Theresa Schoetz
Energy Storage and Electrochemistry
The research in our group focuses on the development of electrochemical materials and interfaces for next-generation batteries and supercapacitors that can be integrated in modern electronics shaping today’s societies by making our world more connected, safer, and cleaner.
Our scientific philosophy is to identify, understand, and control the molecular-level phenomena that govern macroscopic material properties, charge storage mechanisms, mass transport processes and device performance using a variety of electrochemical, spectroscopy and microscopy methods. Our distinct expertise lies in the advanced application and analysis of electrochemical methods, e.g., variable-rate cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), chronoamperometry and in-operando techniques such as electrogravimetry (EQCM) and electrochemical atomic force microscopy (EC-AFM). Reconfigurable shape-morphing batteries that take electrochemical interfaces in energy storage systems far beyond their current state-of-the-art design space are of particular interest. Our fundamental electrochemical background and experience allow us to transfer and connect knowledge across different research areas ranging from energy storage and conversion, (bio)sensors, photoelectronics, and AI hardware.
Research Group Website Faculty Profile
Electrochemical Interfaces
Today’s and future energy storage often merge both properties of batteries and supercapacitors by combining electrochemical materials with faradaic (battery-like) and capacitive (capacitor-like) charge storage mechanism. The structure of the electrochemical interface influences mass transport processes and thus is the root cause for the different charge storage mechanisms. Researchers developing the next generation of energy storage systems are challenged to understand and analyze the different charge storage mechanisms in correlation to the structure of the electrochemical interface, subsequently, use this understanding to design and control materials and devices that bridge the gap between high energy and power at a target cycle life.
Next-Generation Battery Materials & Designs
Modern electronic technologies are developing at an impressive pace, shaping today’s societies by making our world more connected, safer, and cleaner; key examples include: electromobility, consumer electronics, medical implants, and robotics. However, reaching the full potential of such technologies heavily relies on the device that is powering these – the battery. Innovations in high-performance energy storage devices is somehow limited since the introduction of lithium batteries in the early 90’s. This is mainly because of the trade-offs that are made between battery performance, size, weight, flexibility as well as inherent safety and recyclability. Next-generation battery materials and designs divert from the classic layered architecture with the aim to be mechanically flexible and reconfigurable to the application while being safer and complying with the concept of a circular economy.
Battery Recycling & Repurposing
Currently, batteries are designed in a linear fashion with little or no effort dedicated to end-of-life processing. The accelerating demand for energy storage technologies of every ilk has created one of the world’s fastest-growing waste stream. The situation is only worsened by the sheer value of the wasted mass, the fact that it includes strategically important scarce resources (e.g., indium, lithium, and cobalt), mined in often ethically dubious conditions. To create a circular economy for batteries, recycling and repurposing strategies must be studied, leveraging life cycle analysis and the microfactory concept.