Announcements

Dr. Ashley Willow’s published paper:

“Design and Validation of Anode-Free Sodium-Ion Pouch Cells Employing Prussian White Cathodes”
by Ashley Willow, Marcin Orzech, Sajad Kiani, Nathan Reynolds, Matthew Houchell, Olutimilehin Omisore, Zari Tehrani and Serena Margadonna
Batteries 2025, 11(3), 97; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries11030097   
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/11/3/97

The next battery revolution? Dr. Ashley Willow shares cutting-edge research on Prussian white cathodes for anode-free systems. Below is a short interview with the author.

My name is Ashley Willow and I hold a B.Sc. chemistry, M.Sc. Ccatalysis, and Ph.D. electrochemistry. I am a Senior Lecturer at Swansea University in the Department of Chemical Engineering and research within the Circular Approaches to Utilize and Retain Energy (CAPTURE) Centre of Expertise. My current research focus is on the understanding of traditional sodium-ion batteries and those that operate in the so-called “anode-free” format. I have a background in pouch cell assembly and have established pouch cell and cylindrical cell production facilities at Swansea University. I focus on understanding the issues associated with the transfer from coin cell to commercial cell formats in these chemistries. Before my most recent position at Swansea University, I spent several years in industry in the fields of post lithium-ion batteries (Lithium Sulfur) and investigating the electrochemistry of steel. I organized the international Sodium ion conference at Swansea University (STRIKE) and led the scale-up research efforts on sodium-ion anode-free cells.

A few key contributing factors inspired this research in particular. Firstly, working in the industry on pouch cell assembly and energy density calculations gave me key insights into how cell design influences energy density. I wanted to apply this experience to sodium-ion batteries, in particular to the relatively new area of sodium-ion anode-free batteries by realistically demonstrating the potential of this technology. I hope this work can guide the development of sodium ion anode-free and help bridge the industry-academia gap. This thinking led to the development of our open cell calculator (WattCell · Streamlit), a key outcome of the publication. Another inspiration is the rapid growth in understanding and application of sodium-ion batteries, which pushes everyone in our group to be part of this rapidly growing field.

I have been very lucky to have many great mentors and colleagues in academia and industry who have influenced me in different ways. My Ph.D. supervisor, Prof. Gary Attard, was hugely influential at the start of my career. His enthusiasm for experimental and fundamental electrochemistry sticks with me to this day. In industry, colleagues and mentors at OXIS Energy Ltd. fostered an environment of open scientific debate and discussion, which I continue to uphold. I currently work closely with many colleagues at Swansea University and, in particular, note Prof. Serena Margadonna’s influence. She encourages scientific rigor and ambition in battery research.

I particularly chose Batteries as the topic was well suited, especially concerning the Special Issue. The experience was very positive. Writing using the provided templates was straightforward, updates were clear and regular, the reviewer comments were helpful, and I am very happy with the final publication.

Teamwork was an essential pre-requisite of this work, which is true of most battery research due to its multidisciplinary nature. We required high-quality cathode synthesis (Dr. Sajad Kiani), coating and online cell calculator development (Dr. Marcin Orzech), and pouch cell assembly (me), to name a few factors. Without bringing these aspects together the paper would not have been possible.

Sodium-ion batteries will be hugely influential in the next decade. The commercial developments are essentially locked in due to efforts from large battery manufacturers and recent breakthroughs in energy density and cycle life. Sodium ion batteries are very suited for low-cost storage in a number of applications so the proliferation of this technology will expand naturally. I see sodium ion anode-free technology as very promising; the stack pressure requirements are lower than the lithium metal anode-free equivalent and they offer better cycle life also (although the literature in this area is sparse). Due to the removal of hard carbon, anode-free offers energy density advantages compared to intercalation-based sodium-ion batteries. Investigations to further improve the cycle life of anode-free are ongoing and could hugely shape the commercial direction of battery technology.

This article gives a clear direction in moving from single-layer pouch cells to multilayer cells with reasonable energy densities using a battery format (anode-free) that has growing research attention. This is the first demonstration of Prussian white-based sodium ion anode-free pouch cells and the start of the innovation process.

In the year 2025, we are thrilled to share that 14 academic journals are celebrating their 10th anniversary of establishment.

To commemorate this milestone, each journal has launched a dedicated online anniversary webpage to review academic achievements, envision future directions, and express heartfelt gratitude to all contributors—authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and supporters—who have played a pivotal role in the journals’ growth. It is through your dedication and outstanding contributions that these journals have grown and developed into influential platforms for global scholarly exchange.

Over the past decade, these journals have remained committed to the principles of open science, delivering exceptional value within their respective fields.

Key highlights include:

• Universe—A cornerstone for fundamental and applied physics research, spanning near-Earth space to cosmic phenomena;
• Batteries—Focuses on the latest research achievements in batteries and closely related disciplines, effectively connecting academic research with industrial practice;
• Magnetochemistry—Over 1,000 high-impact papers published, attracting worldwide attention in magnetic research;
• Non-Coding RNA—Evolved from an open-access pioneer to a leading platform in non-coding RNA studies;
• Safety—Emerged as a vital interdisciplinary platform dedicated to addressing global challenges in safety science, risk management, and injury prevention;
• Tomography—Provided early career scholars with valuable editorial experience and academic support, fostering their professional growth in medical imaging;
• Fermentation—Took microbial fermentation engineering as the core, promoting the leap of biomanufacturing from the laboratory to industrialization;
• Gels—Recorded the revolutionary breakthroughs of gel materials from basic research to intelligent applications;
• Journal of Imaging—Pioneering intelligent imaging technology to redefine the horizons of scientific discovery;
• International Journal of Neonatal Screening—Dedicated to the rapid publication and knowledge sharing of newborn screening research;
• C — Journal of Carbon Research—Explored the infinite possibilities of carbon science;
• Journal of Fungi—Revealed the mysteries of fungal science, from fundamental research to global public health applications;
• Beverages—Reshaped the beverage industry with technology, from flavor innovation to the upgrade of healthy consumption;
• Horticulturae—Restoring the symbiotic bond between humans and nature through innovative green technology.

As we embark on the next stage of our journey, we remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards of academic excellence and fostering a vibrant academic community.

We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has supported MDPI. Moving forward, we are committed to advancing open science, enhancing publishing services, and fostering the transformation of research outcomes. Together, let us continue to drive academic progress and global scholarly collaboration.

We are pleased to share that Batteries (ISSN: 2313-0105) was awarded an increased Impact Factor of 4.8 in the 2024 Journal Citation Reports™ released by Clarivate™ in June 2025. The journal ranks as follows:

• Q2 (12th out of 44 titles) in the “Electrochemistry” category;
• Q2 (84th out of 182 titles) in the “Energy and Fuels” category;
• Q2 (148th out of 460 titles) in the “Materials Science, Multidisciplinary” category.

The 2024 Journal Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations received in 2024 for all publications in the journal from 2022 and 2023 by the total number of citable publications from those same years.

For further statistics, please visit our journal statistics website. For more information about MDPI flagship journals’ citation metrics, please see here.

The support and dedication of all the editors, reviewers, authors, and readers are integral to the journal’s success. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the journal.

We are pleased to announce that the Young Women in Engineering Award is open for nominations. This award was established to acknowledge the achievements of young women investigators in the field of engineering and to inspire young women to consider research and careers in engineering. All the nominations will be assessed by an Award Evaluation Committee, and winners will be announced online on 8 March 2026.

Prizes:

• CHF 1000;
• An electronic certificate;
• A voucher to waive the article processing charges (APCs) for one submission to a journal within the field of engineering (subject to peer review)—valid for one year.

Number of winners: 2.

Eligibility and requirements:

• This role is designated for female candidates;
• Must have received their Ph.D. no more than 10 years prior to 31 December 2025;
• Must have produced groundbreaking research and made a significant contribution to the advancement of engineering;
• Must be nominated by senior scientists.

List of documents for nomination:

• Detailed curriculum vitae, including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
• Scanned copy of doctorate certificate;
• Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists.

Schedule:

Open for nominations: 23 June 2025;
Nomination deadline: 30 November 2025;
Winner announcement: 8 March 2026.

Nominations and contact:

All nomination materials and award-related communications must be submitted via our official email: ywe-award@mdpi.com.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to receiving your nominations.

Young Women in Engineering Award Team

We are pleased to announce that Batteries (ISSN: 2313-0105) received an increased CiteScore of 6.6 in June 2025, which is an impressive achievement, with the following ranks: 

• Q1 (204th out of 970, improvement) in the “Electrical and Electronic Engineering” category;
• Q2 (79th out of 299, improvement) in the “Energy Engineering and Power Technology” category;
• Q2 (27th out of 64, improvement) in the “Electrochemistry” category;

For more journal statistics, please visit the following websites:

• https://www.mdpi.com/journal/batteries/stats;
• https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100905390.

The current CiteScores measure the average number of citations of a journal over a four-year window (2021–2024). The Scopus database provides a comprehensive suite of metrics that support informed publishing strategies and research evaluation and enable the benchmarking of journal performance.

This achievement reflects the collective efforts of our authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Together, we will continue to track the progress of Batteries and its growing impact in the energy field.

Thank you to all those who have contributed to the journal.

Batteries Editorial Office

In May 2025, Batteries (ISSN: 2313-0105) co-hosted a scientific publishing exchange event at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche—Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali per l'Energia e le Tecnologie Sostenibili (CNR-STEMS) in Naples, Italy. The event was organized in collaboration with Dr. Ottorino Veneri, a senior researcher at CNR-STEMS, and Dr. Bianca Maria Vaglieco, the Director of CNR-STEMS. Focused on advancing scholarly communication, the program featured insights into MDPI’s open access publishing model, practical guidance on scientific article writing, and strategies for crafting effective review reports.

Participants engaged in discussions on the multifaceted advantages of open access, including enhanced visibility, broader accessibility of research outputs, and alignment with global academic impact goals. The workshop also delved into structural best practices for manuscripts—such as optimizing clarity, adhering to international journal standards, and refining narrative flow. A key highlight was the dual-perspective session on peer review, which addressed both the professional techniques for writing constructive review reports and the strategies authors can employ to respond effectively to reviewer feedback.

Journal Relations Specialist Mr. Cosmin-Iulian Artan facilitated an interactive Q&A session, encouraging participants to share their experiences with Batteries (ISSN: 2313-0105) and other MDPI journals. This dialog fostered a collaborative environment for exchanging insights on publishing workflows and editorial expectations.

Committed to supporting the academic community, Batteries looks forward to organizing future events that empower researchers at every stage of their publishing journey, reinforcing its role as a bridge between innovative scholarship and global scientific discourse.

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Batteries 2023 Best Paper Award. All papers published from 1 January to 31 December 2023, in Batteries (ISSN: 2313-0105) were considered for the award. After a thorough evaluation by the Award Committee of the Editorial Board, based on the originality and significance of the papers, citations, and downloads, five winners were selected.

First Prize: CHF 500 and a paper published for free in Batteries

Article:
“State of Charge and Temperature Joint Estimation Based on Ultrasonic Reflection Waves for Lithium-Ion Battery Applications”
by Runnan Zhang, Xiaoyu Li, Chuanyu Sun, Songyuan Yang, Yong Tian and Jindong Tian
Batteries 2023, 9(6), 335; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries9060335
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/9/6/335

Second Prize: CHF 200 and a paper published for free in Batteries

Article:
“Design, Properties, and Manufacturing of Cylindrical Li-Ion Battery Cells—A Generic Overview”
by Sabri Baazouzi, Niklas Feistel, Johannes Wanner, Inga Landwehr, Alexander Fill and Kai Peter Birke
Batteries 2023, 9(6), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries9060309
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/9/6/309

Review:
“Battery State of Health Estimate Strategies: From Data Analysis to End-Cloud Collaborative Framework”
by Kaiyi Yang, Lisheng Zhang, Zhengjie Zhang, Hanqing Yu, Wentao Wang, Mengzheng Ouyang, Cheng Zhang, Qi Sun, Xiaoyu Yan, Shichun Yang and Xinhua Liu
Batteries 2023, 9(7), 351; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries9070351
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/9/7/351

Third Prize: 100 CHF and a paper published for free in Batteries

Article:
“Trends in Automotive Battery Cell Design: A Statistical Analysis of Empirical Data”
by Steffen Link, Christoph Neef and Tim Wicke
Batteries 2023, 9(5), 261; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries9050261
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/9/5/261

Review:
“Challenges and Future Prospects of the MXene-Based Materials for Energy Storage Applications”
by Svitlana Nahirniak, Apurba Ray and Bilge Saruhan
Batteries 2023, 9(2), 126; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries9020126
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2313-0105/9/2/126

Please join us in congratulating the winners of the Batteries 2023 Best Paper Award. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our authors for their continued support.

Batteries Editorial Office

World Environment Day is an urgent call to action as nature suffers from the devastating impacts of human activity. Annual plastic production exceeds 400 million tons, half of which is single-use plastic, with under 10% recycled. 11 million tons of plastic (equal to 2,200 Eiffel Towers) pollute waterways yearly. Microplastics contaminate our food, water, and air, with humans ingesting over 50,000 particles annually. This pollution harms health and ecosystems globally. A solution does exist, however. Governments, businesses, and individuals must adhere to the 5Rs—Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rethink. Join #BeatPlasticPollution this World Environment Day to create a sustainable future.

On this significant day, we are proud to present a curated collection of articles and initiatives dedicated to groundbreaking research and innovative solutions for protecting the environment and beating plastic pollution. We invite readers to explore these resources and join us in our shared mission of a sustainable vision of the future. Together, we can pave the way for a cleaner, healthier planet.

“Enhanced Separation of Palladium from Nuclear Wastewater by the Sulfur-Rich Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework”
by Junli Wang, Chen Luo, Wentao Wang, Hui Wang, Yao Liu, Jianwei Li and Taihong Yan
Nanomaterials 2025, 15(10), 714; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano15100714

“Prevention of Biofouling Due to Water Absorption of Natural Fiber Composites in the Aquatic Environment: A Critical Review”
by Cristiano Fragassa, Sara Mattiello, Martina Fronduti, Jo’ Del Gobbo, Radmila Gagic and Carlo Santulli
J. Compos. Sci. 2024, 8(12), 532; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs8120532

“Testing the Effectiveness of an Ecomedia Literacy Environmental Education Lesson”
by Ludovica Lo Iacono, Ludovica Lo Iacono and Emilio Paolo Visintin
Soc. Sci. 2024, 13(12), 645; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13120645

“Airborne Microplastics: Challenges, Prospects, and Experimental Approaches”
by Alexey R. Rednikin, Yulia A. Frank, Artem O. Rozhin, Danil S. Vorobiev and Rawil F. Fakhrullin
Atmosphere 2024, 15(11), 1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15111380

“Emerging Technologies for Remote Sensing of Floating and Submerged Plastic Litter”
by Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy, Victor Martínez-Vicente, Heidi M. Dierssen, Valentina Raimondi, Erio Gandini, Robert Foster and Ved Chirayath
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(10), 1770; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16101770

“The Other Side of Fire in a Changing Environment: Evidence from a Mediterranean Country”
by Dimitrios Kalfas, Stavros Kalogiannidis, Fotios Chatzitheodoridis and Nikolaos Margaritis
Fire 2024, 7(2), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7020036

“A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: Technologies, Sustainability, and Open Issues”
by Alessandra Zanoletti, Eleonora Carena, Chiara Ferrara and Elza Bontempi
Batteries 2024, 10(1), 38; https://doi.org/10.3390/batteries10010038

“A Comparative Analysis of Different Hydrogen Production Methods and Their Environmental Impact”
by Somtochukwu Godfrey Nnabuife, Caleb Kwasi Darko, Precious Chineze Obiako, Boyu Kuang, Xiaoxiao Sun and Karl Jenkins
Clean Technol. 2023, 5(4), 1344-1380; https://doi.org/10.3390/cleantechnol5040067

“Screening of Microplastics in Aquaculture Systems (Fish, Mussel, and Water Samples) by FTIR, Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy and Micro-Raman Spectroscopies”
by Kleopatra Miserli, Christos Lykos, Angelos G. Kalampounias and Ioannis Konstantinou
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(17), 9705; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13179705

“Microplastics, Additives, and Plasticizers in Freshwater Bivalves: Preliminary Research of Biomonitoring”
by Giulia Cesarini, Fabiana Corami, Beatrice Rosso and Massimiliano Scalici
Water 2023, 15(14), 2647; https://doi.org/10.3390/w15142647

“Advancements and Applications of Nanomaterials for Removal of Organic Compounds in Aquatic Environment” Guest Editors: Dr. Ramona Riedel and Prof. Dr. Giulio Malucelli Submission deadline: 20 August 2025	“Novel Sources, Designs and After-Use Pathways for Plastics in a Circular Economy” Guest Editor: Dr. María José Arévalo-Caballero Submission deadline: 31 August 2025
“Airborne Micro and Nanoplastics: Detection, Dynamics, and Exposure Assessment” Guest Editor: Dr. Yangyang Liu Submission deadline: 30 September 2025	“Aquatic Microplastic Pollution: Occurrence and Removal” Guest Editor: Dr. Lixin Zhu Submission deadline: 25 October 2025
“Innovative Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of Mining” Topic Editors: Prof. Dr. Chongchong Qi, Dr. Qiusong Chen and Dr. Danial Jahed Armaghani Submission deadline: 31 October 2025	“Enabling Strategies and Policies Toward a Sustainable Environment, 2nd Edition” Topic Editors: Dr. Abdul Majeed, Prof. Dr. Yuantao Xie and Prof. Dr. Judit Oláh Submission deadline: 31 October 2025

The China Materials Conference 2025 will be held from 5 to 8 July 2025, in Xiamen, China. The conference is organized by the China Materials Society.

Areas include the following:

• Energy materials;
• Environmental materials;
• Advanced structural materials;
• Functional materials;
• Material design, preparation and evaluation.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to initiate an online conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person at booth #4052 and answering any questions that you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://cmc2025.scimeeting.cn/.