Institute of Energy Materials and Devices - Structure and Function of Materials (IMD-1)
IMD-1 develops and characterizes high-performance structural and functional materials as well as operating media for centralized and decentralized energy conversion and storage systems. The institute’s scientific activities cover the fields of (micro-)mechanics and microtribology, high-temperature corrosion and thermochemistry, as well as (nano-)materials characterization and modeling of energy materials.
Within the framework of the PHOENIX project, IMD-1 develops, on the one hand, methods that enable significant improvement of key properties relevant for SOC applications—particularly oxidation resistance and electrical conductivity—through targeted pre-treatments of stack components made from conventional ferritic steels. This allows these cost-effective materials to potentially replace expensive specialty steels. On the other hand, IMD-1 investigates the mechanical properties and degradation behaviour of novel fiber-reinforced oxide electrolysis cells developed by IMD-2 under application-relevant gas atmospheres.
Both the development of suitable pre-treatment strategies for steels and the investigation of cell properties make an important contribution to the cost-efficient implementation of high-temperature electrolysis and fuel cell technologies in the Rhenish mining district and support a robust and reliable system design.
