March 2020

The commercialization of pure metals as anode material is often called the "Holy Grail" in battery research. This statement is based on the fact that the energy density of batteries can be increased significantly by the use of pure metals. However, several challenges still need to be overcome before metal anodes can be commercialized. One of the main challenges is to prevent the growth of so-called dendrites during battery charging. Within the scope of several study projects, the WG Schröder works on the analysis and prevention of dendrites. In her bachelor thesis, Ronja Haas reduced the growth of dendrites by the use of different sodium metal alloys. For this purpose, she used liquid sodium-potassium alloys as an anode and sodium-tin alloys as protective layer. Julian Kreissl's master thesis also dealt with the prevention of dendrites in sodium-oxygen batteries. In cooperation with the group of Prof. Dr. Peter R. Schreiner, he used functionalized diamondoids as an additive in the electrolyte. These "molecular diamonds" are incorporated into the anode during charging and ensure planar metal deposition (Figure a; 10.1002/cssc.201903499). Both theses were awarded first place in the categories "Best Bachelor Thesis" and "Best Master Thesis" as part of the Students Program for Electric Mobility of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft – DRIVE-E (Figure b; https://www.uni-giessen.de/ueber-uns/pressestelle/pm/pm188-19driveepreisfuerwissenschaftlichennachwuchs; https://www.iisb.fraunhofer.de/en/press_media/press_releases/pressearchiv/archiv_2019/drive-e_2019_studienpreise.html).