Laboratories
ENERMAT Platform
Materials and electrochemical cells for Energy Applications
Research Focus
The ENERMAT laboratory was established in 2014 through a collaboration between the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and EIFER. It is located at the Institute for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP) on the KIT Campus South. The laboratory is dedicated to the evaluation of advanced materials for energy in strategic applications such as production / use of electricity / fuels. The main expertise is related to materials science and processes for energy, using conventional and less costly techniques such as screen-printing, and tape casting.
Contact Information
Dr. Julian Dailly julian.dailly@eifer.org
The key research areas include
Materials Science
- Development and characterization of advanced materials and electrochemical cells for energy applications.
- Investigation of new materials for improved performance and cost-effectiveness.
- Design of innovative cell architectures for higher efficiency and new applications
Energy Processes
- Optimization of processes for energy production and storage.
- Design of test protocols and operation conditions to improve the performances and moderate the degradation effects
- Development of innovative techniques for energy conversion and efficiency.
Applications targeted
- Fuel Cells: Research on materials and processes to enhance electricity production, evaluation of fuel cell performance and durability with various fuels.
- Electrochemical Hydrogen Production: Development of materials / methods and study of electrochemical processes to improve hydrogen yield and purity.
- Gas Separation Membranes: Design, testing and application of membrane technologies in various energy-related processes.
- E-Fuels Production: Exploration of innovative processes to convert directly electricity and CO2/H2O/N2 into advanced synthetic fuels.
Facilities
Manufacturing and characterization of innovative powder-metallurgical processed materials, covering the whole production process, from the raw material to the finished product in 3 steps.
Powder Synthesis
- Solid-state reaction, Pechini Process, Sol-Gel Process.
- Fine tuning of the chemical composition and particle size.
Powder Processing
- Powder pressing for pellets manufacture
- Screen-printing up to 100 cm² (thickness from 5 to >40 μm)
- Tape-casting of membranes and electrodes (thickness from 20 to >2000 μm)
- Nano-Infiltration of catalysts
- Sintering under air (up to 1600°C)
Electrochemical Measurements
- 3 test station for single cell / single repeat unit SRU
- Cell area from 3 to 50 cm², PO2 / PH2 / PH2O / PNH3 / PCO2
- Application profiles: power, temperature, reversibility, E-Fuels
- Electrochemical Analysis (I-V, I-P, EIS, DRT)
- Gas Analysis (Mass Spec., µ-GC), Microscopic Analysis
- 24/7 Experimentation with automated control & data acquisition
- Long-term measurement (several khours)
