Our team was, as is tradition, part of the Open Campus and presented our work on next-generation batteries, sustainable water remediation, elemental recovery, battery recycling and interactive elements, such as a vegetable/fruit battery challenge and a build-your-own-battery challenge.
Our Austrian / German carbon spherogel research project with Michael Elsaesser at Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg, funded by Austrian Science Fund FWF and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – German Research Foundation to be prominently featured in the DFG 2025 calendar.
New paper published in Nature Communication. This highly collaborative work (spearheaded by Dr. Gündoğ Yücesan) presents polyphosphonate covalent organic frameworks (COFs) constructed via P-O-P linkages, synthesized through a one-step condensation reaction. This process involves heating a hydrogen-bonded precursor made from phenylphosphonic acid and porphyrin, without chemical reagents. At temperatures above 210 °C, the COF transforms into an amorphous microporous structure due to P-O-P bond oligomerization, confirmed by 31P NMR. The COF shows excellent stability in water, water vapor, and in 0.5 M Na2SO4 electrolyte, filling a gap in COF literature for stable, microporous materials. Additionally, its narrow pores effectively capture CO2, with a sustainable synthesis route.
Volker Presser was honored for the work on electrochemical water remediation and Lithium-ion extraction by the City of Saarbrücken. Read more about the event and all awardees.
Our work on lithium-ion recovery from aqueous media (including seawater) was featured by the local radio station SR3.
https://www.sr.de/sr/sr3/themen/panorama/wissenschaftler_leibniz_institut_lithiumgewinnung_100.html
It is a privilege to receive, after 2018 and 2021, the recognition as 2022 Highly Cited Researcher (HRC) by Clarivate. Only 6,938 out of abut 8M researchers have received this recognition. Citation numbers are not the most important parameter in science, but I am grateful to our team and collaborators that the community so well receives our works. I am also honored to be the only 2022 HRC of Saarland University and only 1 of 2 if counting the University Hospital, too.
It was an honor to meet and talk with Saarland Minister-President (prime minister) Tobias Hans during his visit to INM. We discussed our research on alternative batteries and energy-efficient lithium-ion-battery recycling. Read more about the visit online and on LinkedIn (our LinkedIn, the INM LinkedIn, and the PM’s LinkedIn). We are grateful that, the very next day, the state TV broadcasting station Saarländischer Rundfunk paid us also a visit and made a 2 min clip about our recycling project, kindly financially supported by the EU via European Regional Development Fund. The clip aired during the very popular segment “Aktueller Bericht“, and you can watch it via access to the SR Mediathek.
Our collaborative MXene tribology work to-be-published in ACS Nano tracks media attention:
https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000125999939/neues-2d-wundermaterial-ist-der-perfekte-schmierstoff
https://cen.acs.org/materials/2-d-materials/MXenes-make-durable-solid-lubricants/99/web/2021/04
https://www.tuwien.at/tu-wien/aktuelles/news/2d-nanomaterial-mxene-der-perfekte-schmierstoff
Our Li-recovery project MERLIN enjoys media coverage by the Saarlandian TV (Aktueller Bericht, 30.10.2020), Saarbrücker Zeitung (24.11.2020), and SR Radio (SR3, 10.12.2020). We are grateful to the RAG Foundation for providing funding.
Volker Presser was accepted into the Royal Society of Chemistry as a Fellow (Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry = FRSC).
Nicolas Jäckel is not only selected Fellow to participate at this year’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (impressive considering the tough competition internationally), but is also partaking in a TV show with the title “emotions instead of facts: do we mistrust science?”. The podium discussion includes also German Federal Minister for Education and Research Prof. Johanna Wanka, Prof. Helga Nowotny (former President of the European Research Council), and Andreas Sentker (Managing Editor at Die Zeit).
Tune in ARD Alpha on June 28th, at 8:15 PM (Link to the show).
Missed the show? Click here to read the transcript of the show.
Also click here to access the coverage of the event by the UdS web magazine “campus”.