黑料传送门

Our Battery Group focuses on the fundamental understanding and rational design of electrolytes and interfaces for next-generation rechargeable batteries, with particular emphasis on post-lithium-ion systems such as magnesium- and sodium-ion batteries.

The group鈥檚 core scientific interest lies in designing electrolytes for next-generation batteries, deciphering and controlling ion transport, interfacial stability, and electrochemical reversibility in advanced electrolyte systems. We investigate how ion coordination, electrolyte microstructure, lattice dynamics, and electrode-electrolyte interactions jointly determine battery performance, safety, and lifetime.

Rather than focusing on incremental optimization, our work aims to establish fundamental structure-property-performance relationships that can guide the design of future battery materials.

Besides solid and quasi-solid electrolytes, we also develop novel electrolytes based on ionic liquids (IL) and 鈥渄eep eutectic solvents鈥� (DES). In addition to thermal characterization applying differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we combine them with suitable polymers to assess their electrochemical performance or applications in biocompatible all-organic batteries. 

Current Research Specialization

Our current research activities include:

1.   Solid, semi-solid, and hybrid electrolytes for Mg- and Na-ion batteries, 
      including:
-    Metal-organic framework (MOF)鈥揵ased electrolytes 
-    Polymer-ionic-liquid hybrid systems
-    Antiperovskite and inorganic solid electrolytes

2.   Multivalent ion transport mechanisms, with a focus on:
-    Ion coordination and solvation effects
-    Lattice softness and ion-matrix coupling
-    Anion and additive effects on electrochemical stability

3.   Biocompatible all-organic battery, with a focus on:
-    Designing novel electrolytes based on ionic liquids (IL) and 鈥渄eep eutectic 
      solvents鈥� (DES).
-    Developing a biocompatible all-organic battery with high energy density.

4.   Operando and advanced characterization, such as:
-     Operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
-     In situ and operando optical and structural characterization
-    Synchrotron-based techniques for interfacial and bulk analysis

5.   Electrode-electrolyte interfaces and dendrite formation, including:
-    Self-healing and dendrite-suppression mechanisms
-    Interphase formation and degradation pathways

The macroscopic behavior of batteries and energy storage devices is often tightly correlated to the structure and fundamental processes occurring on the atomistic scale. Thus, with the ambition to finally improve and support the development of new battery-materials our strategy is to unravel and resolve the significant phenomena at an atomistic level and to transfer obtained insights to higher time and length scales using our multi-scale approach.

Starting from the investigation of the most basic bulk and surface properties by means of quantum mechanical methods, we then develop reactive forcefields (in particular the ReaxFF framework) that are capable to describe atomistic processes in Li-ion and also post-Li based battery systems. With ReaxFF as centerpiece we then use Monte-Carlo or even continuum methods for the simulation of battery materials on extended time and length scales.

By applying this combined multi-scale approach of ab-initio, reactive forcefield, (kinetic) Monte-Carlo and continuum methods to state-of-the-art battery-systems but also future technologies, we thus integrate the basic understanding of mechanisms with the urgency to drastically boost the performance of rechargeable energy storage systems. 

Current areas of interest are:
  - Plating and dendrite growth of Li, Na and multivalent materials,
  - Water induced degradation mechanisms in all-solid-state batteries,
  - Simulation on the coarse-grained interfaces of NMC-cathodes,
  - Electrochemical interfaces between ionic liquids and electrodes.