Palani Balaya

Dr. Palani Balaya is an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials at the National University of Singapore (NUS), part of the Faculty of Engineering within the College of Design and Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Hyderabad University (1993) and has held roles at IISc Bangalore, the Inter University Consortium Mumbai, and the Max Planck Institute. His research focuses on energy storage systems, particularly lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and grid applications. He co-founded the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at NUS.

Dr. Balaya has authored over 100 articles, filed 25 patents, and delivered 75+ invited talks. He serves as a Topical Editor for the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry and is a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS), recognized with awards including the Global Star Award (2015) and ACerS Global Ambassador (2016). He contributed to the IPCC’s Special Report on Renewable Energy and organizes international conferences on energy storage.

His research interests include nanostructured materials for batteries, thermodynamic stability, and electrolyte innovation. Current projects emphasize non-flammable sodium-ion batteries for stationary storage and low-cost energy solutions.