Christopher Johnson Honored by International Battery Materials Association

The IBA Research Award is given to individuals whose basic research contribution in the field of materials for batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells has significantly impacted the understanding of relationships between materials characteristics and properties or behaviors. “Chris is an excellent scientist who has made major scientific contributions to the advancement of Li-Ion secondary batteries through his basic research on advanced cathode materials. His work has helped the scientific community understand some of the critical relationships between the chemical/structural nature of these materials and how they perform as cathode materials in Li-Ion cells. He is a great asset to our department,” says Gary Henriksen, head of the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Electrochemical Energy Storage Department. Johnson was named the award recipient by unanimous agreement of the IBA awards committee.

Johnson holds a Ph.D in Inorganic Chemistry and an M.S. in Chemistry from Northwestern University, and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He came to Argonne in 1992 as a postdoctoral researcher and began his studies on lithium-polymer electrolyte cells and batteries. He is author of 49 peer-reviewed papers and 33 technical presentations, 10 of them invited, and co-inventor on two patents on lithium metal oxide electrodes. In 2003, he was co-chairman of the NATO Science for Peace Program Carbon Conference, a major international conference aimed at bringing together battery researchers and developers from academic and military organizations in former Warsaw pact countries with leading government, industry, and academic organizations in the U.S. and other Western nations to establish collaborative links. As a result, a major international collaboration was initiated with the Kiev National University of Technologies & Design in the Ukraine and U.S. industry.

He is a resident of Naperville, Illinois.

More on Christopher Johnson's Research

Dr. Johnson has made significant contributions to advancing manganese-oxide-based electrodes. His publications include his work on alpha MnO₂, layered MnO₂, spinel-related MnO₂ and, most recently, the development of new MnO₂-based electrodes with composite structures.

Key Publications

• Lithium-manganese Oxide Electrodes with Layered-spinel Composite Structures xLi₂MnO₃•(1-x)Li_1+yMn_2-yO₄ (0<x<1, 0<y<0.33) for Lithium Batteries, C. S. Johnson, N. Li, J. T. Vaughey, S. A. Hackney, M. M. Thackeray, Electrochem. Commun., 7, 528-536 (2005)
• The Significance of the Li₂MnO₃ Component in ‘Composite’ xLi₂MnO₃•(1-x)LiMn_0.5Ni_0.5O₂ Electrodes, C. S. Johnson, J.-S. Kim, C. Lefief, N. Li, J. T. Vaughey, and M. M. Thackeray, Electrochem. Commun., 6, 1085 (2004)
• Structural Characterization of Layered Li_xNi_0.5Mn_0.5O₂ (0<x<2) Oxide Electrodes for Li Batteries, Christopher S. Johnson, Jeom-Soo Kim, A. Jeremy Kropf, Arthur J. Kahaian, John T. Vaughey, Linda Fransson, Kristina Edstrom, and Michael M. Thackeray, Chemistry of Materials, 15, 2313-2322 (2003)
• In situ XAFS Analysis of the Li_xNi_0.8Co_0.2O₂ Cathode During Cycling in Lithium Batteries,C. S. Johnson and A. J. Kropf, Electrochim. Acta., 47, 3187-3194 (2002)
• Structural and Electrochemical Analysis of Layered Compounds from Li₂MnO₃C. S. Johnson, S. D. Korte, J. T. Vaughey, M. M. Thackeray, T. E. Bofinger, Y. Shao-Horn and S. A. Hackney, J. Power Sources, 81-82, 491-495, (1999)
• Stabilized α-MnO₂ Electrodes for Rechargeable 3-V Lithium Batteries, C. S. Johnson, M. F. Mansuetto, M. M. Thackeray, Y. Shao-Horn, and S. A. Hackney, J. Electrochem. Soc., Vol. 144, 2279 (1997)