Kathryn Toghill is a British chemist who is Professor of Sustainable Electrochemistry at Lancaster University. Her research considers the development of low-cost energy storage systems, with a particular focus on redox flow batteries.
Early life and education Toghill was born and raised in Caernarfon, North Wales and attended the local bilingual Welsh comprehensive school Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen. Toghill was an undergraduate student at Swansea University. She spent a year at the University of Waterloo, where she worked with Linda Nazar on new cathodes for batteries. Her undergraduate research with Nazar was published in Nature Materials. After earning her First class Masters in Chemistry, Toghill moved to the University of Oxford, where she completed a doctorate with Richard Compton on modified boron doped diamond electrodes and their applications in electroanalysis. At Oxford Toghill designed an electrochemical atomic force microscopy cell. Toghill moved to the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, where she worked with Hubert Girault. At EPFL, she developed capabilities in hybrid energy storage, investigating batteries capable of conventional operation and hydrogen evolution.
Research and career In 2014, Toghill joined the faculty at Lancaster University. Her research considers low-cost electrochemical energy storage systems including redox flow batteries. This involves the design and synthesis of new batteries and flow cells, electrode materials, as well as the development of strategies for green hydrogen and water valorisation.
In 2022, Toghill was awarded funding from Horizon Europe to develop dual circuit flow batteries for value added chemical production. Dual circuit redox flow batteries can function both as a conventional battery and as a hydrogen fuel cell.
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