the group has produced electrode materials such as lithium cobalt oxide at 400°C — half the temperature of conventional methods — and in just six hours. They looked for simple organic materials
as the ligands that are burned away and settled on ethanol-based
compounds.
Ethanol is easily obtained from plants and is not dependent on petrol or oil. The starting materials are a little more expensive but with the significantly reduced temperatures and running times, the cost of production overall is still much lower. The Fromm group approach has an
additional advantage because it produces electrode materials with nanoscale features. “The high-temperature process produces the same material at the micron scale,” Professor Fromm explains. “But if you look at the electronic properties, the smaller the particles of your electrode material, the better the performance.” They attribute the improved performance of the nanostructured materials to the ionic transport mechanisms. “The lithium ions have a certain path length
more oriented towards inorganic chemistry and, of course, if you then work with areas with medical applications you reach the limits of what you can do in your own lab and what you know in that area, and therefore discussions with partners from the medical department or biology department are very important,” says Professor Fromm. She adds that often they will
not just seek advice from other
departments, but conduct research in the labs of other departments so that they learn new methods. “It’s great for the PhD students to broaden their horizons.” Professor Fromm also underlines the importance
of these interdisciplinary
exchanges. “I think this is where the model of future research will be going,” she suggests. It can be far from easy, as different departments use very different terms to describe systems. “When you start the discussions with people from other areas you find out quite early that they speak a different language sometimes, so one has to pick up on the vocabulary of others, which
Project Information AT A GLANCE
Project Title: Chances and Risks of Nanoscale Electrode Materials for Li-Ion Batteries
Project Objective: Energy production and storage are important issues for humanity. Li-ion- batteries need to be improved for large applications like cars. We develop new and nanoscale composite materials for electrodes to be i) more efficient, b) less toxic and c) less expensive than the current materials. We study also their recycling and assess their life cycle.
Project Duration and Timing: 3 years, June 2012 to May 2015
Project Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation
Project Partners: • Prof. Dr. Barbara Rothen- Rutishauser, Adolphe-Merkle- Institute, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland • Roland Hischier, EMPA
“They had huge buildings with large ovens where they would bake the compounds — everybody was working in T-shirts and yet all the windows were still open, in winter. They were heating the environment”
in the particle, so they have to go in and they have to go out,” Professor Fromm explains. “The smaller the particle the shorter that path and therefore the transportation can occur better and faster and in a more complete way.” In addition, the researchers are looking at
using ligands to arrange silver metal ions in space for improved antimicrobial compounds. In this application the ligands have another role because they can tune the solubility of the silver and thereby control its release into the biological environment. The
researchers have also
is hard work.” Yet Professor Fromm adds that, although time consuming, it is very much worthwhile. The materials research in the Fromm
group seems hugely rich in potential applications and they have already posited a patent. They also have contacts in the battery industry and are looking forward to some fruitful collaborations with them in the future. “Sometimes you stumble across
made
nanocontainers for the silver coordination compounds, which can be used for drug delivery. They can also be used as coatings for knee, hip or dental implants. The projects benefit from fertile inter- departmental
exchanges within the
university. The Fromm group do have some collaborations at national and international level, but they often consult colleagues within Fribourg University, particularly for medical and biological expertise. “We are
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
applications,” says Professor Fromm. “In our research we got into the field of lithium ion batteries and it was really by serendipity that we found that our compounds would give these materials at a much lower temperature than classical materials.” She also emphasises the importance of co-
workers who can work in new areas of research and collaborators. “So it is a lot of things – there is luck, talented students, there have to be collaborators, a lot of things coming together – that makes research very exciting. And that’s general for every research project.”
★ 55 Main Contact:
Prof. Katharina M. Fromm After her PhD in Chemistry (University of Karlsruhe, D), and postdoctoral stays in Tübingen (D) (Prof. Strähle) and Strasbourg with Nobel Prize winner Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, Katharina M. Fromm received her habilitation from the University of Geneva (CH), in 2002. She then became a SNSF-research professor in Basel (CH) and, since 2006, holds the chair in inorganic chemistry as full professor in Fribourg (CH).
Contact: Tel: +41 263008732 Email:
Katharina.fromm@
unifr.ch Web:
www.chem.unifr.ch/en/research/ fromm_group
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132