# Maria Lukatskaya
**Maria R. Lukatskaya** is a Swiss-based energy materials scientist who works on batteries, supercapacitors, and two-dimensional carbides called MXenes. She joined the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at [ETH Zurich](https://www.edgepedia.org/eth-zurich) as an assistant professor of Electrochemical Energy Systems on 1 December 2019, where she leads the Electrochemical Energy Systems Laboratory, and has since been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure.[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) • [2](https://echemes.ethz.ch/team) • [3](https://www.mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de/4585797/lukatskaya) • [9](https://echemes.ethz.ch/) She is known for work done during her doctorate showing that MXene electrodes store charge through cation intercalation and reach high volumetric capacitance, a result published in *Science* in 2013.[4](https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf) Her ORCID researcher record is 0000-0002-2794-4322.[5](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-4322)
| Key facts | Detail |
|---|---|
| Field | Energy materials: batteries, supercapacitors, MXenes, electrocatalysis[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) |
| Position | Assistant Professor of Electrochemical Energy Systems, ETH Zurich, since 1 December 2019; promoted to Associate Professor with tenure[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) • [9](https://echemes.ethz.ch/) |
| Training | MSc Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University (2011); PhD Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University (2015), advisor Yury Gogotsi, co-advisor Michel Barsoum[4](https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf) • [6](https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7558) |
| Postdoctoral work | Stanford University (2016–2019) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (2018–2019)[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) |
| Signature work | "Cation Intercalation and High Volumetric Capacitance of Two-Dimensional Titanium Carbide", *Science*, 2013[4](https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf) |
| Key result | About 340 F/cm3 volumetric capacitance for few-layer Ti3C2Tx in KOH, with almost no degradation after 10,000 cycles at 1 A/g[6](https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7558) |
| Current focus | Molecular engineering of electrolytes and interfaces for aqueous batteries, supercapacitors, and electrocatalysis[7](https://www.iepeprd.ethz.ch/research/labs/laboratory-for-electrochemical-energy-systems/) |
| Editorial role | Became associate editor at *ACS Nano*[2](https://echemes.ethz.ch/team) |
## Education and training
Her master's thesis was titled "Electrochemical formation and transport properties of 1D metallic nanostructures".[4](https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf)
Her dissertation, "Capacitive Performance of Two-Dimensional Metal Carbides", was completed in 2015.[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) • [6](https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7558)
## Career
According to ETH Zurich's D-MAVT news, after her doctorate, Lukatskaya was a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University from 2016 to 2019, in chemical engineering, and a postdoctoral research fellow in photon science at [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory](https://www.edgepedia.org/slac-national-accelerator-laboratory) from 2018 to 2019.[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) • [2](https://echemes.ethz.ch/team) On 1 December 2019, at age 31, she took up her appointment as assistant professor for Electrochemical Energy Systems in ETH Zurich's Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering.[1](https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html) She heads the Electrochemical Energy Systems Laboratory there[3](https://www.mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de/4585797/lukatskaya) and became an associate editor at *ACS Nano*.[2](https://echemes.ethz.ch/team)
## Representative work
Her 2013 *Science* paper, "Cation Intercalation and High Volumetric Capacitance of Two-Dimensional Titanium Carbide", reported that Ti3C2Tx MXene electrodes store charge by intercalating cations between the carbide layers, and demonstrated high volumetric capacitance.[4](https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf) The doctoral thesis behind it gives the numbers: few-layer Ti3C2Tx "paper" electrodes reached about 340 F/cm3 in KOH, noticeably higher than the 60–100 F/cm3 of activated graphene or the 180 F/cm3 of micrometer-thin [carbide-derived carbon](https://www.edgepedia.org/carbide-derived-carbon) electrodes, and galvanostatic cycling at 1 A/g showed almost no degradation after 10,000 cycles.[6](https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7558) In her own account, the finding was that these 2D carbides could charge extremely fast and endure tens of thousands of charge–discharge cycles.[8](https://drexelmagazine.org/2020/maria-lukatskaya/)
- **"Multidimensional materials and device architectures for future hybrid energy storage"**, *Nature Communications* (2016), [doi:10.1038/ncomms12647](https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12647).
## Current research directions
Her ETH laboratory designs electrolytes and materials for batteries and electrocatalysis through molecular engineering of electrolytes and interfaces, probing them with in situ [X-ray scattering](https://www.edgepedia.org/x-ray-scattering) and spectroscopy, FTIR and [Raman spectroscopy](https://www.edgepedia.org/raman-spectroscopy), and the electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance.[7](https://www.iepeprd.ethz.ch/research/labs/laboratory-for-electrochemical-energy-systems/) The group's stated focus is designing materials and electrolytes for energy, including transition metal intercalation and MXenes.[9](https://echemes.ethz.ch/) On the materials side, it works on fast charge storage in MXenes and in conductive metal-organic frameworks for pseudocapacitors.[3](https://www.mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de/4585797/lukatskaya) On the electrolyte side, it tunes solvent-in-salt systems and uses molecular additives to improve the selectivity of multi-electron electroreduction reactions such as CO2 and O2 electroreduction, and studies electrolyte nanoheterogeneity, hydrogen bonding, transport, and solvation.[7](https://www.iepeprd.ethz.ch/research/labs/laboratory-for-electrochemical-energy-systems/) At the systems level, it designs supercapacitor materials for high volumetric and areal performance and studies how supercapacitor modules can be paired with commercial batteries to extend energy-storage lifetimes in microgrids.[7](https://www.iepeprd.ethz.ch/research/labs/laboratory-for-electrochemical-energy-systems/)
Recent outputs track this program. According to the Lukatskaya Group at ETH Zurich, her paper "Robust battery interphases from dilute fluorinated cations" ([doi:10.1039/d4ee00296b was published in *Energy & Environmental Science* and covered by numerous media outlets.[9](https://echemes.ethz.ch/) In September 2025 the group published a *Journal of the American Chemical Society* paper showing that a modified electrolyte structure in water-in-salt electrolytes delays the onset of the hydrogen evolution reaction, and an *ACS Nano* manuscript on transition metal intercalation into MXenes.[9](https://echemes.ethz.ch/) Work presented in 2026 argues that the local zinc-ion coordination environment can be made to resemble water-in-salt behavior even in moderately dilute electrolytes by using coordinating, non-fluorinated anions such as acetate, achieving stable zinc plating and stripping; the group concludes that extreme salt concentrations are not necessary for dendrite-suppressed zinc deposition, and that the coordination strength and identity of the anion are the key molecular design parameters, pointing toward low-cost aqueous electrolytes for grid storage.[10](https://www.nanoge.org/proceedings/MATSUSSpring26/6926324c1180d61fd1b66a57)
## Recognition
Lukatskaya received a 2023 Starting Grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, the 2021 Faraday Division Horizon Prize from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the 2019 *Energy and Environmental Science* Lectureship Award, and the 2020 iCANX *ACS Nano* Rising Star Lecturer award; [Drexel University](https://www.edgepedia.org/drexel-university) named her one of its "40 under 40" honorees in 2020.[2](https://echemes.ethz.ch/team) She has also received the MRS Gold Graduate Student Award and an endowed fellowship fund.[3](https://www.mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de/4585797/lukatskaya)
## References
1. In search of energy solutions, ETH Zurich D-MAVT news. https://mavt.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-mavt-news/2019/12/in-search-of-energy-solutions.html
2. The Team, Electrochemical Energy Systems, Prof. Maria Lukatskaya, ETH Zurich. https://echemes.ethz.ch/team
3. Maria Lukatskaya, Max Planck Institute Magdeburg speaker page. https://www.mpi-magdeburg.mpg.de/4585797/lukatskaya
4. Maria Lukatskaya CV, Drexel University Nanomaterials Group. https://research.coe.drexel.edu/mse/nanomaterials/wp-content/group-info/CVs/Lukatskaya.pdf
5. Maria R. Lukatskaya, ORCID 0000-0002-2794-4322. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2794-4322
6. Capacitive Performance of Two-Dimensional Metal Carbides, Drexel doctoral dissertation. https://doi.org/10.17918/etd-7558
7. Electrochemical Energy Systems Laboratory, ETH Zurich. https://www.iepeprd.ethz.ch/research/labs/laboratory-for-electrochemical-energy-systems/
8. Maria Lukatskaya, Drexel Magazine. https://drexelmagazine.org/2020/maria-lukatskaya/
9. Lukatskaya Group, ETH Zurich. https://echemes.ethz.ch/
10. Tuning Local Chemical Environments for Efficient Aqueous Zn Batteries, nanoGe MATSUSSpring26. https://www.nanoge.org/proceedings/MATSUSSpring26/6926324c1180d61fd1b66a57
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineers and computer scientists › Engineers and materials scientists › Researchers in chemical engineering, batteries, solar, and energy materials › Supercapacitors and electrochemical energy storage*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Sep 30, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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