Afyon, Semih, Dr.

Education

• Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry-Material Science under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Reinhard Nesper, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, 2013.
  Development of Novel Borate-Based Positive Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries.
• M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul (and University of Texas at Austin), Turkey, 2009.
  Hydrothermal and thermal stability of the flame hydrolytic synthesized TiO₂/SiO₂ nano‐sized composites.

Publications

• Afyon, S.; Krumeich, F.; Rupp, J.L.M.
  A shortcut to garnet-type fast Li-ion conductors for all-solid state batteries
  Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2015, 3, 18636
  Featured at Green Car Congress
• Afyon, S.; Krumeich, F.; Mensing, C.; Borgschulte, A.; Nesper, R.
  New High Capacity Cathode Materials for Rechargeable Li-ion Batteries: Vanadate-Borate Glasses
  Scientific Reports, 2014, 4, 7113
  Press coverage (german): 20 Minuten
  Press coverage (german): Blick am Abend
  ETH news article: ETH news
• Afyon, S.; Kundu, D.; Darbandi, A. J.; Hahn, H.; Krumeich, F.; Nesper, R.
  A Low Dimensional Composite of Hexagonal Lithium Manganese Borate (LiMnBO₃), a Cathode Material for Li-ion Batteries
  Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2014, 2, 18946-18951
• Afyon, S.; Wörle, M.; Nesper, R.
  A New Li-rich Compound Li₇Mn(BO₃)₃ containing Mn²⁺ in Tetrahedral Coordination – a Cathode Candidate for Li-Ion Batteries.
  Angew. Chem. Int. Edit. 2013, 52, 12541-12544 (selected as Hot Paper)
• Afyon, S.; Mensing, C.; Krumeich, F.; Nesper, R.
  The Electrochemical Activity for Nano-LiCoBO₃ as a Cathode Material for Li-Ion Batteries.
  Solid State Ionics 2014, 256, 103-108.
• Afyon, S.; Kundu, D.; Krumeich, F.; Nesper, R.
  Nano LiMnBO₃, a High-Capacity Cathode Material for Li-ion batteries.
  Journal of Power Sources 2013, 224, 145-151.
• Afyon, S.; Hagemann, M.; Somer, M.; Schulze Isfort, M.
  Thermal and hydrothermal stability of flame hydrolytically synthesized SiO₂/TiO₂ mixed oxides
  Solid State Sci. 2013, 18, 91-97.
• Afyon, S.; Hohn, P.; Somer, M.
  Synthesis, Crystal Structures, and Vibrational Spectra of Novel Azidopalladates of the Alkali Metals Cs₂[Pd(N₃)₄] and Rb₂[Pd(N₃)₄]·2/3 H₂O
  Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2010, 636, 1301-1306.
• Afyon, S.; Hohn, P.; Armbruster, M.; Baranov, A.; Wagner, F.R.; Somer, M.; Kniep, R.
  Azidoaurates of the Alkali Metals
  Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 2006, 632, 1671-1680 (cover article).

Patents

• Afyon, S.; Nesper, R.
  V₂O₅-LiBO₂, V₂O₅-NiO-LiBO₂ glasses and their composites obtained by nitrogen doping and reduced graphite oxide blending as cathode active materials.
  WO2013132023, 2013.
• Nesper, R.; Afyon, S.; Wörle, M.; Gonzales, J.
  Transition metal borate comprising cathode for rechargeable battery.
  WO2011128343, 2011.

Fellowships, Awards and Honors

• Research scholarship given by Tubitak (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) during M.Sc. studies.
• Full scholarship given by Koc University during B.Sc. studies based based on national university entrance exam success.
• Vehbi Koc Scholar: Spring 2004,-2005-2006, Fall 2004-2005.
• Dean’s Honor Roll: Fall 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2003.
• Top Ranking Student Award by Koc University.

Research

Dr. Semih Afyon is currently working on “All Solid State Batteries based on New Ceramic Electrolytes” and “Novel Electrode Materials for Li-ion Batteries”. Inorganic solid electrolytes have been extensively investigated, as they provide additional advantages such as the elimination of the otherwise necessity for separators and usually better thermal and chemical stabilities. Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ and doped variants are especially interesting solid electrolyte candidates with high Li-ion conductivities in the range of ~ 10^-4 S/cm at RT and with possible large thermal operation windows.