Vitalie Stavila, Ph.D.
Principal Member of the Technical Staff
Research Interest
Our research focuses on addressing key materials science challenges related to the development of next-generation materials for renewable energy harvesting and storage. A central theme is the rational design of new materials by changing the chemical composition, the arrangement of the atoms or molecules in crystalline or amorphous configurations, and the size, shape, and orientation of nanoparticles, thin films, and crystals. A significant focus is on elucidating fundamental transport phenomena on the nanoscale, in particular, ion and electron transfer across nanointerfaces. Using this knowledge, we seek to contribute to the development of alternative energy solutions and materials to address the many challenging environmental issues facing society today. This includes the discovery of nanoscale materials for applications in energy generation and storage, neuromorphic computing, catalysis, and chemical sensing. We use a range of physical methods to characterize our materials comprehensively, including X-ray and neutron scattering, Rietveld refinement and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. In our research we widely employ data science and machine learning to reveal new structure-property-function relationships to guide the new materials discovery.
Education
| PhD, Chemistry, State University of Moldova, Chisinau, Moldova | 2002 |
News
Sandia work may lower bar for hydrogen tech
Researchers use confined nanoparticles to improve hydrogen storage materials performance
Atomic Disorder in Surface Materials Is Key to Better Hydrogen Storage:
Synergistic Activities
- Boards of review for granting agencies: DOE EERE, ARPA-E, NSF, CRDF, INTAS
- Journals editorial board member: Frontiers in Energy Storage, Materials
- Symposium organizer: Organized Symposia at ACS and MRS meetings
- Sandia-CA X-Ray laboratory coordinator: Management of the X-ray diffraction facility and training users on single crystal, powder, thin film, and Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) instruments.
Recent Journal Covers
