Malyar, N.; Dehm, G.; Kirchlechner, C.: Dislocation motion in bi-crystals with a specific grain boundary orientation studied by in situ SEM and in situ µLaue diffraction. Seminar: Thin Film & Small Scale Mechanical Behavior Gordon Research , Waltham, MA, USA (2014)
Low dimensional electronic systems, featuring charge density waves and collective excitations, are highly interesting from a fundamental point of view. These systems support novel types of interfaces, such as phase boundaries between metals and charge density waves.
Oxides find broad applications as catalysts or in electronic components, however are generally brittle materials where dislocations are difficult to activate in the covalent rigid lattice. Here, the link between plasticity and fracture is critical for wide-scale application of functional oxide materials.
In this project we conduct together with Dr. Sandlöbes at RWTH Aachen and the department of Prof. Neugebauer ab initio calculations for designing new Mg – Li alloys. Ab initio calculations can accurately predict basic structural, mechanical, and functional properties using only the atomic composition as a basis.
The wide tunability of the fundamental electronic bandgap by size control is a key attribute of semiconductor nanocrystals, enabling applications spanning from biomedical imaging to optoelectronic devices. At finite temperature, exciton-phonon interactions are shown to exhibit a strong impact on this fundamental property.
Enabling a ‘hydrogen economy’ requires developing fuel cells satisfying economic constraints, reasonable operating costs and long-term stability. The fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy into electricity by recombining water from H2 and O2, allowing to generate environmentally-friendly power for e.g. cars or houses…
In this project we study - together with the department of Prof. Neugebauer and Dr. Sandlöbes at RWTH Aachen - the underlying mechanisms that are responsible for the improved room-temperature ductility in Mg–Y alloys compared to pure Mg.
Efficient harvesting of sunlight and (photo-)electrochemical conversion into solar fuels is an emerging energy technology with enormous promise. Such emerging technologies depend critically on materials systems, in which the integration of dissimilar components and the internal interfaces that arise between them determine the functionality.