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…
Hydrogen embrittlement of austenitic steels is of high interest because of the potential use of these materials in hydrogen-energy related infrastructures. In order to elucidate the associated hydrogen embrittlement mechanisms, the mapping of heterogeneities in strain, damage (crack/void), and hydrogen and their relation to the underlying microstructures is a key assignment in this field.
Understanding hydrogen-assisted embrittlement of advanced high-strength steels is decisive for their application in automotive industry. Ab initio simulations have been employed in studying the hydrogen trapping of Cr/Mn containing iron carbides and the implication for hydrogen embrittlement.
Within this project, we will investigate the micromechanical properties of STO materials with low and higher content of dislocations at a wide range of strain rates (0.001/s-1000/s). Oxide ceramics have increasing importance as superconductors and their dislocation-based electrical functionalities that will affect these electrical properties. Hence…
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…
