Bio

Ahmet Kusoglu is a Scientist in the Energy Conversion Group at Berkeley Lab, working on polymeric and functional materials for hydrogen and clean energy applications. His research focuses on the characterization of ion-conductive polymers and solid-electrolyte interfaces for energy conversion and storage devices and understanding related electrochemical-mechanical phenomena. Dr. Kusoglu holds B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering, the latter of which he received from the University of Delaware, where he studied the characterization and durability of ionomer membranes and earned a Graduate Fellowship Award. He then joined Berkeley Lab as a chemist post-doctoral fellow to investigate ionomers for fuel cells and flow batteries. He has been part of multiple DOE-funded consortia (FC-PAD, M2FCT, HydroGEN, H2NEW), served as the Thrust Coordinator in Fuel Cell Performance and Durability Consortium; (FC-PAD),

Dr. Kusoglu has published over 75 peer-reviewed journal publications and 2 book chapters on polymer-electrolyte membranes. He has been invited to present his work at various industry forums, universities, and international meetings, including the Electrochemical Society, American Chemical Society, Golden Gate Polymer Forum, and Gordon Research Conference (GRC). Dr. Kusoglu also taught Polymeric Materials course in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of 2016 S.Srinivasan Young Investigator Award of the Energy Technology Division of the Electrochemical Society and 2017-2018 ECS Toyota Fellowship.

Kusoglu group research at Berkeley Lab encompasses modeling and experimental characterization of ion-containing polymers, thin films, and interfaces to improve their stability and functionalities in electrochemical devices and to develop next-generation materials for clean energy technologies (e.g., fuel cells, water-splitting electrolyzers, flow batteries, and carbon-capture devices). His group’s research approach involves chemical and mechanical interrogation of functional materials, merging data-driven systematic property measurements with multi-modal investigations of structure-functionality, as well as morphological investigations of soft matter through advanced X-ray techniques at the Advanced Light Source (ALS).

His broader interests include hydrogen and decarbonizing transportation, energy justice, science communication, and data visualization. He serves as the communication officer of the DOE-funded Million Mile Fuel Cell Truck consortium where he oversees the outreach and education efforts related to fuel cell trucks and their impact on reducing emissions. He is currently the co-chair of the IDEA committee in Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Energy Technologies Area where he studies Energy Justice and Equity. He gave lectures on these topics, such as, H2IQ webinar on decarbonizing heavy-duty trucks, and Electrochemical Society webinar on Clean Hydrogen and emissions. He also serves as a contributing editor to Electrochemical Interface where he wrote educational (chalkboard) articles on Clean Energy and Hydrogen.

Recent Awards