Energy materials

Max Planck team receives 1.5 million euros as part of the European project FULL-MAP more

The group aims at unraveling the inner workings of ion batteries, with a focus on probing the microstructural and interfacial character of electrodes and electrolytes that control ionic transport and insertion into the electrode. more

The full potential of energy materials can only be exploited if the interplay between mechanics and chemistry at the interfaces is well known. This leads to more sustainable and efficient energy solutions. more

Researcher team led by Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung published latest findings in the journal Advanced Energy Materials more

How iron can be used to store and transport energy more

In order to develop more efficient catalysts for energy conversion, the relationship between the surface composition of MXene-based electrode materials and its behavior has to be understood in operando. Our group will demonstrate how APT combined with scanning photoemission electron microscopy can advance the understanding of complex relationships between surface structure, surface oxidation state, surface composition and sub-surface regions, and performance of 2D materials.
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To advance the understanding of how degradation proceeds, we use the latest developments in cryo-atom probe tomography, supported by transmission-electron microscopy. The results showcase how advances in microscopy & microanalysis help bring novel insights into the ever-evolving microstructures of active materials to support the design of better materials.
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The worldwide developments of electric vehicles, as well as large-scale or grid-scale energy storage to compensate the intermittent nature of renewable energy generation has generated a surge of interest in battery technology. Understanding the factors controlling battery capacity and, critically, their degradation mechanisms to ensure long-term, sustainable and safe operation requires detailed knowledge of their microstructure and chemistry, and their evolution under operating conditions, on the nanoscale.
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New video explains how green hydrogen is produced more

Researcher team published recent findings in the journal Nature more

Water electrolysis has the potential to become the major technology for the production of the high amount of green hydrogen that is necessary for its widespread application in a decarbonized economy. The bottleneck of this electrochemical reaction is the anodic partial reaction, the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which is sluggish and hence requires efficient catalysts. We use electrochemical in situ spectroscopy techniques to study this reaction in detail. more

Thermoelectric materials can be used to generate electricity from a heat source through the Seebeck effect, whereby a temperature difference leads to a difference in voltage for power generation. The opposite effect, known as the Peltier effect, is exploited for heating and cooling for instance. The efficiency of the conversion can be increased by introducing defects that efficiently scatter phonons, i.e. the carriers of lattice vibrations and hence heat, but do not affect much the movement of electrons so as to maintain good electrical conductivity.
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