Education

• PhD Chemistry, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ
• BS Chemistry, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Gabriel Veith is a world expert on interfacial science with efforts focused on energy storage and conversion, materials synthesis, and manufacturing. Particular areas of focus include sodium and silicon battery chemistry, using neutrons to probe reactive interfaces, physical vapor deposition processes to coat vacuum stable materials, dry processing of materials, and solid- state batteries. Prior to joining CBE, Veith was Distinguished Staff Scientist within the Chemical Sciences Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has 290 peer-reviewed papers, 16 patents, 8 patents submitted, two R&D 100 awards, and is a Battelle Distinguished Inventor.

Awards and Recognitions

• R&D 100 Award (2015, 2017)
• Significant Event Award (2013, 2015, 2017)
• Battelle Early Career Scientific Achievement (2008)
• Battelle Distinguished Inventor (2023)
• Federal Laboratory Consortium Technology Transfer Award – 2024 SAFIRE

Veith’s research focuses on the role of interfaces for 4 key areas. The first area of interest focuses on understanding and controlling the passivation reactions that mediate electrochemical energy storage systems. Second, fundamentals of advanced manufacturing processes to enable functionality. Third, interfaces and the effect on the synthesis of materials. And fourth, how interface structure mediates ion and electron transport. 

Understanding and Controlling Passivation Reactions

Have you ever had a battery just die? Or had electrolyte leak out of an alkali battery? These are examples of passivation reactions gone bad. We focus on the fundamental processes that drive these reactions, the in situ evaluation of these processes, and develop approaches to eliminate them. Approaches include gas analysis of products, in situ measurements to probe interfacial dynamics, and development of new electrolyte solvent and salts. Techniques include X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, neutron scattering, infrared spectroscopy and other methods designed to identify and follow chemical changes with time and electrochemical potential.

Fundamentals of Advanced Manufacturing Processes

In traditional battery manufacturing active and inactive components are combined in solutions to form slurries. We aim to (1) understand the chemistry and dynamics within a slurry and (2) advance the fundamental understanding of dry processing to move beyond solution-based slurries. The advantage of a dry process is the ability to reduce energy consumption by almost 20% through the elimination of drying. Our multidisciplinary approach seeks to understand the dynamics of polymers and electroactive materials during processing and the resulting influence on battery performance. Specific areas of interest include all solid-state batteries and next generation battery materials such as lithium metal, silicon anodes, and high voltage cathodes like LiCoPO₄. These materials are investigated through X-ray and neutron scattering, microscopy, and electrochemical approaches. 

Interfaces and Their Effect on Materials Synthesis.

The controlled nucleation and growth of compounds is critical to the resulting properties. In this work we seek to understand reaction networks and how to drive reactions to form new and exciting states of matter. Specific areas of interest include next generation solid state batteries, prelithiated and presodiated anodes to compensate for alkali metal inventory issues, and critical materials for electrodes. Associated with this work is focused analytical work to evaluate phase composition and homogeneity as a function of processing.

Understanding Interface Structure to Mediates Ion and Electron Transport. 

Work in this topic focuses on electrocatalytic conversion of materials. While traditional electrocatalytic and catalytic efforts focus on gas or aqueous phase chemistry the work in our team focuses on high pressure chemistry with supercritical CO₂, ammonia, and other solvent systems. We focus on key questions of interface structure and structural evolution with pressure, chemical potential, reagents and time. These systems are investigated through a combination of in situ scattering and electrochemical measurements.

Publications

• “Surprising Relationship Between Silicon Anode Calendar Aging and Electrolyte Components in a Localized High Concentration Electrolyte System" ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 17(30), pg. 43020-43033 (2025).
• Metal Decoration of Si Particles via High-Energy Milling for Lithium-ion Battery Anodes” Khryslyn G. Araño, Beth L. Armstrong, Robert L. Sacci, Matthew S. Chambers, Chun-Sheng Jiang, Joseph Quinn, Harry M. Meyer III, Anton W. Tomich, Amanda Musgrove, Steven Lam, Elena Toups, Chongmin Wang, Christopher S. Johnson, Gabriel M. Veith, RSC Applied Interfaces, 2 (3) pg. 648-664 (2025).
• “Operando APXPS for direct probing of Li ion battery LCO electrode/electrolyte interface chemistry during lithiation/delithiation” Qianhui Liu, Tove Ericson, Robert Temperton, Ida Källquist, Fredrik Lindgren, Laura King, Alenka Križan, Katie L Browning, Ethan J Crumlin, Gabriel M Veith, Maria Hahlin, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 13, 20568-20577 (2025).
• “Elucidating the Role of Carbon Conductive Additive in the Processing and Electrochemical Behavior of Surface-Modified Si Anodes” Khryslyn G Araño, Beth L Armstrong, Guang Yang, Chanaka Kumara, Thomas Zac Ward, Harry M Meyer III, Alexander M Rogers, Elena Toups, Gabriel M Veith, Energy & Fuels 38 (7), 6446-645 (2024).
• “In Situ Measurement of Buried Electrolyte–Electrode Interfaces for Solid State Batteries with Nanometer Level Precision” Katie L Browning, Andrew S Westover, James F Browning, Mathieu Doucet, Robert L Sacci, Gabriel M Veith, ACS Energy Letters, 8, pg. 1985-1991 (2023).
• “Solvent-Free Melt-Processed Cathode Mitigates Li Anode Instability in Polymer-Based Solid-State Batteries” , Xi Chelsea Chen, Amanda L Musgrove, Molleigh B Preefer, Alexandra C Moy, Kyra D Owensby, Oliver Long, Pu Zhang, Zoriana Demchuk, Thomas Zac Ward, Beth L Armstrong, Ankit Verma, Francois Usseglio-Viretta, Andrew M Colclasure, Ritu Sahore, Johanna Nelson Weker, Gabriel M Veith, ACS Energy Letters, 10 pg. 3188-3195 (2025).
• “Origin of rate limitations in solid-state polymer batteries from constrained segmental dynamics within the cathode” X. Chelsea Chen, Charles Soulen, Mary K. Burdette-Trofimov, Xiaomin Tang, Changhao Liu, Luke Heroux, Mathieu Doucet, Madhusudan Tyagi, Gabriel M. Veith, Cell Reports Physical Sciences, 4(16) pg 101538 (2023).
• “Understanding the physical chemistry of PVDF binder with silicon, graphite, and NMC materials and the influence on cycling performance” Mary K. Burdette-Trofimov, Beth L. Armstrong, Rachel J. Korkosz, J. Landon Tyler, Rebecca D. McAuliffe, Luke Heroux, Mathieu Doucet, David T. Hoelzer, Nihal Kanbargi, Amit K. Naskar, and Gabriel M. Veith, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14(20), pg 23322-23331 (2022).
• “Irreversible Multielement Diffusion and the Resulting Compositional and Processing Flexibility in the Synthesis and Densification of Lithium Aluminum Lanthanum Zirconium Oxide.” Alexandra C. Moy, Robert L. Sacci, Matthew S. Chambers, Amanda L. Musgrove, Jeff Sakamoto, Gabriel M. Veith, ACS Applied Energy Materials 8(5) pg. 3003-3016 (2025).
• Accelerating Discovery of Solid-State Thin-Film Metal Dealloying for 3D Nanoarchitecture Materials Design through Laser Thermal Gradient Treatment” Cheng-Chu Chung, Ruipeng Li, Gabriel M. Veith, Honghu Zhang, Fernando Camino, Ming Lu, Nikhil Tiwale, Sheng Zhang, Kevin G. Yager, Yu-chen Karen Chen-Wiegart, Small, pg. 2501739, (2025).
• “Elucidating the local structure of Li_1+xAl_xTi_2–x(PO₄)₃ and Li₃Al_xTi_2–x­­(PO₄)₃ (x = 0, 0.3) via total scattering” Matthew S. Chambers, Jue Liu, Olaf J, Borkiewicz, Kevin Llopart, Robert L Sacci, Gabriel M. Veith, Frontiers of Inorganic Chemistry, 11 (21), pg. 7648-7666 (2024).
• “Direct Mechanochemical Synthesis, Phase Stability, and Electrochemical Performance of α-NaFeO₂”
• Rebecca D. McAuliffe, Gabrielle E. Kamm, Matthew J. McDermott, Raphaël P. Hermann, Neyanel Vasquez-Garcia, Robert L. Sacci, Kristin A. Persson, Karena W. Chapman, Gabriel M. Veith, Inorganic Chemistry, 62, 8, pg 3358–3367 (2023).
• “Conversion of liquid CO₂” GM Veith, K Li, K Nawaz, RL Sacci - US Patent App. 18/638,049, 2024
• “Corrosion and enhanced hydrogen evolution in electrochemical reduction of ammonium carbamate on transition metal surfaces” Jounghwan Choi, Shawn Chiu, Avishek Banerjee, Robert L Sacci, Gabriel M Veith, Chantal Stieber, Christopher Hahn, Anastassia N Alexandrova, Carlos G Morales-Guio, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 15(31) pg 8007-8017 (2024).