Energy Engineer with a multidisciplinary background and experience in Materials Science on the synthesis and characterization of oxides. Graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Technology and Energy Engineer by the Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC, Brazil). PhD in Materials Science on Solid-State Lithium Batteries at the University of Twente (UT, Netherlands). Currently, a Researcher in the Inorganic Materials Science group (UT, Netherlands), carrying out studies in the fields of Solid-state batteries (SSB), Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD), and advanced techniques in Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM).

Organisations

Publications

2025

Reduction of thermal conductivity by nanopillar inclusion in thermoelectric vertically aligned nanocomposites (2025)Journal of Physics: Energy, 7(3). Article 035009. van de Putte, M. W., Gambhir, J. S., Gauquelin, N., Sarantopoulos, A., Monteiro Cunha, D., Verbeeck, J., Koster, G., Rivadulla, F. & Huijben, M.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/add76bFacet-Dependent Performance of Microstructured SrTiO3 Particles in Photocatalytic Oxidation of Acetone (2025)Energy and Environmental Materials, 8(3). Article e12862. Costa, N. T., Monteiro Cunha, D., Zhu, K., Huijser, A., Katsoukis, G., Wenderich, K., Flapper, J. & Mul, G.https://doi.org/10.1002/eem2.12862

2024

Single-source pulsed laser-deposited perovskite solar cells with enhanced performance via bulk and 2D passivation (2024)Joule, 8(12), 3412-3425. Soto-Montero, T., Kralj, S., Azmi, R., Reus, M. A., Solomon, J. S., Cunha, D. M., Soltanpoor, W., Utomo, D. S., Ugur, E., Vishal, B., Ledinsky, M., Müller-Buschbaum, P., Babbe, F., Lee, D. K., Sutter-Fella, C. M., Aydin, E., De Wolf, S. & Morales-Masis, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2024.09.0012D/3D Epitaxial Halide Perovskites by Pulsed Laser Deposition (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] MESA+ Day 2024. Solomon Sathiaraj, J. S. S., Soto Montero, T., Birkholzer, Y. A., M. Cunha, D., Soltanpoor, W., Kliner, V., Ledinský, M., Orlov, N., Garnett, E. C., Haward, T. B., Lilly, J. R. A., Herz, L. M., Koster, G., Rijnders, A. J. H. M., Leppert, L. & Morales Masis, M.Single-Source Pulsed Laser Deposited Perovskite Solar Cells with > 19% Efficiency (2024)[Working paper › Preprint]. Soto Montero, T. D. S., Solomon Sathiaraj, J. S. S., Kralj, S., M. Cunha, D., Morales Masis, M. & Soltanpoor, W.https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3671187/v12D/3D Epitaxial Halide Perovskites by Pulsed Laser Deposition (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] LMPV Annual Symposium: Light management, materials design and fabrication for photovoltaics 2024. Solomon Sathiaraj, J. S. S., Soto Montero, T., Birkhölzer, Y. A., M. Cunha, D., Soltanpoor, W., Kliner, V., Ledinský, M., Orlov, N., Garnett, E. C., Haward, T. B., Lilly, J. R. A., Herz, L. M., Koster, G., Rijnders, A. J. H. M., Leppert, L. & Morales Masis, M.2D/3D Epitaxial Halide Perovskites by Pulsed Laser Deposition (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] Next Generation PV Materials 2024. Solomon Sathiaraj, J. S. S., Soto Montero, T., Birkhölzer, Y. A., M. Cunha, D., Soltanpoor, W., Kliner, V., Ledinský, M., Orlov, N., Garnett, E., Haward, T. B., Lilly, J. R. A., Herz, L. M., Koster, G., Rijnders, A. J. H. M., Leppert, L. & Morales Masis, M.2D/3D Epitaxial Halide Perovskites by Pulsed Laser Deposition (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] Unconventional Semiconductors and Their Applications 2024. Solomon Sathiaraj, J. S. S., Soto Montero, T., Birkhölzer, Y. A., M. Cunha, D., Soltanpoor, W., Kliner, V., Ledinský, M., Orlov, N., Garnett, E. C., Haward, T. B., Lilly, J. R. A., Herz, L. M., Koster, G., Rijnders, A. J. H. M., Leppert, L. & Morales Masis, M.Decoupling of substrate and epitaxially grown Y123 thin films by Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheet templates (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] 30th International Workshop on Oxide Electronics, iWOE 2024. Ruiters, J. R. H., M. Cunha, D. M., Kario, A. U., Dhallé, M. M. J., Koster, G. & Rijnders, A. J. H. M.Surpassing the limits: Is it possible to achieve high-purity SrRuO3 thin films using PLD? (2024)[Contribution to conference › Poster] 30th International Workshop on Oxide Electronics, iWOE 2024. Ruiters, J., Liu, L., M. Cunha, D., Rijnders, G. & Koster, G.

Research profiles

Lithium-ion batteries are the primary power source for many applications, but none of the current devices can fully satisfy all the projected energy storage needs. Common rechargeable batteries are based on liquid electrolytes, which limit their design and safety. Therefore, the need for all-solid-state micro-batteries arises, showing enhanced safety, volumetric energy/power density and chemical stability. Planar 2D solid-state thin-film batteries exhibit undesirable energy vs power balance, which can be improved by applying 3D geometries, increasing the internal surface area.

Vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) thin films have been developed as a new materials’ platform for creating self-assembled device architectures and multi functionalities. They show a wide range of attributes arising from the strong interplay among the materials’ properties. Epitaxial VANs are self-assembled through pulsed laser deposition (PLD), without control of the deposition sequence, required for planar multilayer films. Although various epitaxial VANs have been studied in the last decade, lithium-based VANs have yet to be fully explored. 

Even though lithium-based self-assembled VANs have been demonstrated1, further aspects of these complex structures need to be investigated. 

1. Cunha, D. M., Vos, C. M., Hendriks, R., Singh, D. P., Huijben, M., Morphology Evolution during Lithium-Based Vertically Aligned Nanocomposite Growth. ACS Materials and Interfaces, 11 (47), 44444-44450 (2019).

In the press

Invited piece for 4UT.Federation's Innovative Materials magazine:
'Self-assembled Vertically Aligned Nanocomposites for Solid-State Batteries'
Innovative Materials, Volume 2, 2021, p. 36-37


Mesa+ News June 2021:
‘It’s a big step, using composite pillars in 3D solid-state batteries’ (utwente.nl)

Address

University of Twente

Carré (building no. 15), room C3233
Hallenweg 23
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

Navigate to location

Organisations

Scan the QR code or
Download vCard