Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Electrochemical Energy Systems
Junior Research Group
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Research

We are dedicated

to integrating latest material developments into state-of-the-art fuel cells, electrolyzers and batteries.

We focus

on devices with polymer electrolyte membranes, mostly proton or anion exchange membranes.

We develop

membranes, electrodes and membrane-electrode-assemblies for various electrochemical devices.

We analyze

materials from milimeter to nanometer range using cutting-edge equipment to uncover bottlenecks.

We cooperate

with leading material experts developing new catalysts or polymers to integrate their materials.

Contract Research

We offer individual services and contract research: from characterization, materials to consulting and seminars.

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We work on PFAS-free fuel cells and electrolyzers since 2018 ...

… substituting hazardous PFAS in PEM fuel cells, PEM electrolysis and AEM electrolysis with the goal to maintain performance and durability.

PFAS: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
PEM: Proton exchange membrane
AEM: anion exchange membrane

Recent achievements

Neutron imaging of salt precipitation in CO2 electrolysis (Nat. Commun.)

Using high-resolution Neutron imaging we show in-operando how salt precipitates form in the cathode of a CO2 electrolyzez, which is a major hurdle for long-term operation in alkaline zero-gap electrolyzers.

Peak power densities of fully hydrocarbon MEAs over the last decades under the same conditions: 80 °C, H2/O2, high humidity (>75% RH) and ambient pressure.

PFAS-free fuel cells with state-of-the-art performance

Non-fluorinated hydrocarbon ionomers feature distinct technical, cost, and environmental advantages over perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based ionomers. In this study, we present wholly hydrocarbon fuel cells exceeding previous literature landmarks by a factor of nearly two, with peak power densities of 2.1 W cm−2 under H2/O2  and 1.1 W cm−2 under H2/air.

80% reduction of Iridium catalyst for electrolysis

Iridium is a particularly rare metal that is indispensable for efficient water electrolysis. Reducing its loading is thus key for affordable  green hydrogen. By introducing iridium oxide nanofibers, we were able to reduce the catalyst loading by 80% without compromising efficiency or stability! The technology received the F-Cell Award in 2019.

Fluorine-free electrolysis and fuel cells

Commercially available fuel and electrolysis cells today contain fluorine-based polymers, so-called perfluorinated sulfonic acids. With alternative materials based on polysulfones and polyphenylenes, we were able to take a major step towards fluorine-free cells with comparable performance.

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Awards

2023
2022
2020
2019 and before

Publications

Water electrolysis (PEM)

  1. Hegge, Friedemann; Lombeck, Florian; Cruz Ortiz, Edgar; Bohn, Luca; Holst, Miriam von; Kroschel, Matthias et al. (2020): Efficient and Stable Low Iridium Loaded Anodes for PEM Water Electrolysis Made Possible by Nanofiber Interlayers. In: ACS Applied Energy Materials 3 (9), S. 8276–8284.
  2. Ortiz, Edgar Cruz; Hegge, Friedemann; Breitwieser, Matthias; Vierrath, Severin (2020): Improving the performance of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers with low Ir-loaded anodes by adding PEDOT. PSS as electrically conductive binder. In: RSC advances 10 (62), S. 37923–37927.
  3. Klose, Carolin; Saatkamp, Torben; Münchinger, Andreas; Bohn, Luca; Titvinidze, Giorgi; Breitwieser, Matthias et al. (2020): All‐Hydrocarbon MEA for PEM Water Electrolysis Combining Low Hydrogen Crossover and High Efficiency. In: Advanced Energy Materials 10 (14), S. 1903995.

Water electrolysis (AEM)

  1. Koch, Susanne; Metzler, Lukas; Kilian, Sophia K.; Heizmann, Philipp A.; Lombeck, Florian; Breitwieser, Matthias; Vierrath, Severin (2023): Toward Scalable Production. Catalyst‐Coated Membranes (CCMs) for Anion‐Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis via Direct Bar Coating. In: Advanced Sustainable Systems 7 (2), S. 2200332.
  2. Koch, Susanne; Disch, Joey; Kilian, Sophia K.; Han, Yiyong; Metzler, Lukas; Tengattini, Alessandro et al. (2022): Water management in anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzers under dry cathode operation. In: RSC advances 12 (32), S. 20778–20784.
  3. Koch, Susanne; Heizmann, Philipp A.; Kilian, Sophia K.; Britton, Benjamin; Holdcroft, Steven; Breitwieser, Matthias; Vierrath, Severin (2021): The effect of ionomer content in catalyst layers in anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzers prepared with reinforced membranes (Aemion+™). In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A 9 (28), S. 15744–15754.

CO2 electrolysis

  1. Disch, Joey; Bohn, Luca; Koch, Susanne; Schulz, Michael; Han, Yiyong; Tengattini, Alessandro et al. (2022): High-resolution neutron imaging of salt precipitation and water transport in zero-gap CO2 electrolysis. In: Nature Communications 13 (1), S. 6099.
  2. Disch, Joey; Bohn, Luca; Metzler, Lukas; Vierrath, Severin (2023): Strategies for the mitigation of salt precipitation in zero-gap CO 2 electrolyzers producing CO. In: Journal of Materials Chemistry A 11 , S. 7344-7357.
  3. Seteiz, Khaled; Häberlein, Josephine N.; Heizmann, Philipp A.; Disch, Joey; Vierrath, Severin (2023): Carbon black supported Ag nanoparticles in zero-gap CO 2 electrolysis to CO enabling high mass activity. In: RSC advances 13 (27), S. 18916–18926.

Fuel cells

  1. Nguyen, Hien; Klose, Carolin; Metzler, Lukas; Vierrath, Severin; Breitwieser, Matthias (2022): Fully hydrocarbon membrane electrode assemblies for proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers. An engineering perspective. In: Advanced Energy Materials 12 (12), S. 2103559.
  2. Hien Nguyen, Florian Lombeck, Claudia Schwarz, Philipp A. Heizmann, Michael Adamski, Hsu-Feng Lee, Benjamin Britton , Steven Holdcroft, Severin Vierrath and Matthias Breitwieser (2021): Hydrocarbon-based Pemion™ proton exchange membrane fuel cells with state-of-the-art performance. In: Sustainable Energy & Fuels 5.14 (2021): 3687-3699.
  3. Böhm, Thomas; Moroni, Riko; Breitwieser, Matthias; Thiele, Simon; Vierrath, Severin (2019): Spatially resolved quantification of ionomer degradation in fuel cells by confocal Raman microscopy. In: Journal of The Electrochemical Society 166 (7), F3044.

Batteries

  1. Shanahan, Brian; Britton, Benjamin; Belletti, Andrew; Vierrath, Severin; Breitwieser, Matthias (2021): Performance and stability comparison of Aemion™ and Aemion+™ membranes for vanadium redox flow batteries. In: RSC advances 11 (22), S. 37923-37927.
  2. Shanahan, Brian; Böhm, Thomas; Britton, Benjamin; Holdcroft, Steven; Zengerle, Roland; Vierrath, Severin et al. (2019): 30 μm thin hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly (benzimidazolium) anion exchange membrane for vanadium redox flow batteries. In: Electrochemistry Communications 102, S. 37–40.
  3. Vierrath, Severin; Zielke, Lukas; Moroni, Riko; Mondon, Andrew; Wheeler, Dean R.; Zengerle, Roland; Thiele, Simon (2015): Morphology of nanoporous carbon-binder domains in Li-ion batteries—A FIB-SEM study. In: Electrochemistry Communications 60, S. 176–179.
See full list on Google Scholar
Our research is funded by

Junior Research Group „Electrochemical Energy Systems“
IMTEK – Department of Microsystems Engineering
University of Freiburg
Georges-Koehler-Allee 103
79110 Freiburg, Germany

© 2021 Junior Research Group „Electrochemical Energy Systems“

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