New paper published in Desalination on the use of a novel multi-channel membrane capacitive deionization unit (using carbon cloth electrodes) for semi-continuous desalination.

New paper published in ChemSusChem on the use of vanadium pentoxide decorated multiwall carbon nanotubes for energy efficient desalination of brackish water and sea water. This work was in collaboration with the Chair of Functional Materials of Saarland University.

New paper published in Journal of Physical Chemistry C on ion electrosorption of ionic liquids. Using the synergy of electrochemical dilatometry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methodology, important information can be derived. We found that the charging mechanism at low charge is characterized by the exchange of more smaller ions by fewer larger ions. At higher charges, the system is changing to preferred counterion adsorption, which is resulting in a strong increase in the electrode volume. This work was in collaboration with Bernhard Roling from Philipps-Universität Marburg.

Collaborator Christian Kozwara presents joint work at the Joint Annual Meeting of Swiss and Austrian Physical Society (SPS/ÖPG) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. His presentation is entitled “Electrode swelling during ion electrosorption in carbon based supercapacitors”.

New paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on in situ electrochemistry. Using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methodology, we can discern different mechanical responses of binder materials, such as polyvinyldifluoride or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. This work was in collaboration with the Aurbach Group at Bar Ilan University, Israel.

New paper published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels on the use of the microjet reactor for the synthesis of CDC beads. CDC (carbide derived carbon) was obtained from polymer derived ceramic beads. By adjusting the vinyl / phenyl ratio, the pore size structure was modified. Nanoporous CDC beads showed a high suitability for use as supercapacitor electrodes. This work was in collaboration with Guido Kickelbick (inorganic solid-state chemistry, Saarland University).

New paper published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A on the use of molbdenum disulfide / carbon nanotube electrodes for Faradaic deionization. Our work establishes membrane-free electrochemical desalination with a symmetric cell design that allows energy efficient deionization of saline media of low (5 mM) or high (500 mM) NaCl concentration.

New paper published in Electrochimica Acta on the influence of carbon distribution on the electrochemical performance and stability of lithium titanate / carbon electrodes. The carbon distribution is essential to ensure electric conduits throughout the electrode and lack thereof may severely degrade the electrochemical performance stability (not just energy density and power handling).

New paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on the complementary use of in situ small angle X-ray scattering and electrochemical dilatometry to track the expansion of nanoporous carbon based on hierarchic pore architectures. Our data underline the importance of micropores for the volume changes occuring during electrochemical cycling. This work was in collaboration with Montanuniversität Leoben (Oskar Paris) and Universität Salzburg (Nicola Hüsing).

New paper published in Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry on the mechanochemistry-assisted synthesis of nanoporous carbons for use in carbon supercapacitors. The paper is the latest outcome of our collaboration with the junior investigator team of Lars Borchardt at TU Dresden.

New paper published in Carbon on the use of activated carbon cloth for capacitive deionization. Our work dissects the influence of cell voltage and carbon pore structure on the performance during capacitive deionization operation using commercially available carbon cloth (trademark name Kynol).

New paper published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A on the promising features of the ZnI2 redox energy storage system. Using activated carbon cloth electrode and a Zn electrode, we achieve a high energy storage performance of 226 Wh/kg and a higher power of 20 kW/kg. The unique strength of iodide adsorption allows stable and efficient operation even without ion exchange membranes.

New paper published in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) on extracting a 3D pore model of nanoporous carbons used for double-layer applications (esp. supercapacitors). This work was the latest outcome from our collaboration with Oskar Paris at Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria.

New paper published in ChemSusChem on using mechanochemical solvent-free synthesis of nitrogen doped nanoporous carbon for supercapacitor electrodes. This work stems from our collaboration with the Junior Investigator Group of Lars Borchardt (TU Dresden) and is being featured on the back cover of the current issue of ChemSusChem.

New paper published in Journal of Power Sources. Our team has investigated novolac derived nanoporous carbon as conductive support for lithium sulfur batteries. This work was in cooperation with the Group of Oskar Paris (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria) and Lars Borchardt (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany).