Kadi4Mat, KIT

The paper introduces an approach in using the web-based application Kadi4Mat (KadiWeb) as an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) combined with an integrated instrument database to facilitate Findable - Accessible - Interoperable - Reusabe (FAIR) research data.

This work was supported by the KIT Materials Center as part of the establishment of the pilot project „Materials Device Pool“.

Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker

Prof. Dr. Peter W. Roesky (AOC) was awarded the Marianne Baudler Prize of the German Chemical Society (GDCh) for the year 2024 “for his innovative and groundbreaking contributions to lanthanide chemistry”. Prof. Roesky is an important player in MaTeLiS, initiator and contact person of the focus field Chemistry & Physics of Rare-Earth Materials.

The information has already been published on the project website. Please follow the link below.

Ioannis Karapatzakis, KIT

Forschende des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) haben zum ersten Mal in Deutschland gezeigt, wie sogenannte Zinn-Fehlstellen in Diamanten sehr exakt mit Mikrowellen kontrolliert werden können. Diese Defekte haben besondere optische und magnetische Eigenschaften und können als Qubits genutzt werden: kleinste Recheneinheiten für Quantencomputer und die Quantenkommunikation. Die Ergebnisse sind ein wichtiger Schritt für die Entwicklung leistungsfähiger Quantencomputer und sicherer Quantenkommunikationsnetzwerke.

Christine Liebhardt, Uni Ulm

With his highly regarded research on sustainable battery storage systems, Professor Maximilian Fichtner, Director of the Helmholtz Institute in Ulm, has achieved several trailblazing breakthroughs – and he has contributed a great deal to the expansion and visibility of the strategic research field of energy conversion and storage at Ulm University. The chemist also succeeds in making these topics and activities visible to the public and communicating them in an understandable way. On Monday, 22 July, Fichtner received the Ulm Science Prize from Lord Mayor Martin Ansbacher for his work.

Sagar Wadhwa, KIT

Forschende des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) und der Voxalytic GmbH haben eine neue Methode entwickelt, mit der sich erstmals die chirale Struktur eines Moleküls – die exakte räumliche Anordnung der Atome – direkt durch Kernspinspektroskopie aufklären lässt. Dieser wichtige Schritt für die Entwicklung neuer Medikamente war bisher ein zeitaufwändiges Verfahren. Nun könnte die neue Methode ein Standardwerkzeug für die chemische und pharmazeutische Industrie werden.

ITCP, KIT

The production of more than 90 percent of all chemical products we use in our everyday lives relies on catalysts. Catalysts speed up chemical reactions, can reduce the energy required for these processes, and in some cases, reactions would not be possible at all without catalysts. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a concept that increases the stability of noble-metal catalysts and requires less noble metal for their production.

Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT

Using the new NAPXAS instrument at the Karlsruhe Research Accelerator (KARA), researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Münster aim to observe at the molecular level exactly how batteries charge and discharge. By making liquids accessible for synchrotron research with soft X-rays, NAPXAS provides unique insights into the processes at work in batteries.

Gan Huang, KIT

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) introduce a polymer-based material with unique properties in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications. This material allows sunlight to enter, maintains a more comfortable indoor climate without additional energy, and cleans itself like a lotus leaf. The new development could replace glass components in walls and roofs in the future. The research team has successfully tested the material in outdoor tests on the KIT campus.

Simon Daubner, KIT

Which factors determine how quickly a battery can be charged? This and other questions are studied by researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with the help of computer-based simulations. Microstructural models help to discover and investigate new electrode materials. When sodium-nickel-manganese oxide is used as cathode material in sodium-ion batteries, simulations reveal modifications of the crystal structure during charging. These modifications lead to an elastic deformation, as a result of which capacity decreases.

We present a model-driven predictive scheme for the uniaxial extensional viscosity and strain hardening of branched polymer melts, specifically for the pom-pom architecture, using the small amplitude oscillatory shear mastercurve and the polymer architecture. A pom-pom shaped polymer is the simplest architecture with at least two branching points, needed to induce strain hardening. It consists of two stars, each with q arms of the molecular weight Mw,a, connected by a backbone of Mw,b.

On April 1, 2024, Xufei Fang started his ERC Starting Grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) at the IAM-MMI.
His project MECERDIS aims to fundamentally understand the mechanisms of dislocations in ceramics and help tailor new functional ceramic materials.

Photo: Markus Breig, KIT

With the Leopoldina Prize for young scientists 2023, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina honors Dr. Jingyuan Xu, who researches novel heating and cooling technologies for the energy transition at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Currently, the young engineer can boast two more significant awards: the Hector RCD Award as well as admission to the Global Young Academy, an exclusive association of international young scientists.

Uni Heidelberg, Uwe Anspach

Applying and developing new technologies for DNA synthesis to pave the way for producing entire artificial genomes – that is the goal of a new interdisciplinary center that is being established at Heidelberg University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). The aim of the Center for Synthetic Genomics is to spark new developments in synthetic genomics through basic research and technology development using methods of artificial intelligence. The Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS) is financing the center’s establishment over a period of six years with a total amount of twelve million euros.

Photo: Tobias Abzieher

Research and industry worldwide work on the commercialization of perovskite photovoltaics. Most research laboratories focus on solvent-based manufacturing processes, because these methods are versatile and easy to use. Established photovoltaic industries, however, almost exclusively apply vacuum processes for the deposition of high-quality thin films. An international consortium led by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL, USA) has now analyzed this critical discrepancy between laboratory and industry. They emphasize that if improved, industrially tested vacuum processes could contribute to the rapid commercialization of perovskite solar cells.

Photo: Qinu GmbH, qinu.de

Physicists from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have uncovered that Josephson tunnel junctions – the fundamental building blocks of superconducting quantum computers – are more complex than previously thought. Just like overtones in a musical instrument, harmonics are superimposed on the fundamental mode. As a consequence, corrections may lead to quantum bits that are 2 to 7 times more stable.

Photo: IAMT, KIT

Membranes of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VaCNT) can be used to clean or desalinate water at high flow rate and low pressure. Recently, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners carried out steroid hormone adsorption experiments to study the interplay of forces in the small pores. They found that VaCNT of specific pore geometry and pore surface structure are suited for use as highly selective membranes.

Aaozoar/stock.adobe.com

In solid state materials, changes in the crystal lattice are often accompanied by changes in the electronic system. Whether the lattice or the electrons is the primary driver of a transition may, however, be difficult to ascertain. Noad et al. measured the Young’s modulus in the extremely clean material Sr2RuO4 as it underwent an electronic (Lifshitz) transition. The researchers found a large drop in the Young’s modulus at the transition, suggesting that conduction electrons drive a nonlinear elastic response in this material.

Magali Hauser, KIT

With one new full proposal, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) will go into the final of the “Clusters of Excellence” funding line of the Excellence Strategy Competition launched by the federal and state governments. KIT’s sketch of a chemical platform for highly precise quantum architectures convinced the international expert jury. The results of the first selection round were announced by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Council of Science and Humanities (WR) this morning (February 2, 2024). In addition, KIT and its partners will submit renewal proposals for the two existing Clusters of Excellence on 3D designer materials and battery research.

KIT

The DFG has awarded Sören Lehmkuhl with an Emmy Noether Independant Junior Research group. The central research goal will be to develop a new sensor based on the RASER approach.

Rebecca Spiecker, KIT

Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and partners all over Germany have developed a new system for X-ray imaging, which is suited for both living specimens and sensitive materials. The system records images of micrometer resolution at a minimum radiation dose. In a pilot study, the researchers tested their method on living parasitic wasps and observed them for more than 30 minutes. They report in Optica.

Sandra Göttisheim, KIT

The Karlsruhe Center for Optics and Photonics (KCOP) is taking shape. At the new, highly modern technology center of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), research teams will work on applications of light or photons. These include highly efficient photovoltaics, 6G communication and glass fiber networks, novel quantum sensors, superconducting detectors, extremely fast 3D image acquisition, and high-resolution microscopy for life sciences. The 56 million Euro building is planned to be inaugurated in early 2026.

ARTIS Uli Deck

Yesterday evening (November 30, 2023) nanoshape GmbH, a startup of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), won the NEO2023 Jury Prize in the amount of EUR 20,000 of the Karlsruhe Technology Region for its surface technology to prevent inflammations of implants. Researchers of KIT’s Institute for Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics (MVM) were granted the Prize of the Audience for their electrically conductive and printable adhesive that can be used in microelectronic and solar modules.

wbk, KIT

The market for electric cars is growing rapidly and so does the need for lithium-ion batteries. Their recycling is an important part of the production cycle. Current methods are based on the decomposition of active battery materials into their molecular constituents, which is associated with a high consumption of energy and chemicals. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and industry partners have now launched a collaboration to develop a more efficient recycling process for spent batteries, by means of which the active components are recovered while maintaining their functionality. The project is funded by the Federal Research Ministry with approximately EUR 3 million.