Ian Gentle

Biography

I joined The University of Queensland in 1993 following postdoctoral positions at the Research School of Chemistry at ANU and at the University of New England. During 2008-2010 I was seconded to the Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, Victoria as Head of Science and returned full time to UQ in 2011. In 2013 I was appointed Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science, while continuing to lead my group in SCMB. In 2015 I was appointed Deputy Executive Dean, Faculty of Science Energy materials

Research Interest

Materials for Energy Storage – We are developing new materials for use as cathodes in high-energy rechargeable batteries, particularly lithium sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors. Materials developed so far show potential increases in energy density of 3-5x that of lithium ion batteries. In this work, funded by industry and State Government, we are working to continue increasing the capacity of Li-S batteries in a new purpose-built facility. Understanding structure in organic photonic devices (in collaboration with Prof Paul Burn (Centre for Organic Photonics & Electronics - School of Chemistry & Molecular Biosciences) and Prof Paul Meredith (Centre for Organic Photonics & Electronics -School of Mathematics and Physics) – Organic devices such as organic light emitting diodes, solar cells and sensors, are constructed using multiple layers of materials that perform different functions such as emitting light and charge transport. The interaction between these layers is very important and we study diffusion and structure at interfaces using such techniques as X-ray and neutron reflectometry. Secondary Research Areas: Nanotechnology and Materials Chemistry