The Interdisciplinary Activities Department includes not only purely scientific groups, but also structurally important groups such as the Institute Administration and the Design and Manufacturing Workshop.
The department investigates innovative high-performance coating techniques with a focus on thermal spraying for High-Temperature Technologies. Research and development of improved materials for these applications is closely linked. Typical applications are thermal and environmental barrier coating systems for stationary and aircraft gas turbines.
The department develops ceramic membranes for gas separation- an area which has considerably expanded for the past few years due to the fact that membrane separation technology offers high energy efficiency through process intensification and cost reduction.
Our effort concentrate on materials and manufacturing processes for solid oxide fuel and electrolysis cells. Mainly powder technology processes are used. Our expertise lies in the parallel development of suitable materials and microstructures tailored to optimize their long-term performance.
The department focuses mainly on the development of lithium- and sodium solid state batteries as novel, improved types of batteries for stationary and mobile applications. Our research covers the full chain of the battery development, starting from the fundamentals of materials chemistry towards the battery components and complete cells.
