The focus of our research is the tailoring of the inorganic-organic interface in hybrid materials and nanocomposites with special interest in a controlled design of inorganic building blocks such as nanoparticles. The large interface area in these materials requires a specific knowledge in tailoring the chemistry between inorganic and organic moieties. The controlled design of the interface allows the induction of new properties in the final material. Our research is highly interdisciplinary between the fields of inorganic, organic, and polymer chemistry and utilizes a broad spectrum of techniques like X-ray diffraction, common spectroscopic methods, thermo-analytical methods or mechanical tests.

Associated work groups:

Speciation and elemental analyis  
(apl. Prof. Dr. Ralf Kautenburger)
The research group WASTe (Working group for Analytical Speciation Techniques) is mainly focused on element trace and speciation analysis as well as on the development of innovative coupling techniques

Junior Research Group 
(PD Dr. André Schäfer)

Environmental Analysis Unit

News

Dec 13, 2024 | Intermetallic phases between zirconium, vanadium and hafnium show interesting structures and properties

Elias Gießelmann was able to show in a study that new intermetallic phases are formed with the elements zirconium, vanadium and hafnium. The compounds show interesting structural chemistry, Pauli paramagnism and superconductivity with a transition temperature of 4.17(1) K. The study was published together with Dr. Oliver Janka in Chemistry - A European Journal (https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.202404248).

Nov 15, 2024 | Great success for the location: Chemistry Research Training Group on the construction of covalent bonds in molecules and materials is funded by the DFG for five years.

From 1 October 2025, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) will fund the Research Training Group 3082 "Engineering of Covalent Bonds in Molecules and Materials – Ec=m2” in Saarbrücken with around 6.3 million euros. The Kickelbick working group is involved in several projects. Congratulations to everyone involved. For more information, see https://ecm2.org or in the UdS press release.

November 2024 |Alexander von Humboldt's research stay of Dr. Mathilde Laird ends

Mathilde Laird was a postdoctoral researcher in our group for almost two years. During this time, she has worked on Silsesquioxane materials as a precursor for various functional materials. We have all learned a lot from each other. Thank you very much for the productive time together. Mathilde is now starting her own research career at the CNRS in France. The best of luck! We will continue to work together in the future.

Oct 23, 2024 Polymers with Germanium double bond systems – joint article with the Scheschkewitz research group

The Scheschkewitz group succeeded in producing a conjugated polymer with Ge=Ge double bonds. We were able to help clarify the structure. The work has been published in the journal Angewandte Chemie (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/anie.202415103

October 2024 | Paula Mayer starts her Master thesis on "Fissile Disulfide Functionalities on Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles"

Sept 9, 2024 | Continuous wet chemical production of tin oxide nanoparticles for sensor applications

Using our established microjet process, Christina Odenwald was able to produce tin oxide nanoparticles with a size of 3 nm. The process enables easy upscaling of the synthesis. Together with Dr. Tilman Sauerwald's research group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) in Freising, we were able to prove that these particles can be used directly in ethanol gas sensors. The work has been published in the Journal of Inorganic and General Chemistry (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/zaac.202400145) and was dedicated to Prof. Michael Veith on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

 

Aug 28, 2024 | Continuous production of precursors for battery materials

Molybdenum carbides, nitrides, oxides and their mixed compounds Mo(C,N,O)x are promising anode materials for lithium batteries. Mana Abdirahman Mohamed succeeded in producing precursors of these materials from aqueous solutions using the microjet process, which enables the synthesis of these precursor compounds on a gram scale within minutes. The pyrolysis of these precursors leads to the desired fine-grained powders that can be used as battery materials. The study was published in Solids (https://www.mdpi.com/2673-6497/5/3/30).

 

Events

Sept 20, 2024 | Spaceship Earth Winter Term 2024/25

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Oct 10, 2024 | GDCh Lectures Winter Term 2024/25

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Sept 20, 2024 | Inorganic Chemistry Colloquium Winter Term 2024/25

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