Research
We are mainly interested in carbon (and hybrid) nanomaterials, including nanodiamonds, carbon dots, carbon nitrides or titanium carbides (MXene). We are applying synchrotron-based soft X-ray spectroscopies, infrared spectroscopy and laser-based time-resolved spectroscopies to probe electronic and chemical processes occuring on these materials, in particular in liquid environment.
Several topics are currently investigated in our group:
Electronic structure of carbon nanomaterials
We are applying synchrotron-based X-ray absorption, emission and photoemission spectroscopies to the characterization of the electronic structure novel carbon-based nanomaterials. More about this topic here.
Solvent reorganization around carbon nanomaterials
We are interested in the modification of water arrangement around dispersed nanoparticles, in particular nanodiamonds. Our studies probing water molecules at the oxygen K edge by XAS and water vibrational modes by ATR-FTIR. More details are available here.
Carbon materials for solar fuel production
Carbon-based materials offer the advantages of being cheap and potentially environmental-friendly catalysts for the production of solar fuels. However, a better understanding of their structure-function relationship is needed to improve their (photo)catalytic performances. More details are available here.
Carbon and carbide materials for supercapacitors
Electrochemical storage may also benefit from 2D carbon-based materials for new generation of batteries and supercapacitors. More details on this topic are available here.
Funding
Our research is supported by third-party fundings, including:
- Freigeist Fellowship from the Volkswagen Foundation (No. 89592, 08/2015-07/2020).
- DIACAT (EU Horizon 2020 FET Open, Grant Agreement No. 665085, 07/2015-06/2019).
- DAAD PhD Scholarship (10/2016-09/2019).
- Humboldt postdoctoctoral Fellowship (06/2013-05/2015).