The “Long Night of Science” was a great success: on July 21st, up to 7,000 visitors found their way to the campus of the University South between 4pm and midnight. Many of them also visited the HIU.
From 4 to 9:30 pm the highly interested visitors of all age classes were able to gain an insight into the current battery research. The great interest was shown not only by the permanently well-filled lecture room, but especially by the multitude of questions following the respective lecture. The highly frequented guided tours through the building and selected laboratories allowed visitors to get an impression of the everyday life of the scientists.
Dr. Syed Atif Pervez has recently joined the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) as Guest Scientist from Pakistan. Within the framework of an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship, his research is located in the field of renewable energy storage.
During his PhD he worked at the Korea University of Science and Technology, South Korea on the following topic: Nanostructured Materials for Energy Storage Applications. Prior to joining HIU, Dr. Atif worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Calgary, Canada.
– Ulm, 04/09/2017 –
Why did you apply for Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Research Fellowship?
Winning AvH fellowship is undoubtedly the greatest achievement in my professional career, something I am really proud of. AvH fellowship offers an excellent platform to scientists and scholars from abroad and Germany to work on research projects of mutual interest. This is also an excellent opportunity to build professional relationships with over 28,000 Humboldtians alumni in more than 130 countries — including 54 Nobel laureates.
And why did you choose the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU)?
HIU is a research institute specifically working on Electrochemical Energy Storage, which is my area of work. So for me it was a natural decision to join the institute. In HIU, I expect to get opportunities for unparalleled training through extensive collaborations, access to world-class research facilities, and chances to work with commercial corporations.
What have you been researching so far and what are your research interests here at HIU?
Most of my research experience has been in the field secondary batteries. With growing energy demands for futuristic applications such as electric vehicles and smart grid energy storage, better and safer battery technologies must be developed.
My work in HIU is focused on developing all-solid-sate Li-ion batteries where the conventional organic liquid electrolyte is replaced with solid-state electrolyte. The practical application of conventional Li-ion battery is retarded by safety concerns due to irregular lithium deposition and growth of lithium dendrites, as well as the properties of volatility, flammability and easy leakage of the conventional organic liquid electrolytes. All-solid-state batteries that use solid-state electrolytes offer improved safety features such as avoiding flammability and liquid leaks.
What is the scope of your research work in your home country?
Due to enormous increase in energy demand, Pakistan in recent years has been severely affected by energy crisis and power shortages which has created a great deal of awareness on relying on renewable energy sources. Pakistan is enriched with various renewable energy sources such as hydel, solar, wind, bio gass etc. There is an estimated 100000 MW of hydro and wind energy potential. Similarly, the average solar radiation of 5.5 KW/m2 and 300 clear days makes the country with one of the highest insulations in the world. Furthermore, the solid wastes can generate up to 21.35 million M3 of bio-gas. All these figures indicate an enormous scope of work in the field of renewable energy.
Is the topic of your research relevant to the future development of your country?
For efficient energy harvesting, a stable and reliable storage system is of utmost importance. The work in my research outline aims at realizing a stable and highly efficient energy storage setup using innovative solid state batteries. Considering the current energy crisis in the country, the work forms close relevance to the future development of my country. Successful demonstration of an efficient and cost-effective storage setup will garner strong interest from government authorities, researchers and industries alike. This will draw attention from funding agencies and there will undoubtedly be great interest in grants supporting the further expansion of the research.
In the framework of the German „Excellence Strategy“ of the Federal Government and the States, a proposal about “Energy Storage Beyond Lithium“ has been successful in the first round.
The proposal is co-ordinated by researchers from Helmholtz-Institute Ulm (HIU) together with colleagues from Ulm University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and comprises future activities in 25 working groups in Ulm, Karlsruhe and Gießen. Starting point and nucleus of the effort are the very successful activities at HIU on post-Li systems, which have gained high international visibility and recognition. If the second round of selection is also successful, the work can start in January 2019.
Prof. Dr. Anjan Sil from the Institute of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee visited the HIU for a longer stay in October.
The stay was financially supported by the DFG and INSA and served the purpose of stimulating acooperation between the two research institutes. This was successful: two topics were identified on which the Institute will cooperate in the future.
At the HIU seminar, Professor Sil also gave three lectures on cathode materials for Li-ion batteries and super capacitor hybrids.
On the 19th of October, the First Healthcare Day took place at the HIU in cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). From 9 am to 5 pm the employees had the opportunity to inform themselves about TK’s range of services.
The nutritionist Daniela Kluthe-Neis advised interested employees about different fats and oils. She also answered questions on nutrition. These consulting offers were supplemented by the possibility of having a spinal screening carried out in order to identify potential postural and physical stress problems.
Sufficiently informed? With the ICAROS Flight Simulator, which was designed as a training device, you could test your own balance and deep muscles: The goal was to fly trough as many rings as possible in a simulated 3D mountain landscape. Last but not least, small table tennis tables offered space for a sporty workout.
According to Clarivate Analytics, the deputy director of HIU is still one of the world’s most influential researchers in 2017: his work belongs to the first one percent of the most cited papers in his field of research. This applies in particular to the frequency of citations within the year of publication.
Already last year, Thomson Reuters included Prof. Passerini into the list of ” World´s most influential scientific minds of 2015″.
http://www.hiu-batteries.de/battery-research-center-in-germany/news/spalte-1/news/hiu-deputy-director-named-among-world-s-most-influential-scientists/
Clarivate Analytics originally belonged to the media group Thomson Reuters, but was spun off in 2016. Since then it acts as an independent company, whose services are to be found in the area of analyses. Inter alia, the online database Web of Science is part of to the company.
A research team led by Dr. Alberto Varzi and Prof. Dr. Stefano Passerini strengthens, with his recently published research
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aenm.201870001/full), the importance of Zinc as an alternative anode material.
Zinc is becoming increasingly important for battery research. The reasons for this are its large natural abundance and, especially, its potentially larger volumetric energy density compared to graphite. So far though, no satisfactory cycling performance could be achieved with pure Zn anodes.
In this work, which is the result of a collaboration with an Italian team of scientists led by Dr. Sandro Cattarin (former Alexander von Humboldt research fellow, ICMATE-CNR, Padua), inexpensive and environmentally friendly electrodeposition in aqueous solution is used to synthesize Zn-rich porous Copper-Zinc alloys. These novel anodes enable more than 500 cycles, characterized by exceptional rate capability and increased capacity retention. In addition, they have unusually high lithium storage ability at low temperatures. These results are of great interest for more efficient, safer, as well as faster charging of Li-battery operated vehicles in cold regions.
Last Friday, February 2, Montaha Anjass was officially awarded the Mileva Einstein Marić Prize 2017 by the University of Ulm as part of dies academicus 2018.
It addresses the reconciliation of family and academic career: the University of Ulm honors women who stand out through their scientific work, help to shape the university as a scientific institution and manage their careers with their family responsibilities arrange at the same time.
https://www.uni-ulm.de/misc/gleichstellungsportal/foerderung/preise/mileva-einstein-maric-preis/
After completing her bachelor’s degree at Birzeit University and performing as a teaching assistant, the Palestinian native emigrated to Ulm in 2013. As part of her degree (M. Sc Advanced Materials), she began working at the HIU in 2015 as a research assistant in the Materials I research group.
Meanwhile, she is working in a joint PhD position at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, the Institute of Electrochemistry and the HIU.
With the increased significance of lithium-ion batteries, the pressure on the availabiltity of relevant ressources rises. Especially, lithium and cobalt are fundamental components of present lithium-ion batteries. A recent analysis of a research team led by Dr. Daniel Buchholz and Prof. Dr. Stefano Passerini shows that the availability of both elements could become seriously critical. Cobalt-free battery technologies, including post-lithium technologies based on non-critical elements such as so-dium, but also magnesium, zinc, calcium and aluminium, represent possibilities to decrease the dependency and avoid the crit-icality of lithium and Co.
The researchers present these results in the journal Nature Reviews Materials. In addition, the publication will be part of the Nature Reviews Materials online collection Chemistry at the nexus of water and energy, which contains selected articles from the field of natural science.
Further information can be found in the current press release.
The transition to renewable energy challenges battery researchers to develop suitable energy storage technologies. Lithium-ion batteries are currently the most widely used battery technology for various applications, including electric vehicles. For their establishment, however, further improvements are necessary regarding their safety, performance and charging times.
Within a perspective assessment, representatives of the four leading national economies – USA, China, Japan and Germany – Perspectives of automotive battery R&D in China, Germany, Japan, and the USA address these issues, highlight the present state-of-the-art and provide and overview of the current and future developments with a particular focus on the funding programs of these four countries.
The release is the result of the annual International Conference on Advanced Lithium Batteries for Automobile Applications (ABAA), which took place in October last year, and has the aim to foster the exchange between industry and research institutions.
The perspective article is freely available online for anyone to access until 8 December 2018.
