Special Interview with Dr. Peter Sherrell: Understanding Interfacial Charge Complexity in Iontronic and Energy Systems
On May 25, 2026, the Editorial Office of Iontronics had the honor of interviewing Dr. Peter Sherrell from the Department of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Sherrell’s research focuses on ambient energy harvesting, triboelectric and electromechanical systems, iontronics, and sustainable functional materials. His work particularly explores interfacial charge phenomena, electrochemical systems, and the coupling between ionic, mechanical, and electronic processes in emerging soft electronic technologies. Through interdisciplinary research spanning materials chemistry, nanotechnology, and energy-related systems, he has contributed to the development of flexible electronic devices, self-powered sensing technologies, and sustainable energy platforms.
Interview Questions:
Q1. Your research spans triboelectricity, electromechanical energy conversion, electrochemistry, and sustainable materials systems, with a strong emphasis on understanding structure–property–performance relationships in emerging energy materials. From your perspective, what are the most important unresolved scientific questions in ambient energy harvesting today, and how do you envision interfacial ionic and electromechanical phenomena contributing to future sustainable chemical and energy technologies?
Q2. Several of your recent studies, including work published in Physical Review Letters and ChemSusChem, have investigated irreversible charging, electrostatic discharge, and charge dissipation processes in triboelectric systems. Despite decades of research, the microscopic origin and stability of triboelectric charges remain actively debated. Based on your recent findings, what do you believe are the key factors governing charge generation, retention, and dissipation at polymer and liquid–solid interfaces?
Q3. Your recent work demonstrates how interfacial charge phenomena can be engineered through material composition, multilayer architectures, electroacoustic processing, and polymer microstructure design to enhance electromechanical energy harvesting performance. From a materials engineering perspective, which structural parameters or interfacial characteristics do you believe are most critical for achieving stable, efficient, and scalable next-generation triboelectric or piezoelectric systems?
Q4. A notable aspect of your research is the integration of fundamental materials science with scalable manufacturing and application-oriented technologies, including additive manufacturing, biodegradable triboelectric systems, implantable devices, and electrochemical energy platforms. In your opinion, what are the major challenges currently limiting the industrial translation of iontronic and ambient energy harvesting technologies, and which application areas do you believe are most likely to achieve real-world impact in the near future?
Q5. As the boundaries between iontronics, electromechanical energy conversion, soft materials, and electrochemical systems continue to converge, what scientific directions do you believe will become particularly important over the next decade? In addition, as a researcher actively contributing to this interdisciplinary community, what suggestions would you offer for the future development of Iontronics as an international platform for the field?
About Dr. Peter C. Sherrell:
Dr. Peter C. Sherrell is a Senior Vice Chancellors Research Fellow in Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science within the STEM College.
Dr. Peter C. Sherrell's research focusses on capturing and using ambient energy from the environment, to drive green and sustainable chemistries. In particular, Peter is working on developing new methods of harvesting motion and heat from chemical and electrochemical processes, to enable highly efficient catalysis. He is broadly interested in understanding materials structure-property-performance relationships, and unlocking the fundamental mechanisms behind emerging energy devices - and using these mechanistic understanding to engineer more efficient energy storage, conversion, and harvesting systems.
Before joining RMIT University, Peter was an Elizabeth & Vernon Puzey Fellow at the University of Melbourne (2019-2023); a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at Imperial College London, UK (2015-2018), and a Postdoctoral Fellow at Linkoping University, Sweden (2013-2015).
Editor: Xingcheng Li
Production Editor: Ting Xu
Respectfully Submitted by the Editorial Office of Iontronics
