Resnick Institute Seminar
Please join us for Professor Ludwig's Seminar! All are welcome to attend!
Abstract:
The directed and efficient discovery and optimization of materials is a key challenge in materials science: e.g. new materials for the sustainable production/storage/conversion of energy carriers are necessary to improve existing and enable future energy systems. By implementing and optimizing the combinatorial materials science approach in our group during the last ten years, we are trying to contribute to this development. It comprises the fabrication and processing of thin film materials libraries by combinatorial sputter deposition processes (40 elements available) and optional post-deposition treatments (e.g. thermal oxidation, annealing, dealloying), followed by the high-throughput characterization of the different thin film samples contained in these libraries, and in a last step the up-scaling of findings from materials libraries to larger sizes. The importance of defining adequate screening parameters and the according design of different materials libraries suitable for one or more screening parameters will be addressed. Our high-throughput material characterization methods are automated, fast, and mostly non-destructive: examples are EDX and RBS for composition, XRD for crystal structure, temperature-dependent resistance for phase transformation, high-throughput test stands for optical properties (color, transmission) and mechanical properties (stress, hardness, elastic modulus), EIS mapping for solid electrolytes, and scanning droplet cells for photoelectrochemical properties screening. The obtained results for ternary and quaternary systems are visualized in the form of composition-processing-structure-function diagrams, interlinking compositional data with structural and functional properties. The talk will cover and discuss examples of the combinatorial development of intermetallic materials for thermoelectric (Ti-Ni-Sn) and magnetocaloric (Co-Mn-Ge) applications, catalyst thin films (Pt on Ti-Nb-oxides, Pt-Cu) for fuel cell applications, as well as the development of metal oxide thin film materials libraries for solar water splitting (Fe-W-Ti-O, Fe-Al-Cr-O) and battery applications (Li-Ni-Mn-O, LiPON).