Dr Tanveer Hussain

Senior Lecturer - School of Science and Technology

Phone: +61 (02) 6773 1563

Mobile: 0451635750

Biography

Dr Tanveer Hussain is a Senior Lecturer of Applied Physics in the discipline of Physics & Electronics at University of New England, Australia. His research career started at Dept. of Physics and Astronomy at Uppsala University, Sweden, where he completed his PhD degree in computational condensed matter physics (computational designs of clean energy storage materials). His PhD research led to the design of several new classes of nanomaterials for efficient energy storage applications.

Following that he spent one year at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, as Carl Tryggers Fellow, where he expanded his research expertise towards gas-sensing applications. In 2015, Tanveer was awarded UQ postdoctoral fellowship, to work at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at the University of Queensland (UQ), where he explored the potentials of two-dimensional nanostructures as electrode materials for rechargeable batteries. Later on, Tanveer worked as senior researcher at the School of Molecular Science, at the University of Western Australia (2018-2020), and at School of Chemical Engineering at UQ (2020-2021).

Each of these institute strategically enabled him to expand his training in physics and material science and build a set of skills in computational material science and material physics/chemistry.

His research interests include computational design of functional materials for clean energy storage, such as (1) Hydrogen Storage, (2) Rechargeable Metal-Ion Batteries (3) Metal-Sulfur Batteries, and (4) Nano Sensors for environmental pollutants and the detection of various biomarkers for disease diagnostics.

Dr Tanveer’s research connects many fields, such as physics, chemistry, material science, nanotechnology, and biomedical sciences. We design novel functional materials for a diverse range of applications. Our current direction of research includes the rational design of functional materials for high-capacity hydrogen storage applications. We are equally interested in designing efficient electrode materials to enhance the performance of recharge batteries.

He further wants to design efficient nano sensors, which could be used in a variety of fields, such as environment cleanliness, early disease detections, and defence applications. He has enjoyed strong collaborations with theoretical and experimental groups around the globe.

Qualifications

PhD in Physics (Computational Condensed Matter Physics)

Awards

Australian Nanotechnology Travel Award

Vice Chancellor Travel Award (Uppsala University, Sweden)

Teaching Areas

PHYS100 Introductory Physics
PHYS131 Applied Physics 1
PHYS132 Applied Physics 2
PHYS204 Electromagnetism 1
PHYS213 Sensors and Signal Processing
PHYS301 Microscopic to Macroscopic Physics and Chemistry
SCI395 Scientific Report

Primary Research Area/s

Hydrogen Storage; Gas Sensing; Metal-Ion Batteries; Metal Sulfur Batteries; Computational Material Science

Research Interests

Hydrogen Storage
Hydrogen (H₂) is a promising energy carrier, possessing the highest energy content per mass among all the available options and it is environmentally friendly, emitting water upon its combustion. However, to commercialize the H₂ technologies, feasible and safe onboard H₂ storage systems are needed. The conventional technologies, such as liquefaction and gas compression, have many limitations, thus material-based H₂ storage systems will be an effective and safe alternative. We employ quantum mechanical simulations to design efficient H₂ storage materials by using,

Nanomaterials (1D, 2D)

Metal-Hydrides

Rechargeable Metal-Ion Batteries

Metal-ion batteries are considered one of the most viable technologies for the efficient storage of clean energy. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the front-runners among the metal-ion batteries due to the well-established technology, long-term cyclic stability, portability, and diverse range of applications from cell phones to electric automobiles. However, limited lithium reserves coupled with high costs limit the application of LIBs in the longer run, especially for large-scale energy storage. Thus, it is of interest to develop alternative and complimentary battery technologies, which would use sustainable resources and are cost effective.

Our research is focused on the design of electrode materials for

Sodium Ion Batteries

Potassium Ion Batteries

Magnesium Ion Batteries

Calcium Ion Batteries

Metal-Sulfur/Selenium Batteries

Metal-sulfur (metal-selenium) batteries have emerged as a promising energy storage technology for large-scale stationary applications such as smart electrical grids due to the exceptionally high energy density and cost-effectiveness. However, one of the challenging problems impeding their practical applications is capacity fading or lack or reversibility.

We tackle this challenge by designing efficient electrode additives, which help improve the battery life.

Our research focus includes,

Lithium-Sulfur & Lithium Selenium Batteries

Sodium-Sulfur Batteries

Potassium-Sulfur Batteries

Nano Sensors

Exposure to various pollutants poses a serious threat to the environment and to human health. World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that both indoor and outdoor pollution caused around 7 million premature deaths per year, which would be double by the year 2050. According to the BCC Research reports global, the sensor market is growing with an annual growth rate of 13.3% and is to expected to reach $323.3 billion by 2024.

In Australia alone, the estimated financial cost of premature deaths due to air pollution ranges from roughly $11 billion to $24 billion per year. To counter this serious situation, we are designing nano-sensors capable of detecting toxic pollutants efficiently. Our focus areas are,

Common Pollutants
Volatile Organic Compounds
Biomarkers Detection for Early Disease Diagnosis
Warfare Agents
Pesticide Capture

Research Grants

Doctoral Research Assistance, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, ThailandSupercomputing resources of 250K SU: $47, 650 (Co-CI, 2023-2026)

Project: MXene materials as nanobiosensors

NCI Adapter Scheme Q2, 2023 Supercomputing resources of 250K SU: $10, 000 (CI, April-June 2023)

Project: Designing Non-precious Functional Materials for Efficient Gas-sensing Applications

Mid-career Research Fund: National Research Council of Thailand Funding Awarded: $65, 700 (Co-CI, 2023-2025)

Project: Development of Electrode Materials for Next-generation Sodium-sulfur Batteries: Computational Quantum Physics and machine Learning

Start-Up Funding by UNE Funding Awarded: $10, 000 (CI, 2023)

Project: To purchase stat-of-the-art computational package VASP

National Research Council of Thailand (grant number: RE-KRIS/FF67/009) Funding Awarded: $42, 700 (Co-CI, 2023-2024)

Project: 2D materials for implementing as battery materials, sensors, and superconductors

Thailand National Research Fund 2020: Basic Research Program Funding Awarded: $24, 000 (Co-CI, 2020)

Project: Design of Lithium-free Metal-sulfur batteries

Thailand Royal Golden Jubilee Grant, Thailand Govt. Funding Awarded: $62, 500 (Co-CI, 2018-2020)

Project: Lead-free Perovskite Solar Cells: Theory and experiment

Thailand Research Fund Funding Awarded: $25, 000 (Co-CI, 2018-2019)

Project: Van der Waals Heterostructures based on Two-dimensional (2D) Materials

Nanotech Research Institute of Thailand Funding Awarded: $16, 500 (Co-CI, 2018)

Project: Strain Engineering of Thermoelectric Capacities of Two-dimensional (2D) materials

The Development and Promotion of Science and Technology, Talent Project Funding Awarded: $40, 000 (Co-CI, 2017-2020):

Project: Chemical Gas Sensing Based on Post-graphene Two-dimensional (2D) Materials

UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship Funding Awarded: $347,747 (Sole CI, 2015-2018)
Carl Tryggers Fellowship Funding Awarded: $37, 000 (Sole Co-CI, 2014)

Research Supervision Experience

8 years
5 PhD completions
2 Master completion
4 Undergraduate completion

Publications

Since 2011, Dr Tanveer has published 176 peer reviewed journal articles, with more than 95% in Q1 journals and 70% as corresponding author, many of them in leading journals including, Advanced Energy Materials, ACS Energy Letters, Advanced Functional Materials, Angewandte Chemie, and Nano Energy etc. His total citations count is 5867 and H-index of 46.

Complete list of publications can be found here.

Memberships

Australian Nanotechnology Network

Hydrogen Society of Australia

Consultancy Interests

Dr Tanveer has commitment to industry engagement. He has been engaged with defence science and technology group (DSTG) in gas-sensing domain. His research on hydrogen storage has great potential in attracting industry engagement.