Goal of the research is first the understanding of the basic scientific principles that govern the material chemistry-microstructure-performance relation and second use this knowledge to develop materials and processes with desired properties and performance regarding:
- Synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation of polycrystalline ceramic materials for applications microelectronics and telecommunications.
- Synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation of catalytic materials for redox chemical processes of energetic or environmental interest
- Synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation of inorganic materials for bio-applications
- Synthesis of next generation Li-ion active materials, in-situ and ex-situ characterization of electrodes for battery applications. Single and mixed oxide particles are synthesized with controlled composition ratios, particle size and morphologies for optimized electrochemical activity. Fresh, operando (during cycling) and post mortem (after cycling) physicochemical characterization techniques are applied for understanding the Solid Electrolyte Interface (SEI) chemical reactions taking place during battery operation from molecular to micro-level.
Competences
- Infrastructure for material synthesis with wet-chemical or powder metallurgy methods including firing furnaces with entirely controllable temperature or oxygen partial pressure profiles.
- Equipment for the microscopical (SEM-EDS, HRTEM-EDS), structural (HT-XRD, RAMAN) morphological (pycnometers, N2 ads./des., Laser Scatt.-PSD), thermal (TGA-Mass Spec., TMA) or chemical (UV-Vis Analyser, ICP-AES) characterization of materials.
- Controllable microreactor-Mass Spec. unit for catalytic performance evaluation and controllable unit for complete electrical and magnetic property evaluation as a function of frequency or temperature.
- Synthesis lithium based mixed oxides and carbon materials for anode and cathode manufacturing
- Li-ion coin cell manufacturing (glove box, automatic and heated blade coater, 1 lt mixer, calendaring press) and electrochemical testing
- Ex-situ physicochemical characterization of active material and electrodes structure using Raman and FTIR spectroscopy, TEM and SEM microscopy, XRD, BET and microtomography
- In-situ Raman, FTIR and EPR characterization of anodes and cathodes by dedicated electrochemical cells, HT-XRD
