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 -