TY - JOUR A1 - Wu, J. A1 - Gong, M. A1 - Zhang, W. A1 - Mehmood, Asad A1 - Zhang, J. A1 - Ali, G. A1 - Kucernak, A. T1 - Simultaneously incorporating atomically dispersed Co-Nₓ sites with graphitic carbon layer-wrapped Co₉S₈ nanoparticles for oxygen reduction in acidic electrolyte N2 - A facile yet robust synthesis is reported herein to simultaneously incorporate atomically dispersed Co-Nₓ sites with graphitic layer-protected Co₉S₈ nanoparticles (denoted as Co SACs+Co₉S₈) as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction in acidic solution. The Co SACs+Co₉S₈ catalyst shows low H₂O₂ selectivity (∼5 %) with high half-wave potential (E1/2) of ∼0.78 V(RHE) in 0.5 M H₂SO₄. The atomic sites of the catalyst were quantified by a nitrite stripping method and the corresponding site density of the catalyst is calculated to be 3.2×10¹⁸ sites g⁻¹. Besides, we also found the presence of a reasonable amount of Co₉S₈ nanoparticles is beneficial for the oxygen electrocatalysis. Finally, the catalyst was assembled into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for evaluating its performance under more practical conditions in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. KW - Co−N-Cs KW - Fuel cells KW - Single-atom catalysts KW - Oxygen reduction reaction KW - PGM-free catalysts PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-575993 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.202300110 SN - 2196-0216 VL - 10 IS - 12 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-57599 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gong, M. A1 - Mehmood, Asad A1 - Ali, B. A1 - Nam, K.-W. A1 - Kucernak, A. T1 - Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity in Non-Precious Single-Atom (M−N/C) Catalysts − Contribution of Metal and Carbon/Nitrogen Framework-Based Sites N2 - We examine the performance of a number of single-atom M−N/C electrocatalysts with a common structure in order to deconvolute the activity of the framework N/C support from the metal M−N4 sites in M−N/Cs. The formation of the N/C framework with oordinating nitrogen sites is performed using zinc as a templating agent. After the formation of the electrically conducting carbon−nitrogen metal-coordinating network, we (trans)metalate with different metals producing a range of different catalysts (Fe−N/C, Co−N/C, Ni−N/C, Sn−N/C, Sb−N/C, and Bi−N/C) without the formation of any metal particles. In these materials, the structure of the carbon/nitrogen framework remains unchanged-only the coordinated metal is substituted. We assess the performance of the subsequent catalysts in acid, near-neutral, and alkaline environments toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and ascribe and quantify the performance to a combination of metal site activity and activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework. The ORR activity of the carbon/nitrogen framework is about 1000-fold higher in alkaline than it is in acid, suggesting a change in mechanism. At 0.80 VRHE, only Fe and Co contribute ORR activity significantly beyond that provided by the carbon/nitrogen framework at all pH values studied. In acid and near-neutral pH values (pH 0.3 and 5.2, respectively), Fe shows a 30-fold improvement and Co shows a 5-fold improvement, whereas in alkaline pH (pH 13), both Fe and Co show a 7-fold improvement beyond the baseline framework activity. The site density of the single metal atom sites is estimated using the nitrite adsorption and stripping method. This method allows us to deconvolute the framework sites and metal-based active sites. The framework site density of catalysts is estimated as 7.8 × 1018 sites g−1. The metal M−N4 site densities in Fe−N/C and Co−N/C are 9.4 × 1018 sites−1 and 4.8 × 1018 sites g−1, respectively. KW - Active site density KW - Fuel cells KW - Single-atom catalysts KW - Oxygen reduction reaction KW - PGM-free catalysts KW - M−N/Cs PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-575640 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.3c00356 SN - 2155-5435 VL - 13 IS - 10 SP - 6661 EP - 6674 PB - American Chemical Society AN - OPUS4-57564 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schwarz, Irina A1 - Rieck, Arielle T1 - Valorization of carbon dioxide by electrocatalytic reduction coupled to acetogens via multiple electron carriers (Ecat-acetogens) N2 - To alleviate CO2 emissions and their impact on climate change, converting carbon dioxide into valuable products such as multi-carbon organic chemicals is of great importance. CO2 can be converted via different pathways such as electrochemical, photo-electrochemical and biological etc. Each approach offers distinct merits but also certain challenges in terms of process efficiency, product selectivity and implementation at scale etc. Therefore, developing coupled CO2 conversion systems, for instance bioelectrochemical reactors, can potentially address some of those challenges.[1] In this work, the focus is on developing cost-efficient, biocompatible, and high activity porous M-N-C catalysts with M = Ni and Co that are atomically dispersed as NiN4 and CoN4 active sites in porous carbon matrix. Ni- and Co-N-Cs are prepared by active-site imprinting approach using Mg as an imprinter.[2][3] Pyrolysis of Mg-N-C is carried out in a salt-melt at high temperatures (≥ 800 oC) and followed by an exchange with Ni or Co at low temperatures. N2-sorption of the materials reveal a micro-mesoporous structure with high surface areas (> 1000 m2 g-1) and a mass-transport enabling pore system. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) reveal the existence of atomically dispersed single atom active sites with defined active site structure. A variety of Ni-N-Cs and Co-N-Cs were tested for CO2R activity in a rotating disc electrode (RDE) setup, showing high activity and selectivity towards CO2R versus the competing HER. Subsequently, these catalysts were implemented in a home-made bio-electrocatalytical system (BES) consisting of a bioreactor coupled to a CO2 electrolysis cell. Here, CO2 is first electrochemically converted to CO in the electrolysis cell which is then directly fed to bacteria (Clostridium ragsdalei) in bioreactor who further metabolize it to valuable carbon compounds such as acetate. In the BES, partial pressures of CO reached a maximum of 5.7 mbar and that of hydrogen was 2.7 mbar after 30 h. A specific exponential bacterial growth rate of 0.16 h-1 was observed with acetate formation rate of 1.8 mg L-1 h-1 and an acetate concentration of 0.103 g L-1 corresponding to acetate formation rate of 0.73 mmol d-1. As will be discussed in greater details in this talk, we have successfully demonstrated the validity of a coupled bio-electrocatalytical system concept operating with Co- and Ni-N-C catalysts for CO2 conversion. T2 - Joint SPP Conference CY - Jena, Germany DA - 06.11.2024 KW - CO2 Reduktion KW - Bioelectrocatalytical system PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61993 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schwarz, Irina A1 - Rieck, Arielle T1 - Valorization of carbon dioxide by electrocatalytic reduction coupled to acetogens via multiple electron carriers (Ecat-acetogens) N2 - For the realization of a sustainable energy economy, it is of great importance to develop CO2 -neutral methods producing multi-carbon organic chemicals used as feedstock as well as carbon-neutral fuels by CO2 capture and conversion. In this work, a bio-electrocatalytical system (BES) consisting of a bioreactor coupled to a CO2 electrolysis cell is established. CO2 is first electrochemically converted to CO in electrolysis cell which is then directly fed to bacteria (acetogens) to further metabolize it to valuable carbon compounds such as acetate. The objective of this study is to develop cost-efficient, biocompatible and high activity electrocatalysts that can selectively convert CO2 to CO. Porous nitrogen-doped carbons containing atomically dispersed Ni and Co (Ni or Co-N-Cs) are prepared by active-site imprinting approach. First, synthesis of Mg- or Zn-N-C was carried out through pyrolysis of precursors in a salt melt followed by exchange with Ni or Co. N2-sorption porosimetry of the materials reveal a micro-mesoporous structure with high surface areas (> 1000 m2 g-1) and a mass-transport enabling pore system. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) reveal the existence of single atom sites with no formation of nanoparticles. A variety of Ni-N-Cs and Co-N-Cs were tested for CO2R activity in a rotating disc electrode (RDE) setup, showing high activity (Tafel slopes range from 77 – 130 mV/decade) and selectivity towards CO2R versus the competing HER. Before operation in the BES, first tests were performed in a single cell. Significantly increased current was detected in the CO2R test in CO2-saturated electrolyte vs. in N2 -saturated electrolyte indirectly proving formation of carbon monoxide (CO). Transfer of the electrolysis cell operation into the BES proved to be successful. For biotic operation, the BES was inoculated with Clostridium ragsdalei. Partial pressures pCO reached a maximum of 5.7 mbar and pH2 was 2.7 mbar after 30h. The reduction of partial pressures is interpreted as the consumption of the gases by C.ragsdalei. We report a specific exponential growth rate of 0.16 h-1, acetate formation rate of 1.8 mg L-1 h-1 and an acetate concetration of 0.103 g L-1 corresponding to acetate formation rate of 0.73 mmol d-1.In this work we successfully demonstrated an integrated bio-electrocatalytic system (BES) to convert CO2 into value-added chemicals. The usage of a Co- and Ni-N-Cs as the reduction catalyst within the BES allowed production of CO and H2 with relative selectivity for CO resulting in the growth of Clostridium ragsdalei and acetate production. T2 - Joint SPP Conference CY - Jena, Germany DA - 06.11.2023 KW - Bioelectrocatalytical system PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-61995 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Schwarz, Irina A1 - Rieck, Arielle T1 - Valorization of carbon dioxide by electrocatalytic reduction coupled to acetogens via multiple electron carriers (Ecat-acetogens) N2 - To alleviate CO2 emissions and their impact on climate change, converting carbon dioxide into valuable products such as multi-carbon organic chemicals is of great importance. CO2 can be converted via different pathways such as electrochemical, photo-electrochemical and biological etc. Each approach offers distinct merits but also certain challenges in terms of process efficiency, product selectivity and implementation at scale etc. Therefore, developing coupled CO2 conversion systems, for instance bioelectrochemical reactors, can potentially address some of those challenges.[1] In this work, the focus is on developing cost-efficient, biocompatible, and high activity porous M-N-C catalysts with M = Ni and Co that are atomically dispersed as NiN4 and CoN4 active sites in porous carbon matrix. Ni- and Co-N-Cs are prepared by active-site imprinting approach using Mg as an imprinter.[2][3] Pyrolysis of Mg-N-C is carried out in a salt-melt at high temperatures (≥ 800 oC) and followed by an exchange with Ni or Co at low temperatures. N2-sorption of the materials reveal a micro-mesoporous structure with high surface areas (> 1000 m2 g-1) and a mass-transport enabling pore system. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) reveal the existence of atomically dispersed single atom active sites with defined active site structure. A variety of Ni-N-Cs and Co-N-Cs were tested for CO2R activity in a rotating disc electrode (RDE) setup, showing high activity and selectivity towards CO2R versus the competing HER. Subsequently, these catalysts were implemented in a home-made bio-electrocatalytical system (BES) consisting of a bioreactor coupled to a CO2 electrolysis cell. Here, CO2 is first electrochemically converted to CO in the electrolysis cell which is then directly fed to bacteria (Clostridium ragsdalei) in bioreactor who further metabolize it to valuable carbon compounds such as acetate. In the BES, partial pressures of CO reached a maximum of 5.7 mbar and that of hydrogen was 2.7 mbar after 30 h. A specific exponential bacterial growth rate of 0.16 h-1 was observed with acetate formation rate of 1.8 mg L-1 h-1 and an acetate concentration of 0.103 g L-1 corresponding to acetate formation rate of 0.73 mmol d-1. As will be discussed in greater details in this talk, we have successfully demonstrated the validity of a coupled bio-electrocatalytical system concept operating with Co- and Ni-N-C catalysts for CO2 conversion. T2 - eBiotech Workshop Week + Status Seminar CY - Jena, Germany DA - 19.03.2023 KW - Bioelectrocatalytical system PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-61997 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Wuyi A1 - Mehmood, Asad A1 - Ali, Ghulam A1 - Liu, Hui A1 - Chai, Liyuan A1 - Wu, Jun A1 - Liu, Min T1 - Nickel Nanocluster-Stabilized Unsaturated Ni–N3 Atomic Sites for Efficient CO2-to-CO Electrolysis at Industrial-Level Current N2 - Unsaturated Ni single-atom catalysts (SACs), Ni-Nx (x=1,2,3), have been investigated to break the conventional Ni-N4 structural limitation and provide more unoccupied 3d orbitals for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) intermediates adsorption, but their intrinsically low structural stability has seriously hindered their applications. Here, we developed a strategy by integrating Ni nanoclusters to stabilize unsaturated Ni-N3 atomic sites for efficient CO2 electroreduction to CO at industrial-level current. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the incorporation of Ni nanocluster effectively stabilizes the unsaturated Ni-N3 atomic sites and modulates their electronic structure to enhance the adsorption of the key intermediate *COOH during CO2RR. Guided by these insights, we prepared an optimal composite catalyst, Ni6@Ni-N3, which features a Ni6N6 nanocluster surrounded by six Ni-N3 single atoms sites, through low-temperature pyrolysis. The morphology and coordinative structure of Ni6@Ni-N3 were confirmed by an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (AC-TEM) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). As a result, Ni6@Ni-N3 demonstrated a remarkably high CO Faradaic efficiency (FECO) of 99.7 % and a turnover frequency (TOF) of 83984.2 h−1 at 500 mA cm−2 under −1.15 VRHE, much better than those of Ni-N4 with a lower FECO of 86 % at 100 mA cm−2 and a TOF of 39309.9 h−1under identical potential. XAS analyses of Ni6@Ni-N3 before and after long-term CO2RR testing confirmed the excellent stability of its coordinative environment. This work highlights a generalizable approach for stabilizing unsaturated single-atom catalysts, paving the way for their application in high-performance CO2RR. KW - Electrochemical CO2 conversion KW - Single atom catalysts KW - CO2 electrolysis PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202424552 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 64 IS - 13 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-62926 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Braga, Daniel S. A1 - Pedersen, Angus A1 - Riyaz, Mohd A1 - Barrio, Jesús A1 - Bagger, Alexander A1 - Neckel, Itamar T. A1 - Mariano, Thiago M. A1 - Winkler, Manuel E. G. A1 - Stephens, Ifan E. L. A1 - Titirici, Maria‐Magdalena A1 - Nagao, Raphael T1 - Inside back cover image for the article "In situ structural evolution and activity descriptor of atomically dispersed catalysts during nitrate electroreduction" N2 - This cover illustrates the electrosynthesis of ammonia through the reduction of nitrate ions on metallic clusters formed from single atom catalysts. The artwork highlights the catalytic interface where molecular transformations occur, linking nanoscale reactions to sustainable fertilizer production. By converting pollutants into value-added products, this work envisions a green pathway toward circular nitrogen management and enhanced agricultural sustainability. More details can be found in the Research Article (DOI: 10.1002/advs.202510282) by Maria-Magdalena Titirici, Raphael Nagao, and co-workers. KW - Single atom KW - Nitrate reduction KW - In situ KW - Structure-activity-selectivity PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-652626 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.71951 SN - 2198-3844 VL - 12 IS - 39 SP - 1 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-65262 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dayani, Shahabeddin A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas A1 - Schmidt, Anita A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Quantification of the Deep Discharge Induced Asymmetric Copper Deposition in Lithium‐Ion Cells by Operando Synchrotron X‐Ray Tomography N2 - AbstractLithium‐ion cells connected in series are prone to an electrical safety risk called overdischarge. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation of the overdischarge phenomenon in lithium‐ion cells using operando nondestructive imaging. The study focuses on understanding the behavior of copper dissolution and deposition during overdischarge, which can lead to irreversible capacity loss and internal short‐circuits. By utilizing synchrotron X‐ray computed tomography (SXCT), the concentration of dissolved and deposited copper per surface area is quantified as a function of depth of discharge, confirming previous findings. The results also highlight for the first time a nonuniform distribution pattern for copper deposition on the cathode. This research provides insights for safer battery cell design. KW - Lithium Ion Batteries KW - Deep Discharge KW - Computer Tomography KW - Copper Deposition KW - Litium Ion Cells PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-592717 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/admt.202301246 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-59271 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Böttcher, Nils A1 - Dayani, Shahabeddin A1 - Markötter, Henning A1 - Schmidt, Anita A1 - Kowal, J. A1 - Lu, Y. A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas A1 - Bruno, Giovanni T1 - Visualization of stepwise electrode decomposition in a nail penetrated commercial lithium-ion cell using low-temperature synchrotron X-ray computed tomography N2 - The transition towards zero carbon emissions in power generation hinges on the integration of efficient electrical energy storage systems, with lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) positioned as a pivotal technology. While generally safe, deviations in their operational guidelines due to manufacturing defects or misuse can lead to critical safety concerns, notably thermal runaway (TR) events. Internal short circuits (ISCs) are primary initiators of TR within LIBs. For abuse testing, ISCs are often triggered by nail penetration. This study explores the morphological changes and mechanisms underlying ISC-induced TR in LIBs using operando synchrotron X-ray computed tomography (SXCT) at subzero temperatures. A novel cryogenic setup was developed to control a stepwise temperature increase in the damaged sample while monitoring electrochemical characteristics and simultaneously enabling acquisition of high-resolution SXCT images. The findings reveal that conducting nail penetration at minus 80°C prevents immediate TR, enabling detailed analysis of subsequent structural and electrochemical behavior during controlled thawing. Thus, the initiation of TR processes at localized ISC sites has been observed, evidenced by voltage fluctuations and morphological changes, such as cathode material cracking and decomposition. These results underscore the importance of temperature control in mitigating TR risks and provide critical insights into the internal dynamics of LIBs under abusive conditions. The developed cryogenic SXCT methodology offers a powerful tool for non-destructive, high-resolution investigation of battery failure mechanisms, contributing to the enhancement of LIB safety. KW - Tomography KW - X-ray imaging KW - Lithium-ion battery PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-611327 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.235472 VL - 623 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Elsevier CY - New York, NY AN - OPUS4-61132 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Low, Jian Liang T1 - 理论模拟与实验协同的材料表征与机理研究 T1 - Integrating modelling and experiment for synergistic material characterization and mechanism studies N2 - In this academic salon among Chinese-speaking researchers within Germany and EU, I presented my work on utilizing computational chemistry to support experimental characterization and mechanism studies. The discussion focused on metal- and nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-Cs) with well-defined coordination geometry as an excellent reference material for synergistic theory-experimental research. Some key topics included the analysis of structural preferences of imprinting ions, spectroscopic characterization of specific active sites and mechanism studies pertaining oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen peroxide chemistry at these active sites. T2 - 21st Koushare Workshop - European Materials Science: From Molecular Design to Material Applications CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 25.10.2025 KW - Metal- and Nitrogen Doped Carbon (M-N-C) KW - Active Site Characterization KW - Electrochemical mechanisms KW - Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65152 LA - zho AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Appel, Paul Alexander T1 - Developing Tailor-Made Core-Shell Carbon Anode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries N2 - Hard carbons (HCs) are currently one of the most promising anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the Na storage mechanism remains controversial, leaving the theoretical limits of carbon anodes unclear. To deconvolute the specific capacity from irreversible capacity losses, resulting from the formation of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), core-shell carbon materials were synthesized. Based on these core-shell materials, extensive operando characterization was developed and undertaken to investigate the storage mechanism of sodium. T2 - Sodium Ion Battery Symposium CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 23.09.2024 KW - Energy Materials PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-62005 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gong, Mengjun A1 - Mehmood, Asad A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick A1 - Jackson, Colleen A1 - Cui, Junyi A1 - Drazic, Goran A1 - Kucernak, Anthony T1 - Designing Co–N/C Cathode Catalysts with Dense Atomic Cobalt Sites for Enhanced PEMFC Performance N2 - Metal-nitrogen/carbon (M-N/C) catalysts, particularly those incorporating Fe,Co, or Mn, are among the most promising non-platinum group catalysts forthe acidic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. This study reports aCo-N/C catalyst featuring high (3 wt%) cobalt content exclusively present asatomic sites. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis confirms atetrapyridinic Co-N4 coordination environment in the optimized (3.0)Co-N/C𝚫catalyst. The high cobalt loading leads to a significant density ofelectrochemically accessible active sites, 3.58 × 10 19 sites g−1 , quantified viathe nitrite stripping method. The catalyst demonstrates excellent ORR activityin a rotating ring-disk electrode setup, achieving a half-wave potential (E 1/2 ) of0.76 V at a low loading of 0.2 mg cm−2 and a mass activity of 3.5 A g−1 at 0.80VRHE . Single-cell hydrogen-oxygen PEMFC tests achieve a peak power densityexceeding 1.3 W cm−2 (iR-corrected). Under hydrogen-air condition, thecatalyst delivers 0.54 A cm−2 at 0.60 V (0.39 W cm−2 ). Despite the intrinsicallyhigher turnover frequency of Fe-based sites, the optimized(3.0)Co-N/C𝚫 catalyst achieves similar fuel cell performance to that of Fe-N/C,highlighting the critical role of site density in overall activity. KW - Fuel cells KW - Single atom catalysts KW - Oxygen reduction reaction KW - Non-precious catalysts PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-644276 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202516060 SN - 2198-3844 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - Wiley VHC-Verlag AN - OPUS4-64427 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - INPR A1 - Rieck, Arielle A1 - Low, Jian Liang A1 - Dietzmann, Simon A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Teimouri, Zahra A1 - Higgins, Drew A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - Mehmood, Asad A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Understanding the Activity Trade-Off between Tetrapyrrolic Fe-NCs and Co-NCs in the Alkaline Oxygen Reduction Reaction N2 - A water-free ionothermal synthesis of porous magnesium-imprinted nitrogen-doped carbon (Mg–NC) materials is introduced to prepare a platform material to investigate electrocatalytic structure-performance relations. Atomically dispersed Co- and Fe-NCs isomorphic to the pristine Mg-NCs are prepared by ion-exchange reactions. The current Mg-templating strategy enables relatively high pyrolysis product yields of up to 50 wt% and resultant Fe-NC and Co-NC catalysts contain high and comparable active metal loading of up to 2.52 wt% Fe and 2.29 wt% Co, respectively. A combination of X-ray spectroscopies with DFT studies reveals a tetrapyrrolic structure of the coordination sites, originating from a pyrolytic magnesium template ion reaction within the ionothermal synthesis. Two sets of highly active isomorphic tetrapyrrolic Fe-NCs and Co-NCs are utilized to understand the differences in intrinsic electrocatalytic performance of Co-NCs and Fe-NCs towards the alkaline oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Despite their superior valence electronic properties to facilitate the initial outer-sphere electron transfer to O2, Co-NCs show significantly lower performance than Fe-NC with comparable loading. Although the generally discussed weaker binding of peroxide intermediates to CoN4 sites compared to FeN4 sites is evident, experimental and theoretical investigation reveal that it is the underlying peroxide oxidation activity that suppresses the oxygen reduction activity of M-NCs. The high peroxide oxidation activity of Co-NCs explains their reduced alkaline ORR relative to Fe-NCs, shedding light on the understated significance of controlling peroxide chemistry for the optimizing cathodic performance. KW - Magnesium Imprinting KW - Tetrapyrrolic Sites KW - Metal- and nitrogen-doped carbon (M-N-C) KW - Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) KW - Nitrogen doped Carbon PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-651487 DO - https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-s59s5 SP - 1 EP - 24 AN - OPUS4-65148 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Böttcher, Nils A1 - Sander, Luise A1 - Ulbricht, Alexander A1 - Widjaja, Martinus Putra A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick A1 - Schmidt, Anita A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas T1 - Sodium-ion battery research @ BAM (I): investigating the thermal runaway behaviour of commercial sodium-ion battery cells N2 - Commercially available sodium-ion battery (SIB) cells, with energy densities comparable to lithium-ion battery (LIB) cells based on LiFePO4, were investigated regarding their safety behaviour under thermal abuse conditions. Tests were carried out in an inert atmosphere. The SIB-cells went into thermal runaway (TR), intriguingly, even at a rather low state of charge of 30%. The TR-event was coupled with a pronounced jelly roll ejection, challenging the interpretation of the TR-diagrams. These findings highlight the necessity of incorporating SIB-cells into the ongoing safety classification discussions for LIB-cells. KW - Sodium Ion Batteries KW - Thermal Runaway KW - Battery safety PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-647652 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d5se00687b SN - 2398-4902 VL - 9 IS - 21 SP - 5832 EP - 5838 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) AN - OPUS4-64765 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wu, Shu-Han T1 - Exploring Sodium Ion Storage: Combining a MOF Derived Carbon Core with a Sieving Carbon Shell to Illuminate Adsorptive Site Influences N2 - Unlike lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) where crystalline graphite is commonly used as the negative electrode material, disordered carbons are regarded as more promising forsodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, further advances towards better reversibility and higher specific capacity are still needed to match or even exceed the properties of graphite in LIBs. The main challenge is the complex and unpredictable Na+ storage mechanism in disordered carbons. [1] Method: Recently, Matsukawa et al. have reported that the reversibility of (de)sodiation processes of disordered carbons is better for ultra microporous carbons.[2] Ultra micropores are accessible only to Na+ ions and not to solvent molecules. Therefore, the ultra micopores can be used for Na-storage, however, do not significantly contribute to side reactions caused by solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation, which reduces the related irreversible capacity loss. Building on this concept, the origins of specific capacity and irreversible losses were further explored by modifying the chemical composition of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) derived carbons, while maintaining comparable porosity. This involved adjusting the nitrogen content through temperature variation. Additionally, these ZIF-8 derived carbons were enhanced with a protective ion sieving carbon shell formed by chemical vapor deposition. This shell enables effective distinction between reversible and irreversible Na+ storage. Results: The tailor-made core-shell carbons with higher nitrogen content demonstrate greater capacity in the sloping region, but lower capacity in the plateau region of the voltage profile. In addition, they show reduced specific capacities compared to materials with lower nitrogen content. Lastly, it is important to highlight that the incorporation of sieving carbons results in a significant overall increase in capacity compared to materials without sieving carbons. The highest capacities were obtained for the core shell carbon pyrolyzed at 1000°C reaching reversible capacities of 381 +/- 4 mAh g–1 . Discussion: The nitrogen active sites in the as-synthesized materials facilitate the adsorption of Na+ ions, indicating that Na+ ions preferentially adhere to these active sites during the sodiation process. Moreover, the relatively low capacity observed in materials with higher nitrogen content may be attributed to their lower electrical conductivity. T2 - Batterieforum 2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 21.01.2025 KW - Sodium-ion batteries KW - Hard carbon KW - Core-shell materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65131 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Mieller, Björn T1 - Characterization of Beta-Alumina Solid Electrolyte by Coin Cell Testing N2 - All solid-state batteries (ASSBs) are the subject of widespread research, one reason being their predicted increased safety [1]. Variants of beta-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE), a promising solid electrolyte for sodium ion batteries, exhibit ion conductivities up to 5 mS/cm at room temperature, which motivates targeted research and testing [2]. Dedicated measurement cells for conductivity measurements and cycling of ASSBs are available, providing even pressure and temperature control. However, these are often costly and thus unsuitable for long-term studies with many cells. In contrast, coin cells are a practical and scalable approach for such ASSB studies, despite poor pressure control and other influencing factors that may affect the reproducibility of results [3]. This study investigates the extent to which reliable measurement data can be obtained from symmetrical Na/BASE/Na coin cells. Therefore, several testing procedures and different cell architectures are considered. The experiments are supported by an electrical equivalent circuit model. The modeling approach and both measured and numerically simulated data are presented. The coin cell results are compared to data acquired using a designated ASSB setup (CompreCell and CompreFrame by RHD). T2 - XIXth Conference of the EuropeanCeramic Society / SBS6 InternationalSodium Battery Symposium CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 01.09.2025 KW - Beta aluminate solid electrolyte KW - Coin cell PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64055 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wu, Shu-Han A1 - Appel, Paul Alexander T1 - DialySorb N2 - Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been one of the greatest achievements in the field of energy storage of the last century. However, with the increasing demand for energy storage, battery technologies must be diversified according to their specific requirements in different applications. In terms of stationary energy storage and electric vehicles, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered to be the most attractive alternative to LIBs due to the uniformly high abundance and cost-effectiveness of raw materials, enabling large-scale and low-cost energy storage. Unlike LIBs where crystalline graphite is commonly used as the anode material, disordered carbons are regarded as more promising for SIBs. However, further advances towards better reversibility and higher specific capacity are still needed to match or exceed that of graphite in LIBs. The main challenge is the complex and unpredictable Na+ storage mechanism in disordered carbons, as they may have different properties depending on the precursors and carbonization conditions. [1] Recently, Matsukawa et al. have reported that the reversibility of (de)sodiation processes of disordered carbons is better for ultramicroporous carbons.[2] These pores are accessible only to Na+ ions and not to solvent molecules. Therefore, the (de)sodiation processes are protected from the side reactions caused by the solvent, which reduces the related irreversible capacity loss. With this idea, the origin of the specific capacity and irreversible losses will be further investigated by tailoring chemical composition (e.g., heteroatom doping) as well as pore structure of hard carbons used as anode materials in SIBs. For the synthesis scalable and industrially relevant processes will be used. The structure and morphology of the materials will be characterized by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, different gas sorption techniques will be carried out to analyze the porosity, pore sizes and specific surface areas. The electrochemical performance of the prepared materials will be evaluated based on coin cells, three-electrode Swagelok cells, and pouch cells. Moreover, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be performed to help understand the mechanism of Na+ storage. T2 - Electrochemistry 2022 (GDCh confernece) CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 27.09.2022 KW - Na-ion Battery PY - 2022 AN - OPUS4-62013 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scharpmann, Philippa A1 - Leonhardt, Robert A1 - Schmidt, Anita A1 - Kowal, Julia A1 - Tichter, Tim A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas T1 - Exploring restrictive overdischarge cycling as a method to accelerate characteristic ageing in lithium-ion cells N2 - This study presents a test protocol that greatly accelerates the ageing process of lithium-ion battery cells comprising a positive electrode of nickel manganese cobalt oxide while preserving their characteristic degradation upon cyclic ageing. Applying a repetitive restricted overdischarge, resulting in a depth of discharge larger than 100%, a capacity loss of 20% is achieved over five times faster compared to conventional cycling. The well-known overdischarge degradation phenomenon of copper current collector dissolution is deliberately prevented by setting a discharge cutoff voltage above the theoretical threshold of copper oxidation. Hence, the accelerated degradation can be primarily connected to solid electrolyte interphase growth. A comparative assessment of the ageing dynamics using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and differential voltage analysis hints towards similar, characteristic degradation processes during accelerated and conventional ageing. A post-ageing examination of the electrical behaviour (i.e., coulombic and energy efficiency, capacity fade) under reference conditions reveals very little to no lasting damages caused by overdischarging. Additionally, post-mortem analysis discloses no increased copper dissolution when comparing cells subjected to accelerated and conventional ageing. Generally, the developed ageing method appears suitable for providing cells with a defined state of health at a reasonable timescale without altering the main degradation mechanisms significantly. KW - Lithium-ion cell KW - Accelerated ageing KW - Overdischarge KW - Degradation processes KW - Differential voltage analysis KW - Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-650917 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.239072 SN - 0378-7753 VL - 665 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-65091 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cornelio, Andrea T1 - NASICON Electrolytes for Room-Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries: from Material Synthesis to Cell Testing N2 - Solid electrolytes (SE) allow to employ alkali-metal negative electrodes (NE) in new cell concepts, increasing energy density and safety of batteries for stationary and portable applications. The aim of this research is to develop a novel NASICON (NA Super Ionic CONductor) electrolyte for room-temperature (RT) sodium-sulfur (Na-S) cells employing a liquid sodium-potassium (Na-K) alloy at the SE/NE interface. The Na-K alloy can improve the interfacial contact between the sodium-metal NE and the SE. T2 - Batterieforum Deutschland 2026 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 20.01.2026 KW - NASICON KW - Solid Electrolytes KW - Synthesis KW - Characterization KW - Na batteries KW - Electrochemical testing PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65423 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Appel, Paul Alexander T1 - Probing Structural Changes in Sodium-Ion Battery materials with Operando SAXS N2 - Operando small-angle X-Ray scattering (SAXS) can provide direct insight into nanoscale structural changes occurring during electrochemical operation. This workshop will provide a general overview of the fundamentals of SAXS and highlight its potential on a range of case studies. This talk will highlight how operando SAXS complements conventional electrochemical characterization by revealing dynamic, irreversible structural processes that govern performance and stability in energy storage materials T2 - Operando Workshop CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 17.09.2025 KW - Small Angle X-Ray Scattering KW - Operando Measurments PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65119 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cornelio, Andrea T1 - NASICON Electrolytes for Room-Temperature Sodium-Sulfur Batteries with NaK Alloy Negative Electrode Interface N2 - The aim of the research is to develop a novel NASICON (NA Super Ionic CONductor) electrolyte for room-temperature (RT) sodium-sulfur (Na-S) cells employing a liquid sodium-potassium (NaK) alloy at the negative-electrode interface. The NaK alloy can improve the interfacial contact between the sodium-metal electrode and the solid electrolyte. The synthesized NASICON material must be stable with the alkali-metal alloy and provide good electrochemical performance at RT. T2 - 6th Sodium Battery Symposium CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 03.09.2025 KW - Solid Electrolyte KW - NASICON KW - Solid-state batteries KW - Sodium conductors KW - Material synthesis PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64080 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sander, Luise T1 - Links Between Electrode Properties and Cell Performance in Commercial Sodium-Ion Batteries N2 - Our latest results of commercially purchased cylindrical sodium ion battery (SIB) cells will be presented. Two different cell types were dissasembled and thouroughly characterized on electrode as well as on material level. Both cell types comprise aluminum current collectors for anode and cathode, respectively. Furthermore, geometric electrode parameters, such as electrode size, thickness and loading, will be presented and linked to the electrical data-sheet values. Further in-depth characterization on material level revealed that both cathode active materials are composed of a cobalt free Ni-Mn-Fe-oxide. Interestingly, the cathode particles significantly differ in shape and size between the two cell types. Both anode active materials are graphite-free, and the particle structure points in both cases to a biomass-derived hard carbon material. Based on gas chromatography mesaurements coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), both cell types utilize a mixture of carbonates as electrolyte, however, contain different conductive salts. Moreover, the measured, characteristic electrical features, e.g., capacity, Coulombic efficiency, and initial cycle life, will be discussed. Intriguingly, the cycling stability greatly differs between the cell types. Presumably, this behaviour can be mainly linked to the different morphology of the cathode active material. Overall, the work can give important insights in the composition and electrical behabiour of currently available SIB-cells. T2 - Sodium Battery Symposium (SBS-6) CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 03.09.2025 KW - Battery KW - Sodium-Ion-Battery KW - Electrochemical Energy Storage KW - Energy Storage PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64411 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sander, Luise T1 - Commercially Available Sodium-Ion Cells: Multi-Scale Analysis and Material Characterisation N2 - As the first commercial sodium-ion-batteries (SIBs) are available for purchase, it is possible to investigate material composition. Gaining an insight into the material composition of these SIBs is of interest not only for the classification of possible safety risks and hazards, but also in regards to recycling. Herein we report the preliminary investigations of the chemical and structural composition of first commercial SIB-cells. Two different SIB-cells with different specification were compared regarding electrode size, thickness and further parameters. Furthermore, the composition of the active materials and electrolyte was investigated and compared. T2 - Adlershofer Forschungsforum 2024 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 11.11.2024 KW - Sodium-Ion KW - Multi-Scale Analysis PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61757 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sander, Luise T1 - Multi-Scale Analysis of Commercially Available Sodium-Ion Cells N2 - As the first commercial sodium-ion-batteries (SIBs) are available for purchase, it is possible to investigate material composition. Gaining an insight into the material composition of these SIBs is of interest not only for the classification of possible safety risks and hazards, but also in regards to recycling. Herein we report the preliminary investigations of the chemical and structural composition of first commercial SIB-cells. Two different SIB-cells with different specification were compared regarding electrode size, thickness and further parameters. Furthermore, the composition of the active materials and electrolyte was investigated and compared. T2 - Solid State Ionics (SSI) CY - London, United Kingdom DA - 15.07.2024 KW - Sodium Ion-Cells KW - Multi-Scale PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-60764 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sander, Luise T1 - Linking Material and Electrode Properties to the Cell Performance of Two Types of Commercially Available SIBs N2 - As the first commercial sodium-ion-batteries (SIBs) are available for purchase, it is possible to investigate material composition. Gaining an insight into the material composition of these SIBs is of interest not only for the classification of possible safety risks and hazards, but also in regards to recycling. Herein we report the preliminary investigations of the chemical and structural composition of first commercial SIB-cells. Two different SIB-cell types were compared in terms of electrode size, thickness, loading etc. Furthermore, the composition of the active materials and electrolyte was investigated and compared. Finally, the gained results were linked to the different data sheet performance of the two cell types. T2 - WISPER - Women in Science Promoting Energy Research CY - London, UK DA - 21.05.2025 KW - Battery KW - Sodium-Ion-Battery KW - Electrochemical Energy Storage KW - Energy Storage PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63284 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Basics, Challenges and Trends in Electrochemical Energy Storage N2 - In this lecture the fundamental principles of batteries are briefly introduced aligned by the historical development of the technology. The introduction is continued with an overview on current challenges regarding performance, durability, sustainability, cost and safety. Lastly, research trend on approaches to tackle the challenges are discussed by selected examples. T2 - Basics, Challenges and Trends in Electrochemical Energy Storage CY - Cottbus, Germany DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Batteries KW - Electrochemistry KW - Energy Materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64919 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Core-shell type carbon anodes for na-ion batteries N2 - Increasing prices of the material basis for lithium-ion batteries caused by limited production capacities or resource abundance has led to a renewed interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Therein, amorphous disordered carbons such as hard carbons (HCs) are promising candidates for high-capacity negative electrode materials in SIBs. Their high capacities, however, are often accompanied with high irreversible capacity losses during the initial cycles,[1] while low initial losses are mostly accompanied with moderate capacities.[2] In our research we are aiming at morphologically improved carbons to reduce irreversible losses using a core-shell concept, leading to spacial separation of the reversible storage and unfavorable side reactions.[3] We investigated different methods to obtain core-shell structures with improved interfaces to restrict SEI formation to the external particle surface, while leveraging the Na storage potential of porous carbon core materials. With a simple and scalable chemical vapour deposition we obtained a 190-fold decrease in surface roughness, resulting in drastically reduced first cycle losses. Interestingly, the sodiation capacity at the same time increased to 400 mAh/g revealing the interference of excessive SEI formation with the storage process within the particles. T2 - Research Seminar of the Dahn Labs at Dalhousie University CY - Halifax, Canada DA - 27.05.2025 KW - Natrium-Ionen-Batterien KW - Synthetische Anoden KW - Kohlenstoff PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64912 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Commercial State-of-the-Art Sodium-Ion Batteries and Perspectives for the Negative Electrode (Anode) N2 - The current strong interest in electromotive mobility and the need to transition to an energy grid with sustainable storage devices has led to a renewed interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Chinese battery manufacturers marketed the first cells, which are commercially available now. We have purchased and investigated two of these early cells to understand their composition and be able to compare to the state-of-the-art in the scientific community. According to our results and the current literature, all commercial cells utilize carbon-based anodes, with the characteristic sloping charge-discharge profile. In the presentation the results will be discussed in context with safety aspect and space for improvement. The latter aspect will be focused on hard carbon anodes. Amorphous disordered carbons such as hard carbons (HCs) are promising candidates for high-capacity negative electrode materials in SIBs. Their high capacities, however, are often accompanied with high irreversible capacity losses during the initial cycles,[1] while low initial losses are accompanied with moderate capacities.[2] In our research we are aiming at morphologically improved carbons to reduce irreversible losses using a core-shell concept.[3, 4] T2 - Eco-Mat Conference 2025 CY - Istanbul, Türkiye DA - 29.07.2025 KW - Natrium-Ionen-Batterien KW - Synthetische Anoden KW - Kohlenstoff PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64908 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas T1 - Developing Core-Shell Carbon Materials to Link Porosity Features to Sodium Storage Capacities N2 - Porous carbon materials play an important role for energy storage and conversion. One (re-)emerging research field is the ability of porous carbons to store sodium metal ions. Current results shows that internal pores – hence, pores which are not accessible for the electrolyte – allow to store large amounts of sodium at low potentials, yielding high energy sodium-ion battery (SIB) anodes. The common synthesis approach to gain carbons with internal pores involves the pyrolysis of a non-graphitizing precursor, resulting in a so-called hard carbon (HC). However, HC-materials frequently show substantial non-reversible initial capacity losses. Commonly, significant losses are associated with the creation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the carbon’s surface that occurs during the initial sodium insertion. Intriguingly, large irreversible capacities are often found for samples with experimentally determined low specific surface area.[2] A more comprehensive understanding of the structure-property relations is essential for quantifying and grasping the potential of carbon materials in SIBs. However, the typical synthesis methods do not allow to individually tune the storage properties – mainly connected to the internal properties of the carbons – and the SEI-formation – primarily related to the surface properties. Hence, the objective of the present work is to develop a synthesis route which tackles this challenge. Herein, the main approach is to develop tailor-made core-shell carbon materials consisting of a highly porous carbon core and a quasi-non-porous carbon shell. For the core, two strategies are pursued: A) microporous carbon materials with varied porosity, however, similar chemistry, and B) microporous carbons with tuneable chemistry, but similar porosity. Approach A involves the selection of commercially available activated carbons (ACs). Strategy B is based on the modification of the chemical composition (i.e., amount and type of N-sites) of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) derived carbons. In both cases, the shell is realized by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Different analytical methods, e.g., powder XRD, gas physisorption (N2, Ar, CO2), XPS, and SAXS are used to thoroughly characterize morphological and chemical features of the core as well as of the core-shell carbons. These features are linked to the electrochemical characteristics of the materials. After CVD-coating, all materials show a significant reduction in detectable surface area (up to a factor of up to 190x) by N2-physisorption. The coating technique is successfully applied to a range of AC-materials, enabling to link porosity features to Na-storage behavior. For the best performing AC-based material, the reversible capacity is increased from ~140 mAhg-1 to ~400 mAhg-1 while irreversible capacity is decreased from ~640 mAhg-1 to ~90 mAhg-1. The results of the coated ZIF-derived carbon reveal that a higher nitrogen content leads to a greater capacity in the sloping region, but to a lower capacity in the plateau region of the voltage profile. Generally, core-shell carbon anodes promise to enable high capacities accompanied with low irreversible losses. T2 - 36. Deutsche Zeolith-Tagung CY - Erlangen, Germany DA - 26.02.2025 KW - Battery KW - Anode KW - Hard Carbon PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64960 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Improved Hard Carbon Anodes for Na-ion Batteries by Interface Modification N2 - The current strong interest in electromotive mobility and the need to transition to an energy grid with sustainable storage devices has led to a renewed interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Amorphous disordered carbons such as hard carbons (HCs) are promising candidates for high-capacity negative electrode materials in SIBs. Their high capacities, however, are often accompanied with high irreversible capacity losses during the initial cycles,[1] while low initial losses are accompanied with moderate capacities.[2] In our research we are aiming at morphologically improved carbons to reduce irreversible losses using a core-shell concept.[3] We investigated different methods to obtain core-shell structures with improved interfaces to restrict SEI formation to the external particle surface, while leveraging the Na storage potential of porous carbon core materials. With a simple and scalable chemical vapour deposition we obtained a 190-fold decrease in surface roughness, resulting in drastically reduced first cycle losses. Interestingly, the sodiation capacity at the same time increased revealing the interference of excessive SEI formation with the storage process within the particles. T2 - ECS Spring Meeting 2025 CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 18.05.2025 KW - Natrium-Ionen-Batterien KW - Synthetische Anoden KW - Kohlenstoff PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64911 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Designing Core-Shell Carbon Materials for High-Performance Sodium-Ion Battery Anode N2 - Increasing prices of the material basis for lithium-ion batteries caused by limited production capacities or resource abundance has led to a renewed interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Therein, amorphous disordered carbons such as hard carbons (HCs) are promising candidates for high-capacity negative electrode materials in SIBs. Their high capacities, however, are often accompanied with high irreversible capacity losses during the initial cycles,[1] while low initial losses are mostly accompanied with moderate capacities.[2] In our research we are aiming at morphologically improved carbons to reduce irreversible losses using a core-shell concept, leading to spacial separation of the reversible storage and unfavorable side reactions.[3] We investigated different methods to obtain core-shell structures with improved interfaces to restrict SEI formation to the external particle surface, while leveraging the Na storage potential of porous carbon core materials. With a simple and scalable chemical vapour deposition we obtained a 190-fold decrease in surface roughness, resulting in drastically reduced first cycle losses. Interestingly, the sodiation capacity at the same time increased to 400 mAh/g revealing the interference of excessive SEI formation with the storage process within the particles. T2 - International Carbon Conference 2025 CY - Saint Malo, France DA - 29.06.2025 KW - Sodium-Ion-Batteries KW - Hard Carbons KW - Synthetic Anodes KW - Carbon PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64907 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Sustainable energy materials and circularity N2 - Li-ion batteries (LIB) are the dominant energy storage technology and present in electrified transportation, electronic devices as well as robotics. This is due to their high energy density (300 watt-hours per kilogram), low self-discharge (1.5-2% per month), long storage life (10 years) and cyclability (500-2000 cycles). Unfortunately, these batteries require the use of scarce, toxic and unethically resourced materials for their fabrication. Furthermore, it is expected an increase of 26 million units of LIB on electric vehicles by 2030 generating a large amount of waste in a very near future. However, those end-of-life batteries can be considered an important source of metals and materials (electrolytes, binders, anodes) to be reused in other applications or incorporated in the battery supply chain. This also pushes the need to redesign the LIB components and other sustainable technologies using low-cost materials. The focus of this symposium is to bring together experts from around the world to discuss the latest advancements in sustainability of battery technologies and their impact on the future landscape of our society and environment. During the symposium, speakers will present recent research and developments in solving future and present problems derived from the exponential demand of LIB manufacturing T2 - Mat-Sus Spring Meeting 2025 CY - Sevilla, Spain DA - 03.03.2025 KW - CRM-free KW - Sustainability KW - Energy Materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64915 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Molekularsiebende Kohlenstoffe als hochkapazitive und stabile Anoden in Natrium-Ionen-Batterien N2 - In dem Vortrag wird ein Fortschrittsbericht über die laufenden Arbeiten im BMBF-geförderten Verbundprojekt „Dialysorb“ gegeben. Nach einer kurzen Schilderung der Arbeitspaketstruktur und den Arbeitspaketinhalten werden einzelne wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse genannt und kurz diskutiert. So gelang es hier u.a. hochporöse Materialien mittels Gasphasenabscheidung von Kohlenstoffverbindungen derart zu modifizieren, dass nur noch ein Bruchteil der Porosität mittels Gassorption messbar ist. Elektrochemische Sodiierungs-/Dessodiierungsergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Porosität im Kern der Materialien erhalten ist, da die reversible Sodiierungskapazität deutlich erhöht ist. Abschließend werden folgende Arbeitschritte erläutert und der Vortrag zur Diskussion gestellt. T2 - BMBF-Statusmeeting B@TS 2025 CY - Cologne, Germany DA - 07.04.2025 KW - Natrium-Ionen-Batterien KW - Synthetische Anoden KW - Kohlenstoff PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64906 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Leveraging the Potential of Na-Ion-Batteries with Tailormade Anodes N2 - Research progress on synthetic hard carbon anodes was suggested as key technology to leverage the potential of sodium ion batteries. The background, progress and market size of sodium ion batteries was presented and the relevance of producing such materials in terms of a business case was suggested. T2 - HWR Entrepreneural Workshop 2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 18.10.2025 KW - Natrium-Ionen-Batterien KW - Synthetische Anoden KW - Kohlenstoff PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64909 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Pedersen, Angus T1 - Mg-Templated Porosity as a Descriptor of Activity and Durability in ZIF-Derived Fe–N–C O2 Reduction Catalysts - Dataset N2 - Atomically dispersed Fe in N-doped carbon (Fe-N-C) catalysts are leading platinum-group-metal-free candidates for the O2 reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) derived Fe-N-C present the most promising performance; however, they possess a narrow distribution of small micropores, which limits active site accessibility. Here, to induce hierarchical porosity in Fe-N-C, we report a systematic study on MgCl₂·6H₂O-templated ZIF-8-derived Fe-N-C catalysts for the O2 reduction reaction. MgCl₂·6H₂O addition induced complete Zn removal, collapse of the ZIF-8 framework, and formation of large micro- and mesopores, with graphene-like structures. N content was markedly reduced, with conversion from pyridinic to pyrrolic N species. Rotating disc electrode tests showed a progressive increase in O2 reduction activity with MgCl₂·6H₂O, which is strongly correlated (R2 = 0.98) to the formation of large micropores and small mesopores (1-4 nm). This introduces a clear structure-activity design principle for Fe-N-Cs. The enhanced Fe-N-C porosity also leads to increased degradation rates under accelerated stress test conditions, which we attributed to the oxidation of disordered carbon domains and active Fe loss. This study highlights a key trade-off between porosity-driven O2 reduction activity and durability in Fe-N-C catalysts. KW - Single atom KW - Zeolitic imidazolate framework KW - Oxygen reduction PY - 2026 DO - https://doi.org/10.26272/opus4-65228 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-65228 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Lee, Woojin T1 - Impact of Coating and Drying on Electrochemical Properties of Core-Shell Carbon Materials N2 - Due to the heavy overuse of fossil energy sources since the last couple of centuries, a range of serious concerns such as depletion of fossil fuels and climate change that is driven by extensive carbon dioxide (CO2) emission has risen. Rechargeable batteries have surged as eco-friendly and sustainable energy source alternative. Lithiumion batteries (LIBs) have been the most successful rechargeable battery since their commercialization. However, owing to exhaustion and instability in price of scarce raw materials, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as the most attractive alternative to LIBs. Nonetheless, there are still burdens to overcome for SIBs to achieve competitiveness over LIBs, particularly in improving their energy density. To address the burdens, diverse materials have been studied to date. Yet, progress and development on achieving high performance negative electrode for SIBs still remain as a key object. Hard carbon (HC) has been considered as attractive candidate, because of its high capacity and low production cost. Despite the attractiveness, inherent limitations of HCs such as excessive formation of solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) and large irreversible capacity loss have hindered their applications. To confront this challenge, core-shell concept has been suggested by the team of Division 3.6 at BAM. The concept is to create carbon coating (shell structure) around the core material in order to mitigate formation of excessive SEI and enhance performance of the negative electrode. Shu-Han Wu and Paul Alexander Appel from Division 3.6 at BAM have synthesized various core-shell materials and have observed promising results. They made great progress in the research of core-shell materials, for example improving initial coulombic efficiency from 31% to 68%. However, there are still room for improvement. The task of this bachelor thesis work is to enhance the electrochemical performance of the core-shell materials and to investigate a more effective carbon coating method on the core material by exploring various coating parameters and different drying procedures. In this bachelor thesis, Shu-Han Wu’s synthesis precedure was repeated, ZIF-8 was pyrolyzed at 1000°C with a consequent treatment with HCl gas and washed with de� ionised water. The material (ZIF8_1000_HCl gas_H2O) was re-synthesized. Increasement in N2 Physisorption was observed after the acid treatment, consistent to Shu-Han Wu’s syntheis. The as-synthesized material was used as core material throughout this bachelor work. Moreover, 4 different core-shell carbon materials were synthesized by using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and ball milling as synthesis methods. was used as core material and toluene was used as carbon precursor for CVD. CVD displayed an effective formation of shell structure evidenced by steep reduction in specific surface area (SSABET) from N2 physisorption characterization. Ball milling revealed to cause defects in shell structure, which was noticeable on increase in SSABET (from 14 to 379 m2 g-1) and pore size distribution characterization. Drying of powder material prior to CVD process did not exhibit a difference in porosity on the final product after CVD. From the galvanostatic cycling tests at a current density of 20 IVmA g⁻¹, it was evident that formation of shell structure enhances the performance of the material. Among the synthesized core-shell materials, the material double 1.5 h CVD with no ball milling in between exhibited the most excellent performance (ICE 60.1%). Powder drying prior to CVD showed a positive influence on improving the electrochemical performance (ICE improved from 45.1% to 51.9%). Increasing drying temperature of electrode resulted in increasements of performance, where the peak performance was reached at drying at 200°C (ICE 57.7%). The investigations of impacts of coating and drying on electrochemical properties of core-shell carbon materials would provide basis and motivation for further development of advanced negative electrode materials for SIBs. KW - Sodium-ion batteries KW - Hard carbon KW - Core-shell materials PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 39 CY - TU Berlin AN - OPUS4-65130 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Bioinspired Electrode Materials N2 - Porous carbon materials are known for their applicability in important areas such as sorption, catalysis and electrochemistry (e.g. fuel cell catalysts, supercapacitor or battery electrodes). It was shown that nitrogen doped carbons (NDCs) act as an inexpensive and highly active non-metal catalyst in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), with the potential to reach performances of practical need one day. A key strategy towards improvement for this aim comprises the generation of advantageous porosity, which typically means high surface area and mass transport pores as well as the control over the chemistry of catalytically active sites. My group developed novel sol-gel type strategies that are using molten salts or molten acids as unconventional reaction medium for the porogenesis in doped carbons, thereby revisiting classic activation techniques. Carbon materials with extra high surface area of ~2800 m2 g-1 and pore volumes, up to four times as high as in commercial activated carbons, are obtained. Hierarchical pore systems, like used in nature (leaves, lungs, etc.) facilitate some of the electrochemical performances. Moreover, because of the elements also defining organic matter, also binding motifs can be realized that are reminiscent of proteins/enzymes. We established the pyrolytic template-ion reaction using cations like Mg2+ and Zn2+ to imprint tetrapyrrolic N4 sites (like in the heme molecule), embedded into the carbon structure. The imprinted structure may be utilized as catalytically active site by performing ion-exchange reactions. This way catalytic activity can be tuned for different societal important reactions, but also the defined catalysts structure allows the assignment of structure-performance relations. Other “tricks” that nature uses, are to influence the passage of ions through cell walls, or to expel water molecules from catalytically active sites. I will show some recent work on carbon electrodes used as battery active materials that utilizes similar pathways. T2 - Kolloquium des Instituts für Anorganische und Allgemeine Chermie der Universität Freiburg CY - Freiburg, Germany DA - 04.12.2025 KW - Carbon KW - M-N-C KW - Fuel cell KW - Core-shell KW - Sodium ion battery PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65021 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Design, Structure and Performance of Fe-N-C Catalysts Based on Active-Site Imprinting N2 - Atomically dispersed M-N-C catalysts such as Fe-N-Cs are most promising alternatives for precious metal-based catalysts for several energy conversion reactions. Early reports on such materials date back to the 1960´s, when Jasinski pioneered the research based on tetrapyrrolic phthalocyanine macrocycles which were inspired by natural transition metal porphyrin complexes present in enzyme active sites. For decades, the selective synthesis of these catalysts was complicated by the formation of side phases due to the harsh reaction conditions facilitating side phase formation. In 2018, we introduced a mild procedure, which is conservative toward the carbon support and leads to atomically dispersed Fe-N4 site formation at temperatures as low as 80 °C in a wet-chemical step, essentially decoupling the preparation of the N-C backbone from the preparation of the active sites. The key concept therein is the so-called active-site imprinting into the N-C backbone using pyrolytic template ion reactions, allowing for high concentrations of N4 sites resulting in more than 3 at.% of Fe in atomically dispersed phase. Using the same precursor that is used for the preparation of phthalocyanines, we were able to produce atomically-dispersed single-site Fe-N-Cs that consist of tetrapyrrolic FeN4 complexes. The tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C derivatives are highly active and extraordinary selective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. The well-defined and homogeneous active site structure allows to quantify the intrinsic catalytic activity of the materials in acid and base, reveal insights into the electrocatalytic mechanism and to reveal distinct degradation mechanism upon storage and electrochemical cycling. Herein, the general synthetic strategy of active-site imprinted catalysts will be discussed mainly based on both Mg-ion and Zn-ion templating towards “designed” Fe-N-C catalysts. The tetrapyrrolic active sites will be discussed regarding structure, activity, selectivity and durability. This hopefully stimulates a fruitful discussion of the perspectives in the field. T2 - Chemical Engineering Research Seminar of Higgins Group of McMaster University CY - Hamilton, Canada DA - 29.05.2025 KW - Carbon KW - M-N-C KW - Electrocatalysis KW - Fuel cells PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64913 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas T1 - Tetrapyrrolic Nitrogen Doped Carbons by Pyrolytic Template Ion Reactions as Platform for Electrocatalysis N2 - Atomically dispersed M-N-C catalysts such as Fe-N-Cs are most promising alternatives for precious metal-based catalysts for energy conversion reactions. Early reports on such materials date back to the 1960´s, when Jasinski pioneered the research based on tetrapyrrolic phthalocyanine macrocycles which were inspired by natural transition metal porphyrin complexes present in enzyme active-sites. For decades, the selective synthesis of these catalysts was complicated by the formation of side phases due to the harsh reaction conditions facilitating side phase formation. In 2018, we introduced a mild procedure, which is conservative toward the carbon support and leads to atomically dispersed Fe-N4 site formation at temperatures as low as 80 °C in a wet-chemical step, essentially decoupling the preparation of the nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) backbone from the preparation of the active-sites. The key concept therein is the so-called active-site imprinting into the NDC backbone using pyrolytic template ion reactions, allowing for high concentrations of N4 sites resulting in more than 3 at.% of Fe in atomically dispersed phase. Using the same precursor that is used for the preparation of phthalocyanines, we were able to produce tetrapyrrolic NDCs as a materials platform to synthesize atomically-dispersed single-site Fe-N-Cs comprising tetrapyrrolic FeN4 complexes by ion-exchange reactions. The tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C derivatives are highly active and extraordinary selective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in acidic. The mere tetrapyrrolic NDC are likewise highly active ORR-catalysts in alkaline. The well-defined and homogeneous active-site structure allows to quantify the intrinsic catalytic activity of the materials in acid and base, reveal insights into the electrocatalytic mechanism and to reveal distinct degradation mechanism upon storage and electrochemical cycling. Herein, the general synthetic strategy will be discussed mainly based on Zn-ion templating towards Fe-N-C catalysts. The catalytic active-sites will be discussed regarding structure and potential as fuel cell catalyst. T2 - Carbon Conference 2025 CY - Saint-Malo, France DA - 29.06.2025 KW - Electrocatalysis KW - Oxygen Reduction Reaction KW - Noble Metal Free KW - Nitrogen Doped Carbon PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64968 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Wu, Shu-Han T1 - Sodium Storage Mechanisms and Performance Improvement of Synthetic Hard Carbon Materials N2 - Hard carbons (HCs) are promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high capacity and low cost. However, their broader use is limited by an incomplete understanding of sodium storage mechanisms. Internal porosity is key to high capacity, but tuning its chemical functionality remains challenging. In this study, we designed core–shell carbon materials featuring closed pores and tailored surface chemistry to distinguish reversible sodium storage from irreversible capacity losses associated with solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation. Our results reveal that external porosity can be clearly converted into internal porosity, leading to enhanced sodium storage performance, with capacities exceeding those of lithium in graphite. T2 - Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) 2025 CY - Mainz, Germany DA - 23.06.2025 KW - Sodium-ion batteries KW - Hard carbon KW - Core-shell materials PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65133 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Appel, Paul Alexander T1 - Linking Porosity to Storage Capacity: Core-Shell Carbon Materials as High-Capacity Anodes for Sodium Ion Batteries N2 - Hard carbons (HCs) are currently one of the most promising anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the Na storage mechanism remains controversial, leaving the theoretical limits of carbon anodes unclear. To deconvolute the specific capacity from irreversible capacity losses, resulting from the formation of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), core-shell carbon materials were synthesized. Based on these core-shell materials, an investigation of the storage mechanism of sodium is possible. T2 - Advanced Battery Power 2025 CY - Aachen, Germany DA - 01.04.2025 KW - Electrochemical Energy Materials KW - Negative Electrodes KW - Sodium Ion Batteries PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65114 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Appel, Paul Alexander T1 - Developing Tailor-Made Core-Shell Carbon Negative Electrode Materials for Sodium Ion Batteries N2 - Hard carbons (HCs) are currently one of the most promising anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the Na storage mechanism remains controversial, leaving the theoretical limits of carbon anodes unclear. To deconvolute the specific capacity from irreversible capacity losses, resulting from the formation of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), core-shell carbon materials were synthesized. Based on these core-shell materials, an investigation of the storage mechanism of sodium is possible. T2 - Sodium Battery Symposium CY - Dresden, Germany DA - 03.09.2025 KW - Electrochemical Energy Materials KW - Negative Electrodes KW - Sodium Ion Batteries PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65116 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Krug von Nidda, Jonas T1 - Porous „Ionophoric“ Carbon Materials: Synthesis Routes and Electrochemical Applications N2 - Porosity tuning and “doping” with heteroatoms and/or transition metals are key strategies to improve the performance of porous carbons. Nitrogen doped carbons (NDCs) with macrocyclic functionalities and the respective M-coordinated NDCs (M-N-Cs) containing FeN4 sites, are very promising electrodes for Na-storage and electrocatalytic conversions. Their functional groups are reminiscent of those in biomolecules like e.g. hemoglobin. The materials can carry ions and can be regarded as “ionophoric” carbons. T2 - AKK-Herbsttagung 2025 CY - Mainz, Germany DA - 22.09.2025 KW - Electrocatalysis KW - Energy Storage KW - Noble Metal Free KW - Nitrogen Doped Carbon PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64969 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Dietzmann, Simon T1 - X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy to Uncover the Structure of Metal and Nitrogen Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts N2 - High-performance electrocatalysts and sodium-ion (Na+) storage materials for Na-ion batteries are essential for efficient energy conversion and storage. Metal and nitrogen enriched carbons (M–N–Cs) are promising candidates due to their intrinsic conductivity and tunable properties through targeted modification. To understand and optimize the catalytically active sites at the pseudo-molecular level, detailed structural characterization is crucial. T2 - Bessy User Meeting CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 03.12.2025 KW - Elechtrochemistry KW - XAS KW - Single atom catalysts PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65010 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Sturm, Anna T1 - Tayloring Accessible Surfaces of Activated Carbons via Mechanochemical Processing N2 - Controlling the external accessibility of porous carbons without compromising their internal microporous network is essential for material functionality. Hard Carbons (HC) were ball milled in the presence of aromatic compounds, forming a disordered surface barrier that partially blocks pore entrances. This selectively reduces their external specific surface area (SSA) while preserving internal storage capacity. T2 - Income 2025 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 14.09.2025 KW - Ball Milling KW - Sealed Porosity KW - Mechanochemistry PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65117 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Deciphering Structure-Performance Relations of PGM-Free Fe-N-C Electrocatalysts Based on Synthetic Materials Design N2 - Fe-N-C electrocatalysts are very promising alternatives for precious metal-based catalysts for energy conversion reactions.[1-3] Early reports on such materials date back to the 1960´s, when Jasinski pioneered the research based on tetrapyrrolic phthalocyanine macrocycles which were inspired by natural transition metal porphyrin complexes present in enzyme active sites.[3] For decades, the synthesis of these catalysts with a high iron loading was complicated by the formation of side phases due to the harsh reaction conditions facilitating side phase formation. In 2018, we introduced a mild procedure, which is conservative toward the carbon support and leads to active-site formation at low temperatures in a wet-chemical step, essentially decoupling the preparation of the N-C backbone from the preparation of the active sites.[4, 5] The key concept therein is the so-called active-site imprinting into the N-C backbone using pyrolytic template ion reactions.[4][5] Using the same precursor that is used for the preparation of phthalocyanines, we were able not only to produce atomically-dispersed single-phase Fe-N-Cs with a high iron loading, but were also able to selectively form tetrapyrrolic Fe-N4 complexes.[6] The tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C derivatives are highly active and extraordinary selective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Deconvolution of morphological effects on the performance allowed to quantify the intrinsic catalytic activity of the materials in acidic and alkaline conditions and gives new insights into the reaction mechanism in alkaline.[7, 8] A distinct degradation mechanism upon storage was found for the tetrapyrrolic sites and new insights on degradation upon fuel cell operation could be obtained.[9, 10] Herein, the general synthetic material design strategy for atomically dispersed catalysts will be discussed based on tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C catalysts, which will be analyzed for their potential as PGM-free fuel cell catalysts. T2 - Research Seminar of National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics CY - Tallinn, Estonia DA - 29.09.2025 KW - Carbon KW - M-N-C KW - Electrocatalysis KW - Fuel cells PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64916 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Low, Jian Liang T1 - Active Site Determination in Pyrolyzed M-N-C Electrocatalysts by Gas-sorption N2 - Metal and nitrogen-doped carbons (M-N-Cs) with M-N4 moieties as the generally accepted active sites, have gradually reached promising levels of activity towards crucial electrochemical reactions like the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR). Even the metal-free counterparts, the nitrogen-doped carbons (NDCs), are common and well-studied electrocatalysts for ORR in alkaline media. In these disordered porous materials, the characterization and quantification of (M)N4 sites can be challenging and time-consuming, with many spectroscopic methods drastically overestimating their site accessibility for catalytic applications. In this study, we explore an alternative approach towards active site characterization and quantification in M-N-Cs based on multi-Langmuir analysis of CO2-sorption isotherms at low pressures, with support fromelectronic DFT calculations. T2 - Electrolyser and Fuel Cell Forum 2025 CY - Lucerne, Switzerland DA - 01.07.2025 KW - Metal- and Nitrogen Doped Carbon (M-N-C) KW - Active Site Characterization KW - Gas sorption KW - Active-Site Imprinting PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-65147 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Negative Electrode Ionophoric Core-Shell Carbon for Sodium-Ion Batteries N2 - The current strong interest in electromotive mobility and the need to transition to an energy grid with sustainable storage devices has led to a renewed interest in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Amorphous disordered carbons such as hard carbons (HCs) are promising candidates for high-capacity negative electrode materials in SIBs. Their high capacities, however, are often accompanied with high irreversible capacity losses during the initial cycles,[1] while low initial losses are accompanied with moderate capacities.[2] In our research we are aiming morphologically and chemically functional carbons. Morphologically, our target is a local separation of reversible sodium storage and irreversible losses in novel synthetic carbon anodes, using a core-shell concept. On chemical side, we aim at ion-binding functional groups. We investigated different methods to obtain core-shell structures to restrict SEI formation to the external particle surface, while leveraging the Na storage potential of porous carbon core materials. Moreover, we apply active-site imprinting to realise disting ion-binding features into the core carbons. The electrochemical performance of those materials can be rather easily altered upon removing/exchanging the ions bound to the functional group. Herein, we will focus on the synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) based NDCs. Different analytical methods, e.g., physisorption (N2, Ar, CO2), XPS, XAS, and NMR, will be used to understand the alteration of morphological and chemical features upon ion exchange. T2 - Mat-Sus Spring Meeting 2024 CY - Barcelona, Spain DA - 04.03.2024 KW - Ionophoric carbon PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61938 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Fellinger, Tim-Patrick T1 - Design Structure and Performance of FeNC Catalysts N2 - Atomically dispersed M-N-C catalysts such as Fe-N-Cs are most promising alternatives for precious metal-based catalysts for energy conversion reactions.[1-3] Early reports on such materials date back to the 1960´s, when Jasinski pioneered the research based on tetrapyrrolic phthalocyanine macrocycles which were inspired by natural transition metal porphyrin complexes present in enzyme active sites.[3] For decades, the selective synthesis of these catalysts was complicated by the formation of side phases due to the harsh reaction conditions facilitating side phase formation. In 2018, we introduced a mild procedure, which is conservative toward the carbon support and leads to atomically dispersed Fe-N4 site formation at temperatures as low as 80 °C in a wet-chemical step, essentially decoupling the preparation of the N-C backbone from the preparation of the active sites.[4, 5] The key concept therein is the so-called active-site imprinting into the N-C backbone using pyrolytic template ion reactions, allowing for high concentrations of N4 sites resulting in more than 3 at.% of Fe in atomically dispersed phase.[4-6] Using the same precursor that is used for the preparation of phthalocyanines, we were able to produce atomically-dispersed single-site Fe-N-Cs that consist of tetrapyrrolic FeN4 complexes.[6] The tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C derivatives are highly active and extraordinary selective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. The well-defined and homogeneous active site structure allows to quantify the intrinsic catalytic activity of the materials in acid and base,[7, 8] reveal insights into the electrocatalytic mechanism and to reveal distinct degradation mechanism upon storage and electrochemical cycling.[9, 10] Herein, the general synthetic strategy of active-site imprinted catalysts will be discussed mainly based on Zn-ion templating towards tetrapyrrolic Fe-N-C catalysts. The catalytic active sites will be discussed regarding structure, activity, selectivity and durability, hence the potential as fuel cell catalyst. T2 - ECS Spring Meeting 2025 CY - Montreal, Canada DA - 18.05.2025 KW - Fuel Cell KW - ELectrocatalyst KW - Fe-N-C KW - Carbon PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64910 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Cerny, Alain T1 - Engineering Activated Carbon via Chemical Vapor Deposition for High-Performance Core-Shell Carbon Anodes in Sodium-Ion Batteries N2 - Rising demand for sustainable energy storage has renewed interest in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) as alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Although hard carbon and related materials are common SIB-anodes, the correlation between its structure and ion storage mechanism remains unclear.[1] As shown recently, the pore design is essential to block the formation of excessive solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and allows the formation of pseudo-metallic clusters inside the pores.[2,3] Adjusting the diameter of the pore entrance, enables a reversible low-potential plateau (< 0.1 V), which significantly enhances the capacity (potentially up to 450-500 mAh/g) compared to graphite (Qtheo = 372 mAh/g) in Li-ion batteries.[2] Activated carbon (AC) is a low-cost material with abundant micropores and high surface area, making it a promising anode candidate for SIBs. However, its performance is often hindered by structural disorder and excessive SEI-formation. Hence, mitigating active-species loss is essential to achieve high specific capacities (> 300 mAh g-1).[3] The aim herein was to investigate the relationship between the properties of the AC and the CVD-conditions required to achieve an efficient SIB-anode. This study introduces an optimized chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method to modify various, highly porous commercial ACs aiming towards core-shell carbons, consisting of a porous core and a non-graphitic CVD-shell.[3] The ACs were treated via CVD and characterized using a range of techniques including gas physisorption, small-angle x-ray scattering and X-ray diffraction. The electrochemical properties of the different materials, prior and after CVD-coating, were analysed in half cells vs. Na-metal. After coating, gas physisorption confirmed a significantly lower surface area for the materials. Depending on the porosity of the material, a longer CVD-time was necessary to fully coat the particles. The successful formation of core-shell carbons enables separation of the storage mechanism from SEI-formation. The CVD-process enables precise control over the microstructure of the carbon material, allowing to enhance the reversible Na-storage capacity, e.g., from 107 mAh g-1 to 353 mAh g-1 while significantly reducing initial Coulombic losses by 73%. The greatly increased low-potential capacity verifies the formation of an electrolyte-tight CVD shell enabling Na-storage in the porosity of the core. The established link between porosity, CVD-parameters, and performance guides optimization for future materials. T2 - Batterieforum 2026 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 20.01.2026 KW - Sodium-Ion Battery KW - Carbon KW - Chemical Vapour Deposition PY - 2026 AN - OPUS4-65510 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -