Eight research departments work to achieve HI ERN's research goals.
The research interests of the research department are on electrochemical reactions that occur at solid-liquid interfaces and are relevant to electrochemical energy conversion (fuel cells, water or CO2 electrolyzers etc).
The research focus of this research department is the development of simulation and modeling techniques for printing and coating processes for thin film production.
The research department deals with new chemical hydrogen storage technologies, associated catalytic processes and material technologies.
The research department concentrates on technical interfaces of electrocatalytic devices. Examples of such technical interfaces are the catalyst layers, membranes or transport layers as well as their interfaces in e.g. fuel cells or electrolyzers.
The research department aims to develop materials, processes and technologies fostering a sustainable and significant cost degression of the photovoltaic technology. The research combines achievements from automated materials research, digitization, simulation and big-data methods with the specialized knowledge of Photovoltaic technology.
The research department is renowned for combining different lab- and synchrotron-based photon-in – electron-out and photon-in – photon-out spectroscopic methods to interrogate the chemical and electronic structure of energy conversion materials and thin-film layer stacks, with a particular focus on photovoltaics.
The main research focus of the Young investigator group is placed on the dynamic transformations of the catalytic surfaces under the reaction conditions. The group explores structural and compositional changes of model electrode surfaces induced by the electrocatalytic reactions and their impact on the mechanism and kinetics.
The Young Investigator Group addresses the question of how new material concepts enrich already established and emerging technologies to reduce the ecological footprint. It develops new catalyst concepts for the global energy transition. The focus is on electrochemical reactions, which are becoming increasingly important and take place, for example, during water electrolysis, electrochemical CO2 reduction or in hydrogen fuel cells.