Innovative materials - the hidden champions of progress
Whether it’s better, more sustainable, and less expensive solar cells, batteries, fuel cells, membranes for CO2 separation, or the production and storage of green hydrogen, new materials are essential for progress. For example, they increase the efficiency with which renewable energy is converted into electricity or with which electricity is stored or used. They increase the capacity of energy storage systems. And they ensure that turbines – for example for wind and hydroelectric power plants, hydrogen production plants, and energy storage systems – work for longer.
To develop new materials, scientists require a deeper insight into the composition and structure of the materials as well as into the material changes during use. Jülich research is not limited to finding materials that optimally fulfil respective functions due to their properties – it is also focused on finding ways to produce and process the materials in the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. In doing so, it also takes into account the availability of raw materials.
Jülich scientists are researching materials for key energy technologies.
Batteries
Fuel cells and electrolysis cells:
Photovoltaics
Hydrogen technology
Various Jülich research teams work on different battery technologies – from lithium-ion batteries and solid-state batteries to metal–air batteries and redox flow batteries. The main components of batteries are the cathode, anode, and electrolyte, each of which places very specific demands on the material. This results in a huge field for Jülich materials researchers. There is a particularly high level of activity in the area of high-performance ceramics and other ion-conducting materials.
Jülich research focuses on ceramic materials for solid oxide cells, which can be used to convert hydrogen and electrical energy into each other. In addition, scientists are researching materials that could be used as electrochemical catalysts for fuel cells and electrolysis cells.
The materials that are being developed for photovoltaics in Jülich are of a very different nature. The spectrum ranges from silicon alloys to organic–inorganic perovskites and polymers. This is because Jülich research includes a new generation of silicon solar cells as well as alternative photovoltaic technologies.
Jülich scientists are investigating hydrogen carriers that can be handled as easily as diesel or other conventional fossil fuels. To produce such hydrogen carriers and later recover the hydrogen when needed, efficient catalyst materials are required – an intensively researched field at Jülich.
Jülich researchers are also developing ceramic materials for gas separation membranes. Such membranes could, for example, be used to separate hydrogen from natural gas after the two gases have been sent through pipelines together.
Our data-driven, networking approach will make catalysts more stable and powerful. The goal is to make both water electrolysis and fuel cell operation more efficient.
The methods
Jülich scientists use a wide range of methods to determine the composition and structure of energy materials. These range from standard methods such as X-ray diffractometry, IR spectroscopy, and optical emission spectrometry to the use of state-of-the-art equipment that is available to scientists thanks to highly specialized research infrastructures. For example, the high-performance electron microscopes of the Ernst Ruska-Centre make the arrangements of atoms and molecules visible. Neutron scattering instruments operated by the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science even make it possible to track the movements of atoms or ions.
Moreover, Jülich researchers characterize the properties of materials, measuring their hardness, temperature sensitivity, and conductivity, for example. Using in operando methods, they track how certain properties change during the operation of a battery or an electrolysis cell, for example. They have developed some of these methods themselves.
In addition to experiments and measurements, the Jülich energy materials researchers are increasingly relying on computer-aided modelling, simulation, and artificial intelligence (AI). They are therefore developing algorithms and digital tools for a range of purposes – from selecting promising substances and predicting their properties to forecasting the behaviour of materials during use in a battery, a solar cell, or other energy technology device. The aim is to use digital twins to save time and costs in the development of new materials.
