Our recent work on “Competing ion effects and electrolyte optimization for electrochemical lithium extraction from spent lithium iron phosphate battery cathodes” has been featured on the front cover of RSC Energy Advances.
Several contributions from our team at the 76th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) in Main, Germany.
Volker Presser: Electrochemical lithium-ion separation (oral)
Stefanie Arnold: Electrochemical perspectives for Li-ion battery recycling (oral)
Delvina J. Tarimo: Influence of porous structure, sulfur loading, and cathode/solid electrolyte interphase formation using carbonate and ether-based electrolyte for lithium-sulfur batteries (oral)
Mingren Liu: Electron-rich niobium oxide subnanoclusters boosting charge transfer for highly reversible Na-S Batteries (poster)
Welcome to our new Postdoc, Dr. Asia Sarycheva! She will support our research activities relating to MXene and material characterization capitalizing on her many skills and expertise. We are looking forward to the joint work and time ahead!
Liying Xue presents our work on multi-component composition materials at the at the 40th topical conference of the International Society of Electrochemistry with the exciting topic of interfacial electrochemistry and related topics. Her poster has the title: “Multi-element synergy to enhance the cycling performance of oxalates as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries” and she will present during the poster session in Changchun, China. Thanks to our collaborators: Chaochao Dun and Oliver Janka.
New paper published in ACS Applied Energy Materials on lithium-sulfur batteries. Our collaborative work explored microporous carbon cathodes with carefully tuned pore sizes, tested in both carbonate- and ether-based electrolytes. Our study shows how pore structure and cathode–electrolyte interphase formation impact cycling stability and sulfur utilization. With optimized microporosity, we achieved over 50 mass % sulfur loading and improved performance in carbonate electrolytes. Thanks to all authors (in order of the manuscript) Delvina Tarimo (PhD), Francisco J. Garcia-Soriano, Alen Vizintin, and Christian Prehal.
New paper published on electrochemical lithium-ion battery recycling in Energy Advances. We demonstrate a sustainable, energy-efficient electrochemical route to recover Li⁺ from spent LFP using carbon-coated LFP electrodes, with NaOH-adjusted electrolytes giving the highest efficiency and an average removal capacity of 18 mg Li per 1 g of LFP over 50 cycles. Capacity fades with prolonged cycling (especially with competing Na⁺ and K⁺) highlighting the need to optimize electrolyte conditions and electrode stability while exploring alternative pH control and scalable designs for circular, low-impact battery recycling.
We are grateful for the Minister to take time to visit the science exhibition ship MS Wissenschaft, anchoring in Saarbrücken, Germany. We discussed climate change, scientific discoveries, basic and applied research – specifically as it pertains to our research on lithium-ion battery recycling.
New collaborative paper (Victor H. R. Souza) published in Journal of Power Sources. To support the energy transition, we developed freestanding electrodes combining reduced graphene oxide, polyaniline, and nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF), which is a promising material for aqueous batteries due to its long cycle life and redox-active structure. These rGO/PAni/NiHCF films achieve high specific capacities (up to 83 mAh/g) and integrate both active material and current collector in one, offering a compact and efficient solution for energy storage.
We are grateful for the Minister visiting our group to learn more about the EFRE-funded eLiFlow project to continuously harvest lithium-ions from aqueous solutions.
We enjoyed our annual group retreat – due to a booking issue, reduced to one day, but no less fun! We enjoyed our group dinner, as won by popular vote, in the Vietnamese restaurant Yoko in Saarbrücken. For the scientific talks, we mixed things up: rather than all Ph.D. students and Postdocs presenting theirworks… each one was assigned a partner with a topic as different as can be within our group – and each person needed to present his/her partner’s research. 🚀
As another highlight, we had Hanna Sänger from Arenus Akademie (Tatjana Heidemann) to give a seminar on mental health. Mental health is as important as physical health – yet, it is met by stigma and taboo, as the mind reminds an opaque mystery and people rather accept what they can “see” over what they feel. Nonetheless, how we feel about ourselves and work is of highest importance and the foundation for a sustainable, productive, and healthy work life. Thanks for giving us an introductoin in this important topic (in excellent English that put myself to shame).
Thanks for our Humboldt-visitor, long-term collaborator, and true friend Michael Naguib for joining us! 💡We also got our traditional group picture done, once more, by the one and only Uwe Bellhäuser 🌼 and thank Elke Bubel for helping us so much for securing the photoshooting spot in front of the NTNM library! 📚
Looking forward to our next retreat already! And we will make sure to find a replacement appointment for some well-overdue minigolf ⛳
Panyu has successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on “Electrochemical water desalination for ion separation toward ion-selectivity and sustainable materials”. All the best to you and your continued career!
New paper published in Desalination, led by the Gallei Group, on the capture and release of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances by use of polyelectrolyte metallopolymers.
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.
Volker Presser gives an invited keynote lecture on “Electrochemical lithium-ion separation” at the 7th Conference on Electrochemical and Membrane Separation Science and Technology in Wroclaw, Poland. Collaborator Pegah Fatehbasharzad presents a poster on “Electrosorption of diverse organic compounds: Mechanistic insights and applicability across molecular structures”.
An annual tradition: our team at the PhD students’ day of Universität des Saarlandes 🎓
Cansu Kök answered the question on how to design electrochemical tools for the direct lithium-ion separation from seawater (and Saarland mine water): “Continuous lithium-ion extraction via fuel cell desalination”; work in collaboration with Lei Wang, Jean Gustavo De Andrade Ruthes, Antje Quade, and Matthew Suss.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos presented his inspiring modelling + experimental work on “Physical modeling of silicon-containing Li-ion batteries through a multi-species multi-reaction model” to design high-performance Si-based lithium-ion batteries; work in collaboration with Oliver Queisser and Simon Schwunk.
Liying Xue presented the power of multi-phase material design on high-capacity lithium-ion batteries: “Multi-phase synergy enhances lithium storage performance of oxalate”; work in collaboration with Oliver Janka and Chaochao Dun.
Welcome our visiting Ph.D. student Yassine Seffar from UM6P – University Mohammed VI Polytechnic. Yassine will be working with our team on ion-selective and advanced electrochemical desalination.
New paper published in Journal of Hazardous Materials. This collaborative work explores the degradation of microplastics by electrocoagulation via the combination oxidation and flocculation effects.
New paper published in Separation and Purification Technology on “Optimized electrochemical recovery of lithium-ions from spent battery cells using carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate”. We optimized a system based on carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate electrodes. The electrodes selectively extract lithium ions from complex leaching solutions derived from real LCO (LiCoO₂) cathode materials. Over the course of 300 cycles, we observed an average lithium uptake capacity of about 11 mg of Li-ions per 1 gram of active material per cycle. We also demonstrated excellent selectivity toward lithium over competing ions like calcium and cobalt, which is critical in real-world leachates. Our optimized electrode materials and cycling strategies improve both the performance and lifetime of the electrochemical recovery system.
We acknowlege the contributions of all co-authors (Stefanie Arnold, Lei Wang, Dr Rudi Mertens, and Sascha Wieczorek).
New paper published in Electrochimica Acta on “Transparent polyaniline/MXene thin films supercapacitors”. In this collaborative work, we developed transparent, nanostructured films combining MXene Ti3C2Tx and polyaniline for miniaturized energy storage devices. The films show promising electrochemical performance and stability, opening avenues for transparent supercapacitor applications. Co-authors: Ariane Schmidt, Samantha Husmann, and Aldo J.G. Zarbin.
Our Ph.D. student Nikolaos Papadopoulos presents joint work on “Physical Modeling of Silicon-Containing Li-Ion Batteries through a Multi-Species Multi-Reaction Model” as a poster at the Advanced Battery Power in Aachen, Germany.