Staff Profile

Biography 

Like Slash, Lemmy, Wedgwood and Mitchell before him, James grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, famous for oatcakes, pottery and darts players. He obtained his BSc Chemistry degree from Keele University in 2009. He then moved to Sheffield to undertake his PhD under the supervision of Professors John Harding and Derek Sinclair. After completing his studies, James was awarded a prestigious JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at Kyoto University, which allowed him to achieve his ambition of living and working in Japan. Upon conclusion of his fellowship, James returned to the UK to take up a postdoctoral position at the University of Cambridge, followed by a stint at the University of Bath, before joining Newcastle University as a NUAcT Fellow in January 2020. His research utilises state-of-the-art computational modelling techniques to improve the fundamental understanding of energy materials and their interfaces for current and future applications. 

A full list of James's publications is available at Google Scholar and he is also on Twitter and Facebook.  

There are a number of PhD and postdoctoral funding opportunities available to work in the Dawson group. Please drop James an email if you are interested!

Prizes and Awards

2020 Newcastle University Academic Track Fellowship

2019 Ede and Ravenscroft Research Staff Prize, University of Bath

2018 STFC Futures Early Career Award

2018 Award winning abstract for AIP Interfaces in Energy Materials, University of Cambridge

2015 Postdoctoral Research Prize, Kyoto University 

2013 JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship

2009 Gurnos Jones Prize, Keele University

2008 Harold Springall Prize, Keele University 

2008 Best Student Prize, Keele University

Professional Memberships and Roles

Energy theme lead for the Newcastle University Centre for Energy 

Editorial board member for Energies

Expert panel member for Innoviris (Brussels Institute for Research and Innovation)

EPSRC Full Peer College Member

Expert peer reviewer for German Research Foundation (DFG)

Expert peer reviewer Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, MRSC

Member of the Materials Research Society

As famously stated by Prof. Herbert Kroemer during his lecture for receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics 2000, “the interface is the device”. This sentiment is now stronger than ever, particularly for energy storage and generation devices, which are heavily dependent on both the complex heterogenous interfaces formed by the combination of materials and the intrinsic interfaces that exist within materials.

The Dawson group employs computational modelling techniques to improve the fundamental understanding and performance of material structures and properties for energy storage and generation applications. Our particular expertise lies in interatomic potentials-based molecular dynamics and density functional theory methods, with the aim of describing ion transport at the interfaces within and between materials for current and next-generation battery architectures, photovoltaics and fuel cells. With the rise of supercomputing power and the need to analyse enormous datasets for the discovery of novel and improved materials, the necessity for computational materials science has never been greater.

Solid-State Batteries

In the critical area of sustainable energy storage, solid-state batteries have attracted considerable attention due to their potential safety, energy-density and cycle-life benefits. Our research addresses key issues in the areas of multiscale ion transport across the various interfaces present in these next-generation devices.

A reasonable understanding of ion transport in the bulk solid electrolyte materials at the heart of this promising technology has been achieved through the combined efforts of both experimental and computational researchers, with their conductivity matching and even exceeding that of their liquid counterparts. However, this is not the case for the interfaces of these materials, which now represent the bottlenecks for ion transport and the overall performance of solid-state batteries.

Hybrid Perovskites for Solar Cells, Optoelectronics and Memristors

As a result of their processing advantages, remarkable efficiency and the abundance of their component elements, perovskite solar cells are on track to become mass-produced with multiple start-ups in the UK. These materials also exhibit optoelectronic properties similar to gallium arsenide, but can also be printed. Furthermore, several resistive switching mechanisms of halide perovskite memristors have been proposed.

Understanding ion migration is essential to maximise the performance of a number of perovskite-based devices.  In solar cells,  ion migration determines the hysteresis of the system, while for memristors, it is responsible for the switching behaviour. Our group focuses on understanding and enhancing or reducing (depending on the application) ion transport in hybrid perovskite materials and their interfaces.

Next-Generation Oxide-Ion and Proton Conductors

Oxide ion and proton-conducting materials are of great interest due to their application as electrolytes in solid-oxide fuel cells and proton ceramic fuel cells. Fuel cells offer a viable option to produce clean energy from sustainable resources, with low emission of pollutants and high energy conversion rates. The development of next-generation electrolyte materials possessing good ionic conduction at intermediate temperatures (300–600 °C) has led to the discovery of high oxide-ion conductivity in several structural families. High temperature proton conduction has also been reported for many materials, which show proton conductivity when exposed to water vapour or hydrogen-rich atmospheres.

We utilise a range of atomic-scale computational techniques, with support from experimental collaborators, to study the structural, electronic, defect, doping, hydration and ion transport properties of new and promising oxide-ion and proton conducting materials for state-of-the-art fuel cell applications. 

Modules

CHY8511 MChem Research Projects

CHY3011 Literature Review Projects

Student Projects

Various projects available focused on the atomic-scale simulation (primarily density functional theory and molecular dynamics) of energy materials, including batteries, fuel cells and solar cells. 

Supervision

• Frazer Forrester, PhD (Newcastle)
• Joe Skilbeck-Dunn, MChem (Newcastle)
• Abigail Puckey, MChem (Newcastle)
• Matthew Clarke, PhD (Bath)
• Bernherd Stanje, PhD (Bath)
• Xu Li, MSc (Sheffield)
• Farzin Golkhosh, MSc (Sheffield)

• Symington AR, Molinari M, Dawson JA, Statham JM, Purton J, Canepa P, Parker SC. Elucidating the nature of grain boundary resistance in lithium lanthanum titanate. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2021, 9(10), 6487-6498.
• Zulueta YA, Nguyen MT, Dawson JA. Boosting Li-ion transport in transition-metal-doped Li₂SnO₃. Inorganic Chemistry 2020, 59(16), 11841-11846.
• Dawson JA. Dynamical Insights into Oxygen Diffusion in BaTiO₃ and SrTiO₃. Physica Status Solidi B: Basic Research 2020, 257(1), 1900422.
• Ahiavi E, Dawson JA, Kudu U, Courty M, Saiful Islam M, Clemens O, Masquelier C, Famprikis T. Mechanochemical synthesis and ion transport properties of Na₃OX(X = Cl, Br, I and BH₄) antiperovskite solid electrolytes. Journal of Power Sources 2020, 471, 228489.
• Zulueta YA, Nguyen MT, Dawson JA. Na- and K-doped Li₂Si0₃ as an alternative solid electrolyte for solid-state lithium batteries. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2020, 124(9), 4982-4988.
• Famprikis T, Ulaş Kudu Ö, Dawson JA, Canepa P, Fauth F, Suard E, Zbiri M, Dambournet D, Borkiewicz OJ, Bouyanfif H, Emge SP, Cretu S, Chotard J-N, Grey CP, Zeier WG, Saiful Islam M, Masquelier C. Under pressure: Mechanochemical effects on structure and ion conduction in the sodium-ion solid electrolyte Na₃PS₄. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2020, 142(43), 18422-18436.
• Famprikis T, Canepa P, Dawson JA, Islam MS, Masquelier C. Fundamentals of inorganic solid-state electrolytes for batteries. Nature Materials 2019, 18(12), 1278-1291.
• Ghosh D, Aziz A, Dawson JA, Walker AB, Islam MS. Putting the Squeeze on Lead Iodide Perovskites: Pressure-Induced Effects to Tune Their Structural and Optoelectronic Behavior. Chemistry of Materials 2019, 31(11), 4063-4071.
• Dawson JA, Canepa P, Clarke MJ, Famprikis T, Ghosh D, Islam MS. Toward Understanding the Different Influences of Grain Boundaries on Ion Transport in Sulfide and Oxide Solid Electrolytes. Chemistry of Materials 2019, 31(14), 5296-5304.
• Lim T-C, Dawson JA. A convenient and accurate wide-range parameter relationship between Buckingham and Morse potential energy functions. Molecular Physics 2018, 116(9), 1127-1132.
• Dawson JA, Canepa P, Famprikis T, Masquelier C, Islam MS. Atomic-Scale Influence of Grain Boundaries on Li-Ion Conduction in Solid Electrolytes for All-Solid-State Batteries. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140(1), 362-368.
• Dawson JA, Chen H, Saiful Islam M. Composition Screening of Lithium- and Sodium-Rich Anti-Perovskites for Fast-Conducting Solid Electrolytes. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2018, 122(42), 23978-23984.
• Aparicio PA, Dawson JA, Islam MS, De Leeuw NH. Computational Study of NaVOPO₄ Polymorphs as Cathode Materials for Na-Ion Batteries: Diffusion, Electronic Properties, and Cation-Doping Behavior. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2018, 122(45), 25829-25836.
• Dawson JA, Attari TS, Chen H, Emge SP, Johnston KE, Islam MS. Elucidating lithium-ion and proton dynamics in anti-perovskite solid electrolytes. Energy and Environmental Science 2018, 11(10), 2993-3002.
• Canepa P, Dawson JA, Sai Gautam G, Statham JM, Parker SC, Islam MS. Particle Morphology and Lithium Segregation to Surfaces of the Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ Solid Electrolyte. Chemistry of Materials 2018, 30(9), 3019-3027.
• Zulueta YA, Lim TC, Dawson JA. Defect Clustering in Rare-Earth-Doped BaTiO₃ and SrTiO₃ and Its Influence on Dopant Incorporation. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2017, 121(42), 23642-23648.
• Dawson JA, Naylor AJ, Eames C, Roberts M, Zhang W, Snaith HJ, Bruce PG, Saiful Islam M. Mechanisms of Lithium Intercalation and Conversion Processes in Organic-Inorganic Halide Perovskites. ACS Energy Letters 2017, 2(8), 1818-1824.
• Zulueta YA, Dawson JA, Froeyen M, Nguyen MT. Structural properties and mechanical stability of monoclinic lithium disilicate. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research 2017, 254(10), 1700108.
• Zulueta YA, Dawson JA, Leyet Y, Anglada-Rivera J, Guerrero F, Silva RS, Nguyen MT. Consequences of Ca multisite occupation for the conducting properties of BaTiO₃. Journal of Solid State Chemistry 2016, 243, 77-82.
• Dawson JA, Robertson J. Improved Calculation of Li and Na Intercalation Properties in Anatase, Rutile, and TiO₂(B). Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2016, 120(40), 22910-22917.
• Zulueta YA, Dawson JA, Leyet Y, Guerrero F, Anglada-Rivera J, Nguyen MT. Influence of titanium and oxygen vacancies on the transport and conducting properties of barium titanate. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research 2016, 253(2), 345-350.
• Dawson JA, Robertson J. Nature of Cu interstitials in Al₂O₃ and the implications for filament formation in conductive bridge random access memory devices. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2016, 120(27), 14474-14483.
• Zulueta YA, Dawson JA, Mune PD, Froeyen M, Nguyen MT. Oxygen vacancy generation in rare-earth-doped SrTiO₃. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research 2016, 253(11), 2197-2203.
• Zulueta YA, Dawson JA, Leyet Y, Guerrero F, Anglada-Rivera J, Nguyen MT. The potential existence of mixed defect incorporation modes for rare-earth doped cubic BaTiO3. Physica Status Solidi (B) Basic Research 2016, 253(4), 733-737.
• Chen H, Dawson JA, Umezawa N. Anisotropic nature of anatase TiO₂ and its intrinsic (001) surface electronic states. Physical Review Applied 2015, 4(1), 014007.
• Dawson JA, Chen H, Tanaka I. Crystal structure, defect chemistry and oxygen ion transport of the ferroelectric perovskite, Na_0.5Bi_0.5TiO₃: Insights from first-principles calculations. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2015, 3(32), 16574-16582.
• Dawson JA, Guo Y, Robertson J. Energetics of intrinsic defects in NiO and the consequences for its resistive random access memory performance. Applied Physics Letters 2015, 107(12), 122110.
• Dawson JA, Chen H, Tanaka I. First-Principles calculations of oxygen vacancy formation and metallic behavior at a β-MnO₂ grain boundary. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2015, 7(3), 1726-1734.
• Dawson JA, Miller JA, Tanaka I. First-principles insight into the hydration ability and proton conduction of the solid state proton conductor, y and Sn Co-doped BaZrO₃. Chemistry of Materials 2015, 27(3), 901-908.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Li intercalation into a β-MnO2 grain boundary. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2015, 7(15), 8125-8131.
• Chen H, Dawson JA. Molecular oxygen as charge-compensating and magnetic centers in anatase Ti O₂. Physical Review Applied 2015, 3(6), 064011.
• Chen H, Dawson JA. Nature of nitrogen-doped anatase TiO₂ and the origin of its visible-light activity. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2015, 119(28), 15890-15895.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Proton trapping in y and Sn Co-doped BaZrO₃. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2015, 3(18), 10045-10051.
• Dawson JA, Sinclair DC, Harding JH, Freeman CL. A-site strain and displacement in Ba1-xCaxTiO3 and Ba1-xSrxTiO3 and the consequences for the curie temperature. Chemistry of Materials 2014, 26(21), 6104-6112.
• Dawson JA, Chen H, Tanaka I. Combined Ab initio and interatomic potentials based assessment of the defect structure of Mn-doped SrTiO₃. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2014, 118(26), 14485-14494.
• Chen H, Dawson JA, Harding JH. Effects of cationic substitution on structural defects in layered cathode materials LiNiO₂. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2014, 2(21), 7988-7996.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Local structure and energetics of Pr- and La-doped SrTiO₃ grain boundaries and the influence on core-shell structure formation. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2014, 118(44), 25765-25778.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Oxygen vacancy formation and reduction properties of β-MnO2 grain boundaries and the potential for high electrochemical performance. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 2014, 6(20), 17776-17784.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Proton incorporation and trapping in ZrO2 grain boundaries. Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2014, 2(5), 1400-1408.
• Dawson JA, Chen H, Tanaka I. Protonic defects in yttria stabilized zirconia: Incorporation, trapping and migration. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2014, 16(10), 4814-4822.
• Dawson JA, Tanaka I. Significant Reduction in Hydration Energy for Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Grain Boundaries and the Consequences for Proton Conduction. Langmuir 2014, 30(34), 10456-10464.