Hutter; Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis group.
Internship: RWTH Aachen University on the topic of ‘Electrochemical acetalization of alcohols’ under the supervision of Ina Kohlhaas and Prof. Dr. Regina Palkovits.
2018 – 2022
BSc Chemistry at Utrecht University
Thesis: Catalytic pyrolysis of polypropylene using sulfated zirconia combined with mesoporous silica. Supervised by Jochem van de Minkelis and Dr. Ina Vollmer; Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis group
Materials Chemistry and Catalysis 