Oxide interface electronics and mesoscopic energy materials

About

The research group "Oxide interface electronics and mesoscopic energy materials" focuses on defect formation processes and defect characterization in nanoscaled oxides such as thin films, heterostructures, and superlattices. It is our major goal to understand and exploit ionic materials and respectie defect structures for the nanoscale control of electronic, magnetic, electrocatalytic, and mass transport properties.

The group is also linked to the University of Twente.

Research Topics

Defect chemistry in advanced hybrid materials, such as free-standing oxide membranes and graphene-integrated oxides
Ion-triggered phase transitions and coupling of structural, electronic and magnetic phase transitions
Defect-driven mesoscopic phenomena in energy materials, such as metal exsolution and water splitting catalysts
Structure-property relationships in perovskite-based water splitting catalysts
In-situ and operando spectroscopy methodologies

Contact

Dr. Felix Gunkel

PGI-7

Building 04.6 / Room 51

+49 2461/61-5339

E-Mail

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Ongoing research activities

Ionotronics & ion-triggered mesoscopic phenomena

We study ionic-electronic phenomena in oxide thin films, heterostructures, & device to engineer defect-mediated functionalities.

Finite-size phenomena in freestanding oxides (w/ AG Dittmann)

We synthezise atomically-defined, nanometer thick oxide membranes that can help to integrate atomically engineered oxides with silicon (or other) material templates.

Defect analysis and space charge formation at oxide surface and interfaces

We map classical defect chemistry models to the nanoscale, exploring the impact of spacial confinement on local defect concentrations and resulting electronic properties.

Ion transfer across tailored heterointerfaces in oxide electronics

We study the mesoscopic transport and ionic reconfiguration at interfaces of complex oxide heterostructure interfaces

Atomistic understanding and control of water splitting cataysts

We fabricate atomically tailored oxide surfaces to study catalytic reactions, particularly the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), at solid/liquid interfaces, reflecting the major bottleneck for efficient hydrogen production from electrochemical water splitting

Exsolution and mesoscopic phenomena in energy conversion materials (in collaboration with IDM-2)

We use epitaxial model systems to study the mass transport phenomena during exsolution of metallic nanoparticles. These can serve as catalytic centers in many energy conversion technologies and follow complex interactions with their oxide host compound.

Recent Publications

“Space charge governs the kinetics of metal exsolution”, Moritz L. Weber, B. Šmíd, U. Breuer, M.-A. Rose, N. H. Menzler, R. Dittmann, R. Waser, O. Guillon, Felix Gunkel*, Christian Lenser* (shared corresponding authorship), Nature Mater. 2024
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01743-6, "

"Evolution of structural, magnetic and electrical properties of oxygen-deficient La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO_3-δ thin films under deoxygenation". S. He, O. Petracic, V. Lauter, L. Cao, Y. Zhou, M. L. Weber, J. Schubert, O. Concepción, R. Dittmann, R. Waser, T. Brückel, Felix Gunkel*, Advanced Functional Materials 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202313208

"Thermal stability and coalescence dynamics of exsolved metal nanoparticles at charged perovskite surfaces", M. L. Weber, D. Jennings, S. Fearn, A. Cavallaro, M. Prochazka, A. Gutsche, L. Heymann, J. Guo, L. Yasin, S. J. Cooper, J. Mayer, W. Rheinheimer, R. Dittmann, R. Waser, O. Guillon, C. Lenser, S. J. Skinner, A. Aguadero, S. Nemšák, F. Gunkel*, Nature Commun. 15 (1), 9724 2024 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54008-4

"Control of Growth Kinetics during Remote Epitaxy of Complex Oxides on Graphene by Pulsed Laser Deposition" M. Wohlgemuth, A. Sarantopolous, U. Trstenjak, F. Gunkel, R. Dittmann, APL Materials 2024 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0180001

"Heterogeneous integration of graphene and HfO2 memristors" U. Trstenjak, K. Goß, A. Gutsche, J. Jo, M. Wohlgemuth, R. E Dunin‐Borkowski, F. Gunkel, R. Dittmann, Adv. Functional Materials 2024 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202309558

"Crystal-facet-dependent surface transformation dictates the oxygen evolution reaction activity in lanthanum nickelate" A. Füngerlings, M. Wohlgemuth, D. Antipin, E. van der Minne, E. Kiens, J. Villalobos, M. Risch, Felix Gunkel, R. Pentcheva, C. Baeumer, Nature Communications 14, 8284 2023 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43901-z

“Atomistic Insights into Activation and Degradation of La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO_3−δ Electrocatalysts under Oxygen Evolution Conditions”, M. L. Weber, G. Lole, A. Kormanyos, A. Schwiers, L. Heymann, F. D. Speck, T. Meyer, R. Dittmann, S. Cherevko, C. Jooss, C. Baeumer, and F. Gunkel*, Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) 144 (39), 17966-17979 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c07226

"Separating the Effects of Band Bending and Covalency in Hybrid Perovskite Oxide Electrocatalyst Bilayers for Water Electrolysis" Lisa Heymann, M. L Weber, M. Wohlgemuth, M. Risch, R. Dittmann, C. Baeumer, Felix Gunkel*, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 14, 14129 2022 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c20337

“Identifying ionic and electronic charge transfer at oxide heterointerfaces” M. Rose, B. Šmíd, M. Vorokhta, I. Slipukhina, M. Andrä, H. Bluhm, T. Duchoň, M. Ležaić, S.A. Chambers, R. Dittmann, D. Mueller* and F. Gunkel*, Advanced Materials 2004132 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202004132

“Oxygen vacancies: The (in)visible friend of oxide electronics” *F. Gunkel, D.V. Christensen, Y. Chen, N. Pryds, Applied Physics Letters, 116, 120505 2020 doi.org/10.1063/1.5143309

Last Modified: 17.05.2026

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Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI)

Oxide interface electronics and mesoscopic energy materials

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Finishing PhD student(s)

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH