KIT

Scientists from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) have developed a surface material that repels water droplets almost completely. Using an entirely innovative process, they changed metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) – artificially designed materials with novel properties – by grafting hydrocarbon chains. The resulting superhydrophobic (extremely water-repellent) properties are interesting for use as self-cleaning surfaces that need to be robust against environmental influences, such as on automobiles or in architecture.

Kurt Fuchs/HI ERN

Perowskit-Solarzellen gelten als flexible und nachhaltige Alternative zu herkömmlichen Solarzellen auf Siliziumbasis. Forschende des Karlsruher Instituts für Technologie (KIT) gehören zu einem internationalen Team, das innerhalb weniger Wochen neue organische Moleküle gefunden hat, mit denen sich der Wirkungsgrad von Perowskit-Solarzellen steigern lässt. Das Team kombinierte dabei geschickt den Einsatz von KI mit vollautomatischer Hochdurchsatz-Synthese. Die entwickelte Strategie ist auf andere Bereiche der Materialforschung übertragbar, etwa auf die Suche nach neuen Batteriematerialien.

Universität Ulm, Karolina Schüle

For the past ten years, the Centre for Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) at the Universities of Stuttgart and Ulm and the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI-FKF) has been at the forefront of interdisciplinary research in quantum science and technology. Its mission extends beyond basic research to focus on potential applications and their benefits for society. With the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), a further supra-regional institution has now joined the world-renowned centre, marking a significant step towards a state-wide network for the scientific "quantum community" in Baden-Württemberg.

Queensland University of Technology

With his research, Professor Christopher Barner-Kowollik makes it possible to develop high-precision materials and surfaces for special applications in nanotechnology and materials science. Now the macromolecular chemistry expert has been selected for an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship. Next year he is expected to conduct research on new materials and polymer-based systems at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

PHABIOC

PHABIOC, a Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) spin-off, can replace up to four conventional sample holders with its SpecPlate, an innovative design that improves the efficiency, speed and precision of lab work while drastically reducing the amount of consumables. Mass production is now beginning.

Xuchen Wang, KIT and Harbin Engineering University

Photonic space-time crystals are materials that could increase the performance and efficiency of wireless communication or laser technologies. They feature a periodic arrangement of special materials in three dimensions as well as in time, which enables precise control of the properties of light. Working with partners from Aalto University, the University of Eastern Finland and Harbin Engineering University in China, scientists from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have shown how such four-dimensional materials can be used in practical applications.

IAMT, KIT

Steroid hormones are among the most widespread aquatic micropollutants. They are harmful to human health, and they cause ecological imbalances in aquatic environments. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), researchers have investigated how steroid hormones are degraded in an electrochemical membrane reactor with carbon nanotube membranes. They found that adsorption of steroid hormones on the carbon nanotubes did not limit the hormones’ subsequent degradation.

Simone Staron; Dirk Holtmann

Researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have received grants from the Carl Zeiss Foundation’s CZS Wildcard program. In her project entitled UCART, physics professor Anke-Susanne Müller is working on a new radiation therapy method for directly irradiating tumors in the patient’s body with an electron accelerator. Electrobiotechnology professor Dirk Holtmann aims to develop a process for converting CO2 into useful chemicals in his CoMet2 project. With its Wildcard program, the Carl Zeiss Foundation (CZS) supports unconventional research projects with EUR 900,000 each for a period of two years.

Jonathan Schneider, KIT

Metamaterials are artificial materials that do not occur in nature. Their components function like atoms in conventional materials but have special optical, electrical and magnetic properties. Interaction between the components is crucial to a metamaterial’s functionality. Previously a component could usually interact only with its immediate neighbors. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a mechanical metamaterial with which these interactions can also be triggered at greater distances within the material. Potential uses of the material include measuring forces and structural monitoring.

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.