New Insights Into Zinc-Ion Conduction: DFG Project “SPINELLE”

Fundamental research on transport processes in spinel oxides for future energy storage

01 July 2026 – The new DFG-funded research project “SPINELLE” has started at Helmholtz Institute Münster (HI MS) at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The aim of the project is to systematically investigate and better understand the fundamental mechanisms of ionic and electronic transport in zinc-conducting oxides with spinel structure.

The project (funding reference 573589769) is being carried out in close collaboration with Prof. Dr Roger De Souza from RWTH Aachen University and is scheduled to run from 01 July 2026 to 30 June 2029.

Tailoring Materials Through Deeper Understanding

Spinel oxides with the general formula AB₂O₄, where A and B are typically divalent and trivalent metals and O represents oxygen, offer a wide range of possibilities to tailor their properties. Within the “SPINELLE” project, researchers are investigating how ionic and electronic conductivity can be influenced by varying the chemical composition – specifically by modifying the cations on the A and B sites as well as by partially substituting oxygen with fluoride.

The goal is to gain such a detailed understanding of the underlying transport mechanisms that materials can be tailored for specific applications in the future – for example, for high-performance batteries or for applications in photocatalysis.

Research Gap in Zinc-Ion Transport

While individual materials such as zinc manganese oxide have already been studied, a comprehensive understanding of zinc-ion conduction at the material level is still lacking. Previous studies have often focused on complete battery cells, where many influencing factors interact simultaneously.

This project addresses exactly this challenge: by investigating the materials themselves through a combination of theoretical and experimental approaches, the fundamental transport processes can be studied in isolation and clarified. This is an important prerequisite for improving the performance of future battery systems in a targeted way.

Combining Experiment and Simulation

The collaboration within the project brings together complementary expertise: while materials are synthesised, structurally analysed and electrochemically characterised at Helmholtz Institute Münster, the research group of Prof. De Souza contributes extensive expertise in the simulation and experimental investigation of ion transport processes.

This close integration enables theoretical predictions to be directly validated experimentally, allowing for a particularly in-depth understanding of the transport mechanisms.

Contribution of Helmholtz Institute Münster

The team at Helmholtz Institute Münster is responsible for several key tasks within the “SPINELLE” project, including:

• synthesis of new spinel materials
• structural analysis
• determination of ionic and electronic conductivities
• electrochemical characterisation of selected materials at the cell level

With this project, the institute makes an important contribution to fundamental research on new battery materials and at the same time strengthens the development of future energy storage technologies.