Hydrogen in aluminium can cause embrittlement and critical failure. However, the behaviour of hydrogen in aluminium was not yet understood. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung were able to locate hydrogen inside aluminium’s microstructure and designed strategies to trap the hydrogen atoms inside the microstructure. This can…
ZnO is a wide band gap semiconductor which is of interest to such diverse areas of application as passivation layers on steel surfaces, catalysis, corrosion, adhesion, gas sensing, and micro- or optoelectronics. Understanding the surface structure and stoichiometry is of high practical interest and essential for any of the mentioned applications…
We apply our novel potentiostat approach to study the chemical reactions that take place during initial corrosion at the water-Mg interface under anodic polarization. Based on the gained insight, we derive an atomistic model that explains the origin of the anodic hydrogen evolution.
Statistical significance in materials science is a challenge that has been trying to overcome by miniaturization. However, this process is still limited to 4-5 tests per parameter variance, i.e. Size, orientation, grain size, composition, etc. as the process of fabricating pillars and testing has to be done one by one. With this project, we aim to…
Solid-liquid interfaces are at the heart of many problems of practical importance, such as water electrolysis and batteries, photo catalytic water splitting, electro-catalysis, or corrosion. Understanding the structures forming at surfaces of solids immersed in an aqueous electrolyte is, therefore, of particularly high interest. In this project, we…
Grain boundaries (GBs) are regions connecting adjacent crystals with different crystallographic orientations. GBs are a type of lattice imperfection, with their own structure and composition, and as such impact a material’s mechanical and functional properties. Structural motifs and phases formed at chemically decorated GBs can be of a transient…
Understanding hydrogen-microstructure interactions in metallic alloys and composites is a key issue in the development of low-carbon-emission energy by e.g. fuel cells, or the prevention of detrimental phenomena such as hydrogen embrittlement. We develop and test infrastructure, through in-situ nanoindentation and related techniques, to study…
