James Rohan received his B.Sc. (1988) and M.Sc. in fuel cell research (1990) from UCC before completing his Ph.D. in 1993 at Southampton University, UK. He then spent 2 years in the United States as a Senior Scientist with EIC Laboratories as part of the USABC (United State Advanced Battery Consortium) developing lithium ion rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles before joining Tyndall National Institute at UCC.
He has been lead or co-PI on over 75 medium to large-scale research programmes. This research has attracted in excess of €10 million in research revenue to date. His research interests include electrochemical materials processing and device fabrication for micro/nanoelectronics, energy storage and sensor applications. A recent focus has been on the templated deposition of nanomaterials for Energy and ICT applications. He is a funded investigator in the Research Ireland Connect Centre investigating energy storage for the smart things in the Internet of Things, www.connectcentre.ie. 
He has utilised microelectrodes to facilitate new knowledge for lithium battery electrochemistry, chemical reducing agent reaction mechanism analysis and most recently for enhanced sensors when integrated with local environment control. The optimised design, materials choice and implementation of electrochemical protocols with micro or nano sensors can lead to optimised control of the local environment around the sensing electrode and increase their sensitivity and selectivity. A key output has been the demonstration of localised pH control without the need to add additional chemicals resulting in a more sustainable sensing process. The work is supported by the Research Ireland Centres Connect, Vistamilk and by companies, including Analog Devices, Zoetis, Aerogen and Danaher Corp. Publications based on that research include those in ACS Sensors, Sensors & Actuators B Chemical, Electrochim. Acta.
He also utilises electrochemical simulations to show how high conductivity electrolytes are required for integration with high energy density battery electrode materials. This has resulted in ionic liquid-based polymer gel electrolytes that are compatible with the most energy dense anode, lithium metal. The work has been published in Batteries & Supercaps, J Energy Storage, ChemElectroChem and ChemistryOpen. 
He has contributed to a number of EU programmes and road-mapping for international agencies including the International roadmap for devices and systems (https://irds.ieee.org/editions/2021) currently being revised for the 2023/4 update and the Nanoelectronics roadmap for Europe (www.Nereid-h2020.eu) and a white paper for the Power Sources Manufacturing Association which includes energy storage and a primary focus on sustainable energy for IoT applications, https://www.psma.com/basiccontentitems/psma-white-paper-energy-harvesting-green-internet-things. A chapter in the open access book ICT-Energy - Nanoscale energy management concepts towards Zero-Power Information and Communication Technology is also available for download from the publisher’s website or CORA at UCC.

Electrochemical materials are widely used in advanced technology such as electronics, energy and sensor applications. We are investigating novel routes for micro to nanoscale metal, alloy and laminate materials that can complement typical thin film deposition techniques like physical vapour or atomic layer deposition. For ICT applications we are investigating seed and barrier layers, electrical interconnect and magnetic materials processing on planar and 3D substrates. Novel processing includes the activation of insulators and electroless materials deposition for lamination of magnetic alloys on silicon substrates in power supply on-chip (PwrSoC) applications.   Portable electronic devices rely on electrochemical energy sources. Next generation devices and those in the ‘Internet of things’ will require more advanced energy storage and hybrid energy harvesting solutions. We are developing new materials, combinations and routes to fabrication for enhanced energy storage microbatteries on-chip. The research focus is on materials and architecture simulations, advanced materials deposition and electrolyte optimisation for integration in the advanced fabrication solutions.  Micro and nanoscale electrochemical sensors are also under development at Tyndall. Single or electrode arrays have been designed and fabricated that can be post-processed for optimised sensing applications. A key initial step is device simulation prior to fabrication to determine the optimum design. Recent developments have seen the use of nanoporous materials in microelectrode arrays for liquid and gas analyte sensing and, in collaboration with the Nanotechnology Group, nanointerdigitated arrays for generator collector-mode electrochemical sensors with enhanced sensitivity.