School of Chemistry
 

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Lee Johnson

Professor of Electrochemistry, Faculty of Science

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Biography

Lee Johnson is a Professor of Electrochemistry with expertise in electrochemical energy devices. He jointly leads the Nottingham Applied Materials and Interfaces Group with colleagues Darren Walsh and Graham Newton. Since 2012, his research interests have focused on the development of next-generation energy storage including lithium-air batteries, magnesium batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries and electrolyte solutions for nickel-rich and high-voltage lithium-ion cells. His research is supported by funding from EPSRC, the Supergen Energy-Storage Hub, and the Faraday Institution, where he is a co-investigator on the LiSTAR and FutureCat projects. He received a MChem (Hons.) degree from Newcastle University in 2006 after which he completed a PhD in physical chemistry and electrochemistry at the University of Nottingham. In 2011 he was awarded a EPSRC Doctoral Prize. In 2012 he joined the research group of Prof Sir P.G. Bruce FRS (University of St Andrews 2012-2014, University of Oxford 2014-2017). In 2017 he was awarded a Nottingham Research Fellowship, closely followed by an EPSRC Fellowship. In 2019 he was promoted to Associate Professor and then to Professor in 2025.

Research Summary

Our research focuses on understanding the chemistry that underpins advanced batteries and how this understanding can be used to unlock a new generation of energy storage technologies. The approach… read more

Selected Publications

  • MCNULTY, RORY C., JONES, KIERAN D., HOLC, CONRAD, JORDAN, JACK W., BRUCE, PETER G., WALSH, DARREN A., NEWTON, GRAHAM N., LAM, HON WAI and JOHNSON, LEE R., 2023. Hydroperoxide-Mediated Degradation of Acetonitrile in the Lithium-Air Battery ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS.
  • MCNULTY, RORY C., PENSTON, KEIR, AMIN, SHARAD S., STAL, SANDRO, LEE, JIE YIE, SAMPERI, MARIO, PEREZ-GARCIA, LLUISA, CAMERON, JAMIE M., JOHNSON, LEE R., AMABILINO, DAVID B. and NEWTON, GRAHAM N., 2023. Self-Assembled Surfactant-Polyoxovanadate Soft Materials as Tuneable Vanadium Oxide Cathode Precursors for Lithium-Ion Batteries ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION.
  • AHN, SUNYHIK, ZOR, CEREN, YANG, SIXIE, LAGNONI, MARCO, DEWAR, DANIEL, NIMMO, TAMMY, CHAU, CHLOE, JENKINS, MAX, KIBLER, ALEXANDER J, PATEMAN, ALEXANDER, REES, GREGORY J, GAO, XIANGWEN, ADAMSON, PAUL, GROBERT, NICOLE, BERTEI, ANTONIO, JOHNSON, LEE R and BRUCE, PETER G, 2023. Why charging Li-air batteries with current low-voltage mediators is slow and singlet oxygen does not explain degradation. Nature chemistry.
  • JORDAN, JACK W, MORTIBOY, BETH, KHLOBYSTOV, ANDREI N, JOHNSON, LEE R, NEWTON, GRAHAM N and WALSH, DARREN A, 2023. Voltammetric Evidence of Proton Transport through the Sidewalls of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Current Research

Our research focuses on understanding the chemistry that underpins advanced batteries and how this understanding can be used to unlock a new generation of energy storage technologies. The approach combines electrochemistry and a range of operando analytical methods.Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionised energy storage and the modern world. Demand is expected to exceed 400 GWh per annum by 2025. This mature technology is now a limiting factor in the performance of electric vehicles and portable electronics. Developing a new generation of energy storage devices able to provide improved energy, power, cost and sustainability metrics is a critical challenge for the UK. Notably, the UK's industrial strategy aims to make battery manufacturing and electrification of the automotive sector a major strand of the future UK industrial portfolio. Our research focuses on understanding the chemistry that underpins advanced batteries and how this understanding can be used to unlock a new generation of energy storage technologies for electrification of the automotive sector. The target is to enable alternative, sustainable technologies that can supersede the lithium-ion battery. Our approach to address these challenges combines materials chemistry and electrochemistry and is delivered in collaboration with leading stakeholders in the energy storage sector, including the Faraday Institution and the SUPERGEN energy storage hub.

  • MCNULTY, RORY C., PENSTON, KEIR, AMIN, SHARAD S., STAL, SANDRO, LEE, JIE YIE, SAMPERI, MARIO, PEREZ-GARCIA, LLUISA, CAMERON, JAMIE M., JOHNSON, LEE R., AMABILINO, DAVID B. and NEWTON, GRAHAM N., 2023. Self-Assembled Surfactant-Polyoxovanadate Soft Materials as Tuneable Vanadium Oxide Cathode Precursors for Lithium-Ion Batteries ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION.
  • WADGE, MATTHEW D., BIRD, MATTHEW A., SANKOWSKI, ANDRZEJ, CONSTANTIN, HANNAH, FAY, MICHAEL W., COOPER, TIMOTHY P., O'SHEA, JAMES N., KHLOBYSTOV, ANDREI N., WALSH, DARREN A., JOHNSON, LEE R., FELFEL, REDA M., AHMED, IFTY and GRANT, DAVID M., 2023. Nanostructured, Alkaline Titanate-Converted, and Heat-Treated Ti6Al4V Microspheres via Wet-Chemical Alkaline Modification and their ORR Electrocatalytic Response ADVANCED MATERIALS INTERFACES. 10(5),
  • JORDAN, JACK W, MORTIBOY, BETH, KHLOBYSTOV, ANDREI N, JOHNSON, LEE R, NEWTON, GRAHAM N and WALSH, DARREN A, 2023. Voltammetric Evidence of Proton Transport through the Sidewalls of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes. Journal of the American Chemical Society.
  • AHN, SUNYHIK, ZOR, CEREN, YANG, SIXIE, LAGNONI, MARCO, DEWAR, DANIEL, NIMMO, TAMMY, CHAU, CHLOE, JENKINS, MAX, KIBLER, ALEXANDER J, PATEMAN, ALEXANDER, REES, GREGORY J, GAO, XIANGWEN, ADAMSON, PAUL, GROBERT, NICOLE, BERTEI, ANTONIO, JOHNSON, LEE R and BRUCE, PETER G, 2023. Why charging Li-air batteries with current low-voltage mediators is slow and singlet oxygen does not explain degradation. Nature chemistry.
  • MCNULTY, RORY C., JONES, KIERAN D., HOLC, CONRAD, JORDAN, JACK W., BRUCE, PETER G., WALSH, DARREN A., NEWTON, GRAHAM N., LAM, HON WAI and JOHNSON, LEE R., 2023. Hydroperoxide-Mediated Degradation of Acetonitrile in the Lithium-Air Battery ADVANCED ENERGY MATERIALS.
  • JORDAN, JACK W., CAMERON, JAMIE M., LOWE, GRACE A., RANCE, GRAHAM A., FUNG, KAYLEIGH L. Y., JOHNSON, LEE R., WALSH, DARREN A., KHLOBYSTOV, ANDREI N. and NEWTON, GRAHAM N., 2022. Stabilization of Polyoxometalate Charge Carriers via Redox-Driven Nanoconfinement in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 61(8), e202115619
  • MATTHEW D. WADGE, MATTHEW A. BIRD, ANDRZEJ SANKOWSKI, HANNAH CONSTANTIN, MICHAEL W. FAY, TIMOTHY P. COOPER, JAMES N. O'SHEA, ANDREI N. KHLOBYSTOV, DARREN A. WALSH, LEE R. JOHNSON, REDA M. FELFEL, IFTY AHMED and DAVID M. GRANT, 2022. Nanostructured, Alkaline Titanate-Converted, and Heat- Treated Ti6Al4V Microspheres via Wet-Chemical Alkaline Modification and their ORR Electrocatalytic Response Advanced Materials Interfaces.
  • AKKISETTY, BHASKAR, DIMOGIANNIS, KONSTANTINOS, SEARLE, JOANNE, ROGERS, DAVID, NEWTON, GRAHAM N. and JOHNSON, LEE R., 2022. Enflurane Additive for Sodium Negative Electrodes ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES. 14(32), 36551-36556
  • JOVANOV, ZARKO P., LUTZ, LUKAS, LOZANO, JUAN G., HOLC, CONRAD, GAO, XIANGWEN, GRIMAUD, ALEXIS, TARASCON, JEAN-MARIE, CHEN, YUHUI, JOHNSON, LEE R. and BRUCE, PETER G., 2022. Competitive Oxygen Reduction Pathways to Superoxide and Peroxide during Sodium-Oxygen Battery Discharge BATTERIES & SUPERCAPS. 5(9),
  • DONG, SHANMU, YANG, SIXIE, CHEN, YUHUI, KUSS, CHRISTIAN, CUI, GUANGLEI, JOHNSON, LEE R., GAO, XIANGWEN and BRUCE, PETER G., 2022. Singlet oxygen and dioxygen bond cleavage in the aprotic lithium-oxygen battery JOULE. 6(1), 185-192
  • JORDAN, JACK W., TOWNSEND, WILLIAM J., V, JOHNSON, LEE R., WALSH, DARREN A., NEWTON, GRAHAM N. and KHLOBYSTOV, ANDREI N., 2021. Electrochemistry of redox-active molecules confined within narrow carbon nanotubes CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS. 50(19), 10895-10916
  • NEWTON, GRAHAM N., JOHNSON, LEE R., WALSH, DARREN A., HWANG, BING JOE and HAN, HONGXIAN, 2021. Sustainability of Battery Technologies: Today and Tomorrow ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING. 9(19), 6507-6509
  • CAMERON, JAMIE M., HOLC, CONRAD, KIBLER, ALEXANDER J., PEAKE, CATHERINE L., WALSH, DARREN A., NEWTON, GRAHAM N. and JOHNSON, LEE R., 2021. Molecular redox species for next-generation batteries CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS. 50(10), 5863-5883
  • ROBINSON, JAMES B., XI, KAI, KUMAR, R. VASANT, FERRARI, ANDREA C., AU, HEATHER, TITIRICI, MARIA-MAGDALENA, PARRA-PUERTO, ANDRES, KUCERNAK, ANTHONY, FITCH, SAMUEL D. S., GARCIA-ARAEZ, NURIA, BROWN, ZACHARY L., PASTA, MAURO, FURNESS, LIAM, KIBLER, ALEXANDER J., WALSH, DARREN A., JOHNSON, LEE R., HOLC, CONRAD, NEWTON, GRAHAM N., CHAMPNESS, NEIL R., MARKOULIDIS, FOIVOS, CREAN, CAROL, SLADE, ROBERT C. T., ANDRITSOS, ELEFTHERIOS, I, CAI, QIONG, BABAR, SHUMAILA, ZHANG, TENG, LEKAKOU, CONSTANTINA, KULKARNI, NIVEDITA, RETTIE, ALEXANDER J. E., JERVIS, RHODRI, CORNISH, MICHAEL, MARINESCU, MONICA, OFFER, GREGORY, LI, ZHUANGNAN, BIRD, LIAM, GREY, CLARE P., CHHOWALLA, MANISH, LECCE, DANIELE DI, OWEN, RHODRI E., MILLER, THOMAS S., BRETT, DAN J. L., LIATARD, SEBASTIEN, AINSWORTH, DAVID and SHEARING, PAUL R., 2021. 2021 roadmap on lithium sulfur batteries JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-ENERGY. 3(3),
  • HOLC, CONRAD, DIMOGIANNIS, KONSTANTINOS, HOPKINSON, EMILY and JOHNSON, LEE R., 2021. Critical Role of the Interphase at Magnesium Electrodes in Chloride-Free, Simple Salt Electrolytes ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES. 13(25), 29708-29713
  • KWAK, WON-JIN, ROSY, SHARON, DANIEL, XIA, CHUN, KIM, HUN, JOHNSON, LEE R., BRUCE, PETER G., NAZAR, LINDA F., SUN, YANG-KOOK, FRIMER, ARYEH A., NOKED, MALACHI, FREUNBERGER, STEFAN A. and AURBACH, DORON, 2020. Lithium-Oxygen Batteries and Related Systems: Potential, Status, and Future CHEMICAL REVIEWS. 120(14), 6626-6683
  • LIU, JINGYUAN, GAO, XIANGWEN, HARTLEY, GARETH O., REES, GREGORY J., GONG, CHEN, RICHTER, FELIX H., JANEK, JUERGEN, XIA, YONGYAO, ROBERTSON, ALEX W., JOHNSON, LEE R. and BRUCE, PETER G., 2020. The Interface between Li6.5La3Zr1.5Ta0.5O12 and Liquid Electrolyte JOULE. 4(1), 101-108
  • CHEN, YUHUI, GAO, XIANGWEN, JOHNSON, LEE R. and BRUCE, PETER G., 2018. Kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation by redox mediators and consequences for the lithium-oxygen cell NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 9,
  • GAO, XIANGWEN, JOVANOV, ZARKO P., CHEN, YUHUI, JOHNSON, LEE R. and BRUCE, PETER G., 2017. Phenol-Catalyzed Discharge in the Aprotic Lithium-Oxygen Battery ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION. 56(23), 6539-6543
  • GAO, XIANGWEN, CHEN, YUHUI, JOHNSON, LEE R., JOVANOV, ZARKO P. and BRUCE, PETER G., 2017. A rechargeable lithium-oxygen battery with dual mediators stabilizing the carbon cathode NATURE ENERGY. 2(9),
  • GAO, XIANGWEN, CHEN, YUHUI, JOHNSON, LEE and BRUCE, PETER G., 2016. Promoting solution phase discharge in Li-O-2 batteries containing weakly solvating electrolyte solutions NATURE MATERIALS. 15(8), 882-+
  • L. JOHNSON, C. M. LI, Z. LIU, Y. H. CHEN, S. A. FREUNBERGER, P. C. ASHOK, B. B. PRAVEEN, K. DHOLAKIA, J. M. TARASCON and P. G. BRUCE, 2014. The role of LiO2 solubility in O2 reduction in aprotic solvents and its consequences for Li-O2 batteries NATURE CHEMISTRY. 6(12), 1091-1099
  • JOHNSON, LEE, EJIGU, ANDINET, LICENCE, PETER and WALSH, DARREN A., 2012. Hydrogen Oxidation and Oxygen Reduction at Platinum in Protic Ionic Liquids: Journal of Physical Chemistry C Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 116(34), 18048-18056
  • EJIGU, ANDINET, JOHNSON, LEE, LICENCE, PETER and WALSH, DARREN A., 2012. Electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol and carbon monoxide at platinum in protic ionic liquids: Electrochemistry Communications Electrochemistry Communications. 23, 122-124

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