Announcements

Discover how Dr. Antal Jákli and Mr. Zakaria Siddiquee’s innovative plasticized ionic liquid crystal elastomer emulsion electrolytes could transform battery technology in this revealing interview.

Dr. Antal Jákli and Mr. Zakaria Siddiquee’s published paper:

“Plasticized Ionic Liquid Crystal Elastomer Emulsion-Based Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium-Ion Batteries”
by Zakaria Siddiquee,  Hyunsang Lee,  Weinan Xu, Thein Kyu and Antal Jákli
Batteries 2025, 11(3), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries11030106
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/11/3/106

How could plasticized ionic liquid crystal elastomer emulsion-based polymer electrolytes enhance the safety and performance of next-generation lithium-ion batteries? Let’s read about Dr. Antal Jákli and Mr. Zakaria Siddiquee’s ideas.

1. Could you introduce yourself or your research group?
My name is Antal Jákli with 40 years of experience in soft matter physics with a special emphasis on liquid crystals. My current research group focuses on the fundamental and applied science of liquid crystal materials, with applications spanning optical devices, electrochemical systems, and smart materials. Recently, we have started a project on the studies of ionic liquid crystal elastomers. We have shown that they can be used for low-voltage actuation, to generate flexo-ionic currents, and to be used in Organic Electromechanical Transistors. Two years ago, I assigned one of my students, Zakaria Siddiquee, then a 3rd-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Physics at Kent State University, to explore their use as electrolytes in batteries.  Our goal was to enhance the performance and safety of next-generation solid-state battery technologies.

2. Please share what inspired your research?
The inspiration for our current research originated from a collaborative effort between my group, Thein Kyu and Weinan Xu from the Department of Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron on ionic liquid crystal elastomers as actuators and electric current generators. Dr. Kyu has long-term experience with polymer-based solid-state batteries gave me the idea to extend our collaborative work to novel solid-state batteries using ionic liquid crystal elastomers as electrolytes. As liquid crystal elastomers shrink on heating, they offer mechanical stability against overheating. Additionally, their anisotropy also offers much more efficient ion transport than conventional isotropic polymer electrolytes.

The corresponding author, Antal Jákli has published over 300 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, has over 20 patents, and also published one textbook (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JsWVWfkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao). For the first author, Zak Siddiquee this is his 2^nd publication. He also has a patent application for this battery technology.

The reason to publish in the journal Batteries was an invitation received by Jákli to submit a manuscript, and that Thein Kyu already had a positive experience publishing one of his previous works in this journal.  Batteries provided a clear and structured submission process, with well-defined formatting guidelines and a strict timeline—not only for authors but also for reviewers. We found the tight scheduling especially helpful. It allowed us to better plan and execute experiments efficiently, and it ensured that the overall progression of the paper remained on track. We would gladly consider publishing there again in the future.

3.  What was the biggest challenge you faced while writing this paper, and how did you overcome it?
As this was the first publication in the field of battery research for both Siddiquee and Jákli (for the 1^st and corresponding authors), the challenges we faced were to learn the proper experimental techniques and effectively articulate the novelty of our work—specifically how our liquid crystal elastomer differs from conventional polymers used in batteries. Fortunately, we had strong support from our collaborators at the University of Akron, who are highly experienced in polymer and battery research. Zak had the opportunity to work closely with Hyunsang Lee during the first year of his work, and that experience shaped many aspects of his approach to battery research. Lee was instrumental in teaching Zak the foundational skills required for this field, including the characterization of electrolyte properties, battery assembly, and safe operation of glovebox systems.

4. What are the current challenges in the battery research field, and how can they be addressed?
While we can’t speak for the entire battery research field, one of the major challenges in solid polymer electrolyte systems is low ionic conductivity. These materials often exhibit high theoretical capacity, but their limited charge/discharge rates prevent full utilization of that capacity, which significantly impacts performance, especially in high-power applications. Our research suggests that material anisotropy could offer a promising pathway forward. Traditional polymer electrolytes are isotropic and lack directional control over ion transport. In contrast, liquid crystal elastomers offer a unique advantage: they can be aligned to create anisotropic structures, introducing a new tunable parameter that can be engineered to enhance ionic pathways. By leveraging this property, we aim to develop electrolytes with improved ionic conductivity and overall electrochemical performance.

5. What trends and technologies do you see shaping the future of battery technology?
With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, wearable electronics, and increasingly powerful portable devices, the demand for high-performance, safe, and compact energy storage solutions is greater than ever. This growing need is pushing innovation in both materials and design. One trend we find especially promising is the shift toward flexible, non-flammable solid polymer batteries. We believe that, in the near future, we may see batteries integrated seamlessly into device enclosures, for example, having the phone case itself function as the battery.