John Holoubek

Bio: John Holoubek researches electrochemical systems for the sustainable storage and conversion of energy. He earned his bachelor's degree from Oregon State University in chemical engineering, and researched novel low-cost secondary battery systems in the Chemistry Department. At U.C.-San Diego, John's PhD work aimed to describe and design the liquid electrolyte/electrode interphase in next-generation batteries employing high-energy chemistries. This technologically motivated, fundamental approach probed the effect of electrolyte chemistry and structure on device behavior through experimental and computational means. John won a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities fellowship, an ARCS (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) Foundation scholar award, and the 2022 Electrochemical  Society Battery Division's student research award.

Postdoctoral research project: Computationally-guided design of electrolyte structure and dynamics for advanced electrocatalytic performance.  Electrochemical catalysis promises to redefine our relationship to energy storage and conversion, paving the way for the sustainable production of fuels and commodity chemicals from sustainable feedstocks. These devices are composed of solid electrodes, which provide or remove electrons to or from reactants of interest from a liquid electrolyte in a region of space known as the interphase. The performance of these systems are therefore dependent on our ability to understand and control the chemistry, structure, and energetics of this interphase. Improved performance has traditionally achieved through alterations of the solid electrode material, however true control of the interphase relies on holistic design of both the electrode and electrolyte. John’s work at Stanford aims to predict, demonstrate, understand, and enable targeted improvements in electrocatalysis performance via chemical redesign of the liquid electrolyte.

Research focus:  Energy Conversion & Storage - Electrocatalysis

Advisors:  Yi Cui - Materials Science & Engineering  |  Zhenan Bao and Jian Qin - Chemical Engineering

Education

Ph.D., NanoEngineering, University of California, San Diego (2023)B.S., Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University (2018)