About
Alex Neale is a Lecturer in Chemistry and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow with research focussing on combined electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques to understand electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis and battery chemistry.
Alex received his MChem degree from the University of Liverpool in 2013 and then obtained his PhD at Queen's University Belfast in 2017 under the supervision of Professor Johan Jacquemin and Professor Christopher Hardacre. His doctoral research focussed on the electrochemical and thermophysical properties and application of ionic liquid-based electrolytes for lithium-air batteries and electrochemical capacitors.
In 2017 Alex returned to Liverpool to work with Professor Laurence Hardwick in the Stephenson Institute for Renewable Energy (Department of Chemistry), applying electrochemical and advanced in-situ/operando spectroscopic techniques to understand interfacial reaction/degradation mechanisms in energy storage systems, spanning Li-ion and beyond Li-ion technologies (including metal–O₂, solid-state, Li–sulfur, and organic electrodes).
He has collaborated widely within UK and European consortia through involvements with the Faraday Institution projects (Degradation, SOL-BAT, CAT-MAT) and the EU BIG-MAP project. Alex has supported the development of new advanced characterisation techniques, including operando Kerr-gated Raman spectroscopy (at the Central Laser Facilities, STFC UK), Surface Enhanced Infrared Absorbance Spectroscopy (SEIRAS), and novel cell design to probe water electrolyser interfaces using in situ Raman microscopy. Alex’s research also involves the development of automated robotic workflows, targeting the synthesis of battery electrode coatings to improve cell cycle life.
Prizes or Honours
- Best poster prize at the SIRE 10 Year Anniversary Event (SIRE 10 Year Anniversary Event sponsors, 2023)
- Travel Award for Young Electrochemists (International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE), 2020)
- 1st place Poster Prize at the 5th International Spectroelectrochemistry Summer School (Centre of Spectroelectrochemistry, Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Dresden, 2019)