Farmingdale State College (FSC) Physics Department faculty members Yaping Li, PhD, and Jack Simonson, PhD, together with their respective students, Dylan McCoy and Justin Bordonaro, know what matters--especially when it comes to condensed matter.  

The faculty/student team authored, "High ionic conductivity materials Li₃YBr₆ and Li₃LaBr₆ for solid-state batteries: first-principles calculations," a research paper recently published in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. Highly esteemed within the condensed matter physics community, the journal is published by the Institute of Physics, a 150-year-old nonprofit learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research, and application. 

Their paper details the results of their sophisticated calculations of the properties of solid electrolyte materials for next generation batteries to support renewable energy industries, and how high ionic conductivity solid-state electrolytes are essential for powerful solid-state lithium-ion batteries.    

 “The majority of current lithium-ion batteries contain liquid electrolytes, which cause the leakage and flammability issues we read about in the news,” said Simonson, associate professor of physics. “One of the barriers forestalling the adoption of solid electrolyte materials is their low ion conductivities. Our team found a 100% increase in the ion conductivity of one of these electrolyte materials.  

“Yaping’s findings are in excellent agreement with experimental results,” he added of Li, assistant professor of physics, who was lead scientist on the project. 

“Farmingdale is committed to advancing the student experience through applied learning and our faculty within the Physics Department have taken the role of research mentor to heart,” said FSC Senior Vice President and Provost Laura Joseph, EdD. “This is one outstanding example of how research mentorship can lead to scholarly achievements that add to the body of knowledge in the discipline. I applaud our students and faculty on this wonderful accomplishment.” 

McCoy, ’25, a manufacturing engineering technology major, contributed to the density functional theory calculations that appear in the paper. Bordonaro, ’25, an electrical engineering technology major, developed a novel method of measuring the crystals of their research materials.   

“One of the greatest joys of my career is to work with dedicated Farmingdale students like Dylan and Justin in authentic research experiences that meaningfully advance the frontiers of human knowledge,” said Simonson.” As we all know, our best students at Farmingdale rival those of any other institution.  

“Many congratulations to Yaping and our team for this outstanding accomplishment!” he added.  

“I want to express my gratitude for the supportive and friendly environment on our campus,” said Li. “It is enjoyable to work with our close-knit colleagues and intelligent students. We are committed to achieving more.”

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