Professor Forsyth and IFM Electromaterials Group

Alfred Deakin Professor Maria Forsyth

Deakin University

Deputy Director, IFM

Institute for Frontier Materials

Director, storEnergy

ARC Training Center for Future Energy Storage Technologies

Associate Director, ACES

ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science

Renewable energy plants that generate solar, wind or tidal energy cannot operate in step with energy demands, meaning that electrical energy storage devices will be an essential component of the grid to ensure that electricity can be provided when it is needed.

Our group are world leaders in battery technology and electrochemical devices directed towards applications which include batteries for electric vehicles, as well as domestic and large-scale energy storage that can be integrated with the renewable energy grid. We have pioneered the use of ionic liquids as safe high performance electrolytes in a range of electrochemical devices, including their application in lithium batteries, solar cells and capacitors.

Maria Forsyth

Professor, Electromaterials and Corrosion Science

Professor Maria Forsyth “FAA” (Fellow Australian Academy of Sciences), is the Director of ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies, StorEnergy, former ARC Laureate fellow and currently an Alfred Deakin Professorial Fellow at Deakin University and an Ikerbasque Visiting Professorial Fellow at University of the Basque Country. She is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM) at Deakin University in Australia, where she leads the research effort in energy storage and corrosion science. She has worked at the forefront of energy materials research since her Fulbright Research Fellowship in 1990 and has consistently made breakthrough discoveries, including in polymer electrolytes, ionic liquids and organic plastic crystals. Specifically, her work has focused on understanding the phenomenon of charge transport at metal/electrolyte interfaces and within novel electrolyte materials. This has provided a basis for understanding the behaviour of such materials, and thus moving towards overcoming the performance limitations, of applications ranging from novel fuel cell designs and battery storage to corrosion prevention technologies.

Professor Forsyth leads collaborative projects in lithium and sodium battery technologies funded through recent Australian Research Council grants and with various industries. She is a co-author of over 650 journal and conference publications that attracted more than 27000 citations. Professor Forsyth has served on several editorial boards and is currently a senior editor for Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, a highly respected American Chemical Society journal. She also currently serves on the Research Implementation Advisory Committee for the Future Battery Industry CRC. She is the recipient of the Galileo Galilee award for her contributions to the polymer electrolyte and energy storage field, has received the Australian Corrosion Association Corrosion Medal and was awarded The Victorian Prize for Science and Innovation (VESKI) in 2017 as well as the 2020 Victorian Honour roll for Women.