Assistant professor Theresa Schoetz's research group focuses on the development of electrochemical materials and interfaces for next-generation batteries and supercapacitors that can be integrated in modern electronics shaping today’s societies by making our world more connected, safer, and cleaner. A 2022 study published in Electrochimica Acta, "Disentangling faradaic, pseudocapacitive, and capacitive charge storage: a tutorial for the characterization of batteries, supercapacitors, and hybrid systems," was recently highlighted by the journal as the "most cited article published since January 2022." Schoetz's work was also highlighted by the journal at the 76th Annual ISE meeting in Mainz, which took place in September.
Here, Schoetz answers a series of questions about her research focus, the article mentioned above, challenges in the field, and more.
What is the central focus of your research?
My research focuses on how electrochemical interfaces, the thin regions where electronic and ionic charges meet, can be engineered to make better-performing materials and devices. These interfaces determine how efficiently batteries store energy, how sensors detect signals, how catalysts drive reactions, and how new types of electronics function. In my group, we study what happens at these boundaries and use that understanding to design materials whose behavior we can predict and control, rather than discover by trial and error.
Why is your research important?
Electrochemical interfaces will be at the heart of the next generation of electronics and energy systems. Their structure controls how efficiently charge moves, which directly affects how well technologies perform, e.g., from batteries and sensors to neuromorphic and flexible devices. Yet most interfaces are still improved through trial and error. Our work replaces this guesswork with an electrochemical theory-based approach that lets us understand, model, and deliberately design materials with specific, desired properties.
In broad strokes, what was your "highly cited" paper about?
Our 2022 paper in Electrochimica Acta laid out a clear way to tell apart and understand the different ways that materials store and move electrical charge. It helped researchers distinguish between faradaic, pseudocapacitive, and capacitive mechanisms; three key processes that often overlap in real systems. The paper provided a simple framework that connects what we see in experiments to what’s happening inside the material. This has become a go-to reference for scientists working on batteries, capacitors, and hybrid systems and set the stage for designing interfaces whose behavior can be predicted and tuned.
How have you built on that research and, if so, how?
Yes. My group at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has expanded this framework into a more detailed theory that connects what happens at an interface to measurable properties of real materials. In our 2025 paper (Adv. Energy Mater. 2025, 15, 2404704), we built the mathematical foundation that lets us predict how a device will perform before we make the material, moving beyond trial-and-error discovery. We also developed a new electrochemical method that can pinpoint how charge is stored in any type of system. This tool will soon be freely available as a MATLAB app and a Python notebook for anyone to use. Using this predictive framework, we are now designing lithium-ion batteries that charge quickly and still operate reliably at very low temperatures, which are two of the biggest challenges in current energy storage.
Theresa Schoetz, center, with the Ph.D. students in her research group.
Where do you see your research going next?
We are taking our theoretical framework a step further by combining it with artificial intelligence. The goal is to build a self-learning platform that uses both physics and data to suggest new interface designs automatically. This will help us develop materials for a wide range of technologies, e.g., from batteries and catalysts to sensors and electronic devices, where performance depends on how charges move across an interface. In the long term, we aim to establish a new field of “interface intelligence”, where materials are not discovered by chance but intentionally designed through understanding and prediction.
What impact will this research have?
This research will change how electrochemical technologies are created and, ultimately, how we generate, store, and use energy. By linking physical understanding with data-driven tools, we can speed up the process of developing new materials for applications such as energy storage, catalysis, sensing, and electronics. Designing materials with predictable properties also means using fewer resources, creating less waste, and moving discoveries from the lab to industry faster. Just as importantly, this approach is helping train the next generation of scientists and engineers to think critically about how to design materials based on electrochemcial principles, not trial and error.
What is unique about your research?
Our work connects fundamental electrochemistry with real materials design. Instead of treating interfaces as mysterious “black boxes,” we treat them as measurable systems whose behavior can be understood and fine-tuned. By combining experiments, modeling, and AI-based prediction, we close the loop between theory and application, turning electrochemical understanding into practical innovation.
What role do batteries (or other energy storage solutions) play in a sustainable energy future?
Electrochemical energy systems are at the core of a sustainable, electrified world. They make it possible to store renewable energy and use it when and where it is needed. But their importance goes well beyond batteries. The same principles drive hydrogen production, carbon capture and conversion, electromobility, and even consumer electronics. By improving our understanding of what happens at electrochemical interfaces, we can design systems that use energy more efficiently, enable cleaner chemical processes, and make devices smarter and longer-lasting.
What are the biggest hurdles in scaling up lab discoveries to real-world applications?
One of the biggest hurdles is that the properties we optimize in the laboratory often rely on idealized conditions that are difficult to reproduce at scale. Interfaces that perform exceptionally well in small, well-controlled cells can behave very differently in large, manufactured systems, where gradients, impurities, and external environmental influences come into play. Translating these insights requires bridging length and time scales, from the molecular structure of an interface to its lifetime under realistic operation. Predictive modeling and theory-guided design help close this gap by identifying which interfacial features truly govern performance, before large-scale synthesis begins. Ultimately, building scalable technologies demands close integration between fundamental science, process engineering, and industrial collaboration.
What are the biggest challenges in this field?
One of the central challenges in electrochemistry is the intrinsic complexity of interfaces. Charge transfer, ion transport, and structural dynamics all occur simultaneously across multiple length and time scales, making it difficult to isolate cause and effect. Capturing this interplay requires integrating theory, in situ characterization, and advanced data analysis; tools that have historically evolved in separate communities. Another challenge lies in the lack of standardized, quantitative methods to compare interfacial processes across different material classes. Our framework directly addresses this by providing a common language and set of metrics for evaluating charge-storage and transfer behavior, enabling meaningful comparison and predictive design across electrochemical systems.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Electrochemistry is entering a transformative phase where we can finally quantify and design what was once invisible; the dynamic behavior of interfaces that govern every electrochemical process. This shift from observation to prediction is redefining how we think about materials, devices, and even scientific training. I am continually inspired by the collaborative spirit of this field and by the creativity of my students and colleagues, who turn theoretical ideas into tangible discoveries every day. Together, we are building the foundations for a new generation of electrochemical technologies, and for the scientists who will shape them.