“Hard work, dedication and endless opportunities, I can now say I am on the path to previously unimaginable goals. A dream come true! We are breaking the barriers that make Science seem unattainable, by being the link between Science and society, made possible by funding bodies like the GCRF START grant.”
Gugulethu Nkala, PhD student in the Energy Materials Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Gugulethu Charmaine Nkala is a PhD student at the School of Chemistry in the Energy Materials Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa. From Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, she is the eldest of three daughters, descending, she says, “from a line of great women, whose circumstances did not allow them to proceed to higher education”. Gugu’s great grandmother had to leave school at grade 7 (after she finished primary school) because as a woman it was only seen necessary to be able to write and read letters; Gugu’s maternal gogo (grandmother) was a domestic worker, and her parents were not able to study beyond high school. Gugu says, therefore, “It is with this in my heart, that I have been encouraged to go forth and reach places that their hopes and dreams could not take them. I have a story to tell, a story to finish.” Gugu is determined to share her story and be a role model to motivate women and girls to take up science.
Gugu’s research focuses on improving renewable energy storage systems to make them more efficient, affordable, safe and environmentally friendly in order to address the energy poverty gap in Africa, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Under the PhD supervision of GCRF START grant Co-I, Professor Dave Billing[1], Prof Caren Billing[2] and Dr Roy Forbes, her particular interest is: ‘The Use of Fused Bimetal Phosphate-based Ceramics for Solid-State Electrolyte Applications’[3], through which she investigates batteries as energy storage devices for applications such as phones and tablets, with the aim of fabricating a solid-state electrolyte that can be used in an all-solid-state battery (a battery in which the electrodes and electrolyte are solid).
It is with the GCRF START grant, that Gugu has been able to visit the UK’s national synchrotron, Diamond Light Source (Diamond), and has also attended START related workshops and meetings which have furthered her research knowledge and skills, introducing her to international collaborations and research networks overseas and in Africa – experiences Gugu describes as “beyond invaluable in my studies” and a “privilege”. In the next few weeks, some of Gugu’s research materials are set for analysis using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) techniques on the B18 beamline at Diamond as part of a Beamtime Allocation Group (BAG).
Gugu is the first in her family to go to university, an achievement she attributes to the culture of her school and the support of her parents who invested in their children’s school education, leading her to become one of the top pupils in her school and developing her love of STEM.
“My grandmother encouraged my father to enable the education of the ‘girl-children’ in our family,” Gugu explains, “and I was interested in the physical sciences in particular – physics, chemistry, biology – subjects not many girls go for. From an early age I was inquisitive, and my parents nurtured that side and were engaging and supportive. This was formative, coupled with the school I went to which instilled discipline, resilience and, above all else, ‘the spirit of chasing one’s greatness’.”
Gugu’s aunt assisted with university fees in Gugu’s first year when Gugu’s father was retrenched as a machine minder in 2012, and what followed is a journey of tenacity and resilience into the world of energy materials science – an unusual career-path for a woman in Africa. Through bursaries and working hard in her vacations to fund her studies, despite various setbacks, Gugu has been able to accomplish her dreams and achieve great things. Testament to her hard work, she has received various awards and is now studying for her PhD, receiving mentorship from her supervisors and mentors, Prof. Caren Billing and Prof. Dave Billing and funded by a bursary.
“I was sold at an early stage on material science – I fell in love with it! Being part of Prof Dave Billing’s group helped me to look at things from different perspectives,” Gugu enthuses.
Gugu loves working with the Energy Research Group at Wits and collaborating with the GCRF START grant because she is encouraged to dream big and believe what some might seem is impossible to achieve for a young woman in Africa.
“Earlier in my academic career, I dreamed of being the head of a Research and Development department in South Africa. However, being in my research group with the teachings and mentoring of my supervisors has shown me that I can aim higher, dream the once impossible,” she explains.
Closing the energy poverty gap in sub-Saharan Africa
Gugu’s motivation behind her research project comes from the desire to find solutions to energy challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, starting in South Africa where a large population, especially in the rural areas, is still without access to basic commodities such as electricity, sanitation and health care, something that particularly impacts women. In these parts, firewood is still the most used source of energy for cooking, as well as paraffin lamps and candles for lighting[4]. Approximately 80% of South Africa’s electricity relies on coal, with the resulting environmental challenges that this brings[5]. Shifting the focus towards improving renewable storage systems (such as solar, wind, hydrology, and others) would be beneficial, not only to the planet but to the health and livelihoods of human populations.
In order to bring renewable energy sources into the energy mix, the focus of scientific research needs to be moved towards improving renewable storage systems such as batteries. The most widely used rechargeable batteries contain toxic electrolytes such as sulfuric acid in lead acid batteries and lithium perchlorate in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. The drawbacks of current Li-ion batteries are, amongst others, their costs and reliability concerns, which are attributed to the deterioration of battery devices over relatively short periods of time. The constant replacement of these materials has a negative impact on the environment[6].
Commercial batteries use an organic liquid as an electrolyte and these organics compromise the safety of the battery[7]. Increasingly, alternative electrolyte materials have received great attention, more specifically solid-state electrolytes[8]. The use of solid-state electrolytes would eliminate the need for a separator, avoiding the use of organic electrolytes and therefore the use of safer batteries that do not pose any leakage risks[9].
In Gugu’s studies, she is working on a material based on the sodium (Na) superionic conductor (NASICON) structure type, namely lithium titanium phosphate LiTi2(PO4)3 (LTP). This involves investigating its properties as a potential material for a solid-state electrolyte in Li-ion batteries to address the challenges that arise from current batteries. Gugu’s research includes understanding the Li-ion conductivity of the class of materials being studied under different environmental conditions such as temperature, and how the materials behave in different atmospheres, specifically air and nitrogen, an inert atmosphere. The research also involves exploring ways in which lower cost batteries can be synthesised.
Breaking down barriers and giving back to the community – being a role model
Gugu’s involvement in university science outreach projects to schools has focussed on educating learners and teachers from different backgrounds about the importance of renewable energies. Organised through the Energy Materials Group, Gugu is enthusiastic about motivating and assisting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to fulfil their dreams in the way she herself was encouraged from a young age to fulfil her goals. This is also a way for Gugu to give back to the community, as well as learn about community-based perspectives and how the Group’s research might impact everyday lives.
“Most of these children come from impoverished backgrounds and do not have role models in their society who they can look up to, to enable them to see that their dreams are not so far out of reach, and that their circumstances do not have to be a tight leash that keep them away from dreaming bigger,” Gugu explains. “Seeing a black girl in science, makes them see that there is someone, just like them, who has gone this far. We are breaking barriers that makes science seem unattainable, by being the link between science and society, made possible by funding bodies like the GCRF START grant.”
One of the outreach science demonstrations was a solar panel station where people could charge their phones. This enabled the scientists to explain the science behind solar panels, as Gugu describes below,
“The students were excited and astonished by the fact that one can use the sun to power their devices. Seeing their reactions and being part of something so special made me come back with the understanding of just how deep our impact in society could be, educating one child at a time.”
Photo credit: Gugulethu Nkala. ©Diamond Light Source
Attending ANSDAC workshops in Africa and visiting Diamond Light Source in the UK
In 2018, Gugu attended the first African Neutron and Synchrotron Data Analysis Competency workshop (ANSDAC), where the GCRF START grant is amongst the funding bodies. This workshop focuses on teaching African scientists about synchrotron techniques and how to analyse the results obtained, bringing in experts in different field techniques to ensure the best teaching possible. The students not only learn about synchrotron science but also how to analyse the data. Gugu also took an online course through Brookhaven Laboratory in the USA, which, she says, “forced us to push ourselves and the boundaries of science, making the best of whatever resources we had.”
From the 10-12 March 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Gugu was one of the attendees of the XAS workshop hosted and taught at Diamond on the Harwell Campus, the UK’s world-class innovation hub.
“Visiting Diamond in the UK was a life changing opportunity,” Gugu enthuses. “It took me from a position of remotely learning about synchrotrons and taking virtual tours, to experiencing this first-hand.”
“You read about it in textbooks,” she continues “and then I was standing in front of it and there was a glorious opportunity to take a tour inside the facility. One of the topics we covered at the ANSDAC workshop was XAS, so I already had a good basis for the workshop at Diamond. This background knowledge allowed me to learn more about the technique and the data analysis, starting from a position of knowledge, once again, enabled by the GCRF START grant. It was wonderful to consult the beamline scientists and do hands on tutorials; to be in the same room as the people one looks up to.”
Not only has the GCRF START grant enabled Gugu to visit the synchrotron of her dreams, but it has also fundamentally impacted her skills and abilities, and her perspectives on her future career path. Visiting Diamond, Gugu says, has shown her new horizons of learning which she wants to bring back to the science community in Africa.
“The GCRF START grant has enabled me to move forward from attending online courses by Brookhaven National Laboratories (Applications of Synchrotron and Electron-Based Techniques 2018) to actually running X-ray diffraction (XRD) – an analytical method used to determine the nature of crystalline materials – and atomic Pair Distribution Function experiments – an X-ray scattering technique that can be used to study the local structure of materials at the atomic scale,” explains Gugu. “This brings results that take us students closer to answering the fundamental questions in our projects, sharpening our focus and skills to work out what steps to take next in the future.”
Another goal achieved, she says, would be the opportunity to take up a postdoctoral position and work alongside beamline scientists at Diamond on X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy.
“Achieving this goal,” Gugu says, “would be the completion, or the start of my story, of my grandmothers’ stories. The story of Black Girl Magic!”
Photo credit: Gugulethu Nkala. ©Diamond Light Source
With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Gugu and her peers are thankful for the support of their supervisors, despite the challenges and delays that lockdowns and restrictions have brought, such as restricted access to campus to undertake experiments and having to book precious time slots to use laboratories.
“Our supervisors have been checking in on us regularly, encouraging us and helping us not to panic. They have been going above and beyond to try to ensure we have the software to process our data. This has been pretty amazing support,” Gugu reports.
Commenting on Gugu’s progress and ambitions, Prof Caren Billing says, “Gugu got back from attending an XAS training workshop at Diamond Light Source the week before our airports were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic (March 2020). The visit to Diamond through the GCRF START grant has raised her expectations of herself and her work to new levels. She has been presenting talks at our group meetings to inform others of what she has learnt and brought a great amount of enthusiasm with her.”
[1] Prof Dave Billing is Professor in the School of Chemistry and Co-PI of the Energy Materials Research Group at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), South Africa, and also Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Science at Wits.
[2] Prof Caren Billing is Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
[3] The support of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials (CoE- SM) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the CoE- SM.
[4] Eberhard, A., Leigland, J. and Kolker, J., 2014. South Africa’s Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Program. World Bank Publications. (https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/library/south-africa-s-renewable-energy-ipp-procurement-program-success-factors-and-lessons-0)
Banks, D. and Schäffler, J., 2005. The potential contribution of renewable energy in South Africa. Sustainable Energy & Climate Change Project (SECCP). ( https://www.ee.co.za/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Gener%201.pdf )
Fluri, T.P., 2009. The potential of concentrating solar power in South Africa. Energy Policy, 37(12),pp.5075-5080. (https://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeeenepol/v_3a37_3ay_3a2009_3ai_3a12_3ap_3a5075-5080.htm)
Luo, X., Wang, J., Dooner, M. and Clarke, J., 2015. Overview of current development in electrical energy storage technologies and the application potential in power system operation. Applied Energy, 137, pp.511-536.
[5] 82.6% in 2018 (South African Energy Sector Report 2018) http://www.energy.gov.za/files/media/explained/2018-South-African-Energy-Sector-Report.pdf
[6] Kuwano, J., Sato, N., Kato, M. and Takano, K., 1994. Ionic conductivity of LiM2 (PO4) 3 (M= Ti, Zr, Hf) and related compositions. Solid State Ionics, 70, pp.332-336.
Pegels, A., 2010. Renewable energy in South Africa: Potentials, barriers and options for support. Energy policy, 38(9), pp.4945-4954.
[7] Takada, K., 2013. Progress and prospective of solid-state lithium batteries. Acta Materialia, 61(3), pp.759-770.
[8] Quartarone, E. and Mustarelli, P., 2011. Electrolytes for solid-state lithium rechargeable batteries: recent advances and perspectives. Chemical Society Reviews, 40(5), pp.2525-2540.
[9] Kuwano, J., Sato, N., Kato, M. and Takano, K., 1994. Ionic conductivity of LiM2 (PO4) 3 (M= Ti, Zr, Hf) and related compositions. Solid State Ionics, 70, pp.332-336.