Battery formation is the first stage of charging and resting cycles that a cell undergoes after manufacturing. It is one of the most time-consuming and costly steps in battery production, yet it is still optimised largely by trial and error.

Group 3 combines experiments (University of Birmingham), atomistic modelling (University of Southampton), and continuum modelling (University of Warwick) to understand how the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) forms during this process.

By linking insights across scales and validating them against experimental data, we aim to build predictive models that help design faster, cheaper, and more reliable formation protocols.

Group 4 explores how the electrochemical, thermal and mechanical behaviour of lithium-ion batteries are linked during operation and ageing.

The work focuses on understanding how batteries expand, deform and generate internal stresses as they charge, discharge and experience changing temperatures, and how these processes relate to battery health and degradation.

By combining physics-based modelling with experimental measurements, Group 4 will improve the interpretation of mechanical signals alongside conventional electrical data.

The resulting models and datasets will support more accurate battery diagnostics, lifetime prediction and safety assessment, while providing open-source tools for the wider battery research community.

Content for Group 5 will be added here once the final research description is available.

This section is intentionally kept as a placeholder so that no scientific claims are introduced without the approved project text.