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Material and Energy

The research focus area Material and Energy at JLU investigates the sustainable generation, storage and use of materials within the energy nexus – through interdisciplinary approaches in chemistry, physics and sustainability.

Photo of a researcher (Dr. Anja Henß) operating a large piece of equipment at the Center for Materials Science

Head to the Cluster of Excellence POLiS

Coordinators

 

Professor Jürgen Janek, Professor Peter J. Klar, Professor Peter Schreiner

Abstract of Focus Area

The focus area aims at the long-term and in-depth study of the nexus between “Material and Energy.” Sustainable production, conversion, storage, and also saving of energy are central challenges of our society today. These require materials with specific properties for the corresponding technologies, which in turn should be produced as resource-efficiently and sustainably as possible. The material syntheses and processes necessary for this are often associated with high energy consumption – thus establishing the “Material and Energy” nexus.
Primarily, the researchers in this successful focus area come from the materials- and energy-related fields of chemistry and physics; the involvement of researchers from adjacent disciplines in the natural sciences and sustainability research is sensible and desirable in view of successful collaborative projects.
At JLU, the research in electrochemical energy conversion and storage, molecular hydrogen storage, electro- and thermochromism for smart windows, semiconductor physics, catalysis, and new synthesis methods currently shapes this focus area. In addition, new scientific bridges extend into aerospace, food chemistry, biosciences, and medicine.
The focus area supports a number of research consortia, including the Excellence Cluster POLiS, the BMBF competence cluster FestBatt, the LOEWE focus PriOSS, and the DFG research group MOST. It is an ongoing starting point for new coordinated research initiatives and is strongly supported by the Center for Materials Research.

Involved Disciplines

Inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, experimental and theoretical solid-state physics, surface physics, materials science.

External Cooperation Partners

In Germany:

International:

  • University of Padova, Italien: Prof. Dr. Groß
  • Tohoku University, Japan: Prof. Dr. Amezawa, Prof. Dr. Ohno
  • Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan: Prof. Dr. Kanno, Prof. Dr. Arai
  • University of California Santa Barbara, USA: Prof. Dr. Sakamoto
  • College de France, Frankreich: Prof. Dr. Tarascon
  • University of Oxford, UK: Prof. Dr. Bruce, Prof. Dr. Pasta

Structures and Programs for Supporting Early Career Researchers
  • B.Sc. (German) / M.Sc. (English) “Advanced Materials”
  • Double degree programs with the universities of Osaka, Kansai, and Padua
  • Fast Track program “PreProChem”
    Graduate Center for Natural Sciences and Psychology (GGN) (since 2022)
  • Establishment of the Ludwig-Schunk graduate program
  • Participation in the Cooperative Doctoral Platform and the Doctoral Center for Engineering Sciences (PZI) of the FCMH; enabling doctoral studies in engineering sciences
  • Junior research groups at the Center for Materials Research
  • Liebig College – program for highly qualified international early-career researchers and visiting lecturers in the field of chemistry

Most significant scientific achievements since 2018

Strucutral elements:

  • 2025–2032: Funding approval for the Excellence Cluster EXC 2154 POLiS – Post Lithium Energy Storage

  • Research building “GC-ElMaR – Giessen Center for Electrochemical Materials Research” (planned completion 12/2026)

  • Center for Materials Research (ZfM)

External funds / awards

  • 2ERDF Innovation Lab “Process Diagnostics”
  • Research group FOR 2824 “Amorphous Molecular Materials with Extremely Nonlinear Optical Properties”
  • Research group FOR 5499 “Molecular Management of Solar Energy – Chemistry of MOST Systems”
  • 2014–2025: Seven junior research group funding awards under the ERC program (EU), Emmy Noether program (DFG), NanoMatFutur and BattFutur programs (BMBF)
  • 2022: Honorary doctorate from TU Delft, Greve Prize of the Leopoldina; 2023: IBA Research Award; 2020–2024: “Highly Cited Researcher” (Clarivate Analytics); 2025: Heinrich Hertz Prize, Prof. Jürgen Janek
  • 2022: ERC Advanced Grant; 2024: Leibniz Prize, Prof. Peter R. Schreiner

Publications

  • Yan, H.; Hohman, N.J.; Hua Li, F.; Jia, C.; Solis-Ibarra, D.; Dahl, J.E.P.; Carlson, R. M. K.; Tkachenko, B. A.; Fokin, A. A.; Schreiner, P.R.; Liang, Y.; Kim, T. R.; Devereaux, T.; Shen, Z.-X.; Melosh, N. A. [2017]: Hybrid metal–organic chalcogenide nanowires with electrically conductive inorganic core through diamondoid-directed assembly, Nature Mat., 16, 349–357.
  • Janek, J.; Zeier, W. [2016]: A solid future for battery development, Nat. Energy 1, 16141.
  • Busche, M. R.; Drossel, T.; Leichtweiss, T.; Falk, M.; Schneider, M.; Reich, M. L.; Sommer, H.; Adelhelm, P.; Janek, J. [2016]: Ion transfer across a solid-liquid electrolyte phase boundary. Resistance contributions and dynamic interphase formation, Nat. Chem. 8, 426-434.
  • Hartmann, P.; Bender, C.; Vračar, M.; Dürr, A. K.; Garsuch, A.; Janek, J.; Adelhelm, P. [2013]: A Rechargeable Room-Temperature Sodium Superoxide Battery, Nat. Mater. 12, 228-232.
  • Artur Mardyukov, Felix Keul, and Peter R. Schreiner, [2020]: Preparation and Characterization of the Enol of Acetamide: 1-Aminoethenol, a High-Energy Prebiotic Molecule. Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 12358–12363.
  • Randau, S.; Weber, D.A.; Kötz, O.; Koerver, R.; Braun, P.; Weber, A.; Ivers-Tiffée, E.; Adermann, T.; Kulisch, J.; Zeier, W.G.; Richter, F. H.; Janek, J. [2020]: Benchmarking the performance of all-solid-state lithium batteries. Nature Energy, 5, 259. 
  • Q. Zhong, A. Ihle, S. Ahlers, H.A. Wegner, A. Schirmeisen, D. Ebeling [2021]: Constructing covalent organic nanoarchitectures molecule by molecule via scanning probe manipulation. Nature Chemistry, 13, 1133–1139.

 

Image source: Cover image: Jan Hosan