Research unit profile

TU-Wien > Institute of Materials Chemistry >Faculty of Technical Chemistry >Institute of Materials Chemistry >Research Unit of Molecular Materials Chemistry

Overview

Concept (German) Our mission is to design, modify and evaluate novel functional materials to advance theirapplication in socioeconomically important fields related to sustainable energy, environment and medicine. We are particularly aiming at unravelingstructure-property relationships, unveiling the dynamics of interfacialproperties, and identifying key mechanistic steps in catalytic reactions. Our philosophycommends us to synergistically combine advancedsynthesis techniques with in-depth fundamentaland applied studies on model systems.

Concept (English) Tailoredsynthesis of advanced functional materials: Our synthetic efforts These include nanocarbons(CNTs, graphene, aerographite), low-dimensional inorganics (e.g. POMs, 2Dmaterials), metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and micro- and mesoporous materials(oxides, nitrides, zeolites, bioactive glasses) with focus on engineering interfaces (e.g. inorganic-inorganic,nanocarbon-inorganic, nanocarbon-polymer hybrids) and introducing mesopores (e.g.via tailor-made co-blockpolymers). The group has been instrumental in theintroduction and development of nanocarbon-inorganic hybrid materials as a newclass of functional composites.

Fundamental studies: The materials are structurally andfunctionally characterized by a range of state-of-the-art techniques, includingspectroscopy (transient PL, CIMPS/EIS, DETPM, IR/RAMAN/DRS, UPS/XPS,solid-state NMR), microscopy (SEM, TEM, AFM), diffraction (WAXS/SAXS) andothers (BET/BJH, TGA, DSC, chemisorption). The group is particularly interestedin designingmodel systems uncover reaction mechanisms, early-stage deactivation, adsorption/diffusionkinetics and charge/energy transfer dynamics at solid-solid, solid-liquid andsolid-gas interfaces, for which we are developing unique in-situtechniques.

Applied studies: The materials aretested and evaluated for application related to sustainable energy(e.g. hydrogen production, solar-to-fuel conversion, energy storage, and solarbatteries), environment (e.g. water purification, CO₂ reduction,and sensors) and medicine (e.g. bioactive glasses, photooxidation, antibacterial coatings). We manufacture devices, conduct long-time performancetests, design specialized reactors and contribute to metrology developmentthrough parametrization and modelling.

Website https://www.imc.tuwien.ac.at/forschungsbereich_molekulare_materialchemie/forschungsgruppen/

Research groups

Name
Research Group for Molecular Materials Chemistry

People

Title	Surname	First name
OR Mag.rer.nat. Dr.rer.nat.	Puchberger	Michael