Prof. Dr. Yan Lu: Developing new types of batteries sustainably
Since 2009, Yan Lu is a researcher at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin. In 2017, she became a professor at the University of Potsdam and at HZB. In addition to her work at the HZB, she is now also a professor at the University of Jena. © M. Setzpfandt / HZB
Yan Lu is appointed new Professor of Hybrid Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at Friedrich Schiller University Jena together with HZB. Congratulations!
“Conventional lithium-ion batteries are very powerful, but also expensive, as they require metals such as nickel and cobalt in addition to lithium,” says chemist Prof Dr Yan Lu. “That’s why I’m researching more sustainable alternatives, such as lithium-sulphur batteries and batteries based on hybrid materials,” explains the 47-year-old scientist, who is working at Friedrich Schiller University Jena since this semester. Her work combines various areas of expertise: In order to make energy available electrochemically, she combines organic and inorganic chemistry, for example, and also draws on research methods from biochemistry.
As part of her joint appointment with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB), where she continues to head the Institute for Electrochemical Energy Storage, the new professor is also co-director of the Helmholtz Institute for Polymers in Energy Applications Jena (HIPOLE Jena), which has been founded in 2023 in Jena by the university and HZB.
About Yan LuAfter studying chemistry in Shanghai, Yan Lu completed her doctorate at TU Dresden and then conducted research first in Bayreuth and from 2009 at the Helmholtz Centre Berlin. In 2017, she became a professor at the University of Potsdam and at HZB. In addition to her work at the Helmholtz Centre, she has also been Professor of Hybrid Materials for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at the University of Jena since the winter semester 2023/24.
- Battery research: visualisation of aging processes operandoLithium button cells with electrodes made of nickel-manganese-cobalt oxides (NMC) are very powerful. Unfortunately, their capacity decreases over time. Now, for the first time, a team has used a non-destructive method to observe how the elemental composition of the individual layers in a button cell changes during charging cycles. The study, now published in the journal Small, involved teams from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), the University of Münster, researchers from the SyncLab research group at HZB and the BLiX laboratory at the Technical University of Berlin. Measurements were carried out in the BLiX laboratory and at the BESSY II synchrotron radiation source.
- New instrument at BESSY II: The OÆSE endstation in EMILA new instrument is now available at BESSY II for investigating catalyst materials, battery electrodes and other energy devices under operating conditions: the Operando Absorption and Emission Spectroscopy on EMIL (OÆSE) endstation in the Energy Materials In-situ Laboratory Berlin (EMIL). A team led by Raul Garcia-Diez and Marcus Bär showcases the instrument’s capabilities via a proof-of-concept study on electrodeposited copper.
- Green hydrogen: A cage structured material transforms into a performant catalystClathrates are characterised by a complex cage structure that provides space for guest ions too. Now, for the first time, a team has investigated the suitability of clathrates as catalysts for electrolytic hydrogen production with impressive results: the clathrate sample was even more efficient and robust than currently used nickel-based catalysts. They also found a reason for this enhanced performance. Measurements at BESSY II showed that the clathrates undergo structural changes during the catalytic reaction: the three-dimensional cage structure decays into ultra-thin nanosheets that allow maximum contact with active catalytic centres. The study has been published in the journal ‘Angewandte Chemie’.